20-Year Milestone: 700+ Attendees Gather for Memorable Meeting

More than 700 ATTENDEES connected on April 29-May 1, in Washington DC, for the 20th Annual Meeting of ISMPP. This year’s theme, ‘Storytelling: Its Art and Power,’ highlighted the transformative role of art in storytelling within healthcare and medical communications. The storytelling concepts and tools learned during the three-day meeting helped our professionals to find ways to break down stigmas, combat misinformation, help change perceptions, and ultimately improve patient care.

The wonderful spirit of collaboration among the ISMPP community was alive and thriving in DC with an agenda packed full of opportunities to continue on the professional development journey. ISMPP wants to share a deep appreciation to the attendees, faculty and corporate sponsors for coming together to network, collaborate, educate and learn.

This article shares highlights and photos from the 20th Annual Meeting.

Attendees, and those who did not attend, have the following options to explore the sessions and member research posters presented at the 20^th Annual Meeting:

• The Publication Plan has posted meeting reports from Day 1, Day 2, and Day 3 on its website. Thank You Very Much to ISMPP’s Media Partner for the 20^th Annual Meeting!
• ISMPP members can access session slide decks approved for posting by presenters in the 20th Annual Meeting Archive.
• Member Research Posters are accessible to everyone in PDF format in the 20th Annual Meeting Archive.

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“The 20th anniversary meeting provided an opportunity to look back and reflect on all of the change our organization has engendered over the last 20 years – as well as look towards the future and how we are continuing to refine what we do as an industry to work and do better for patients and their caregivers.”
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Three Keynote Speakers Spotlight Storytelling and Artificial Intelligence (AI)

• The Brain Science of Story and its Impact on Communication
  • Angus Fletcher, Professor of Story Science, Ohio State University
• From Numbers to Narrative: A Story in 5 Parts
  • Bill Shander, Information Designer, Beehive Media
• Generative AI: Practical Strategies to Increase Productivity
  • Conor Grennan, Chief AI Architect, NYU Stern, NYU Stern School of Business

Plenary & Parallel Sessions

Plenary sessions covered a number of timely, practical topics including: patient participation, generative AI in medical communications, effective storytelling, medical affairs and publications, publication planning, and data presentation.

Parallel sessions offered smaller, more interactive forums to discuss a variety of current topics of interest with attendees selecting their sessions, including publication metrics, patient involvement, scientific platforms, the CMPP experience, visual storytelling, emotional accessibility, the medical writing process, and much more.

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“What an inspiring meeting…this year the keynote speakers delivered, and the plenary sessions expanded the themes they introduced! Storytelling and generative AI give us tools to become better communicators and the sessions were spot on with education.”
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Networking… Both the Social and Educational Kind!

Networking events were held throughout the meeting to expand upon the educational discussions from roundtable and workshop settings, and to catch up with friends and meet new colleagues at the social receptions and during food breaks.

Roundtable sessions addressed a wide variety of current topics at different tables – in many cases expanding on topics from the meeting program. Pre- and post-meeting workshops educated on such topics as digital engagement in publications, AI, social media, patient engagement in PLS, and the ever-popular introduction to publication planning and advanced publication planning.

Several networking opportunities were hosted to talk to long-time and new peers, including a First Timer and New Member Meet and Greet, Welcome Reception, Workshop Meals, Poster Reception, Networking Luncheon, and Awards Reception. Attendees were wholeheartedly welcomed to the in-person 20^th Annual Meeting.

Awards Night!

The second annual ISMPP Professional Excellence Awards Reception was held on Tuesday, April 30.

The awards honor the work and dedication of members who have a proven track record of excellence and achievement in the medical publications and communications profession. Award nominations were collected through peer submissions and reviewed by the Professional Excellence Awards Selection Committee. This year’s awards program was generously sponsored by Alphabet Health.

ISMPP is proud to recognize the following outstanding members for their achievements:

President’s Award Catherine Skobe The President’s Award recognizes an ISMPP member who has distinguished themselves as “gamechangers” or “transformational” in their service to the Society. Outstanding Committee Member Ann Gordon The Outstanding Committee Member Award recognizes individuals who have served or are serving on an ISMPP Committee(s) and recognizes the outstanding efforts and work the individual has put forth.

