After more than a year of planning and executing virtual events—and doing it mostly from home—life-sciences event professionals will have an opportunity to participate in an in-person gathering of their own next month.
Pharma Forum is returning to the live format during late September’s Biotech Week Boston for two days of face-to-face learning and networking. What’s more, there will be two additional days of Pharma Forum sessions online right after the in-person event concludes.
According to Tracey Kimball, senior conference producer for show owner Informa Connect (also MeetingsNet’s parent company), “Pharma Forum is the largest, most influential annual forum dedicated to uniting life-sciences meeting and event professionals to navigate the future of medical meetings. This year, it’s a platform to address issues such as compliance implications for virtual interactions, the need for flexibility in contracting, and the development of re-entry strategies for face-to-face and hybrid events.”
“This will be the first time in two years that we’ve been able to reconvene this group,” Kimball adds. “It is a huge opportunity for people to discuss in detail what their challenges are and to share best practices and potential solutions.”
The 2021 version of Pharma Forum will be done in a hybrid format that features an unusual itinerary. First, there will be in-person education and networking on September 21 and 22 at the Boston Renaissance Seaport Hotel. Because of Covid protocols, there are just 320 seats available for the in-person part of the event—and it coincides with Biotech Week Boston’s events that will bring thousands of other life-sciences practitioners and professionals to town at the same time.
All of Pharma Forum’s in-person sessions will be captured for later viewing online. Besides the topics Kimball highlighted from the session agenda, there’s the presentation of the annual Trailblazer Awards plus a reimagined exhibit hall that will adhere to strict health-and-safety protocols under Marriott International’s Connect with Confidence Program as well as Informa’s AllSecure event protocols
At this time, show management is requiring that masks be worn on site by all event participants. Further details about Covid-protection requirements will be posted to the Pharma Forum website between now and the show dates.
September 23 starts the fully virtual part of Pharma Forum, with a full-day focus on issues affecting the life-sciences industry outside of North America. “We typically hold a separate Pharma Forum Europe event,” says Kimball. “Given the fact that we did a three-day virtual version in 2020 and because everyone is really busy with events in the third and fourth quarter, we opted to do a one-day virtual version focused on that region.”
Pharma Forum’s final day, September 24, will present online broadcasts of sessions from the in-person portion of the event while featuring real-time Q&A with each presenter. However, starting off the day will be a live panel discussion among five life-sciences event pros about “what they think the next couple of years will look like for this industry in terms of challenges as well as opportunities to adapt and thrive,” says Kimball.
Cost for either an all-access pass or a virtual-only pass for Pharma Forum is $99. For more information and to register, visit the Pharma Forum website.