Why Clinical Research Meetings Are Harder To Plan Right Now

If you're a sponsor, CRO, or clinical operations leader who's ever watched a full team mentally check out of a meeting, this conversation is for you. Melissa Burnham and Simon Awan of Scout Meetings pull back the curtain on what actually separates a forgettable meeting from one that drives real study performance—engaged sites, faster recruitment, fewer protocol deviations, and PIs who leave energized rather than exhausted. Clinical teams managing PI engagement, site recruitment, or trial budgets will walk away with practical ways to transform a flat agenda into one that sticks. The presentation covers key questions such as:

• Why building in 12 weeks of planning time (not 6) changes your options
• How interactive tablets can boost participation and surface real-time questions
• Why breakout groups and peer-to-peer site sharing accelerate recruitment knowledge transfer
• How small creative touches increase participant engagement without inflating budgets
• Why protecting networking breaks and lunches matters