CMPP Award Megan Weigel The CMPP Award is designed to recognize a current ISMPP CMPP™ that best exemplifies the roles and responsibilities of a CMPP. The award encompasses the commitment to ethical and transparent data dissemination standards and leadership in upholding and fostering integrity and excellence in medical publications. Rising Star Award Mithi Ahmed-Richards The Rising Star Award may be presented to ISMPP members with no more than five years of experience in the profession who have demonstrated significant contributions to medical publication and communication. It is meant to recognize “future leaders” within the Society.

Founding Members Award This year ISMPP was fortunate to have some of our founding members in attendance for the 20th Annual Meeting to receive the Founding Members Award as an acknowledgement of their contributions to the profession and the society. The award recipients were Carolyn Clark, Robert Norris, and Laurence Hirsch.

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“It is refreshing, encouraging and motivating to meet with others who contend with similar circumstances in their profession and feel the unity of working together to find solutions to the challenges we face.”

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Member Research Posters, Oral Presentations, and Award Winners

Showcasing the latest member research, more than 70 scientific posters were available for viewing through the meeting app and on display at the meeting. Select posters were displayed and presented at themed Guided Posters Tours, and three posters were chosen for oral presentations:

• An AI approach to analyze the context of publication citations – presented by Tomas Rees
• Examining the time- and effort-saving utility of tailored AI-tooling for abstract plain language summary development – presented by Walter Bender
• Using storytelling to communicate complex science: a quantitative and qualitative assessment of the narrative properties of journal articles on genetic medicines – presented by Stephen Case

Congratulations to the winners below of these poster awards: Most Reflective of Meeting Theme, Original Research, Best Visual Communications, and Most Visionary Research.

Board of Trustees – Welcome and Thank You!

The 2024-2025 ISMPP Board of Trustees initiated its term during the 20^th Annual Meeting. Congratulations to Tomas Rees who assumed the role of ISMPP Chair! Monica Mody transitioned to Immediate Past Chair. The following individuals were elected to their positions:

Chair-Elect • Diane Stothard, Executive Director, Publication Strategy and Launch Capabilities, Global Scientific Communications, Eli Lilly and Company

At-Large Trustee • Dana Fox, Senior Vice President, Portfolio Director, Caudex

Nominating Committee (Non-Voting) • Eric Wong, Director, Global Medical Affairs, Johnson & Johnson

With Great Appreciation!

We extend a heartfelt thank you to the 2024 Annual Meeting Program Committee – and to Jason Gardner, Chair, and Jenny Ghith, Vice-Chair, of the 2024 Program Committee – for their leadership in developing highly-regarded content for medical communication professionals.

In addition, a special appreciation is due to Sharon Willis, ISMPP Senior Manager, Education Content, and Suzanne Fraga and Deidra Renahan, for their meeting management. And finally, we thank ISMPP education content managers Kevin Lewis and Cassie Cobb, as well as the entire ISMPP staff.

We are very grateful to our exhibitors for their valued support of the 20th Annual Meeting! We express appreciation to our generous session sponsors. The plenary session, ‘What’s a “good” journal anyway?’, was sponsored by Digital Science. The Monday afternoon break with exhibitors was sponsored by CMPP.

A sincere thank you to our Champion Sponsors that registered 10 or more staff members from their company to attend the 20th Annual Meeting.

Our appreciation to The Publication Plan, our media partner for the 20th Annual Meeting.

Our appreciation to OPEN Health, our WIFI sponsor for the 20th Annual Meeting.

In honor of our esteemed faculty for the 20th Annual Meeting, ISMPP is proud to donate to The Myositis Association whose mission is to enhance the quality of life for those affected by myositis, to fund pioneering research, and to amplify awareness and advocacy for the condition. This contribution is dedicated to the memory of Dana Sambuco.

Mark Your Calendar – Upcoming ISMPP Meetings!

• ISMPP Academy – Nov. 13-14, 2024; Philadelphia, PA
• 2025 European Meeting of ISMPP – January 27-29, 2025; London, UK
• 21st Annual Meeting of ISMPP – May 12-14, 2025; Washington, DC

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