Bioconference Live 2011

 

 

 

I’ve spent the last couple of days at Bioconference Live 2011.  What’s unique about this conference is it’s hosted entirely online!  The conference covers subjects across life sciences including neuroscience, drug discovery, cancer Research, genetics, microbiology, and cell biology.  There have been a number of speakers from all over the world, delivering 30 minute presentations from their offices and labs.  Many of the talks were around diagnostics and pharmaceutical research, and were a bit outside of my area of interest, however there were some interesting talks on next generation sequencing technologies and personalized medicine that were very informative.  The conference was running EST so it was a bit late for me on GMT, but I was able to attend a few of the talks before I passed out!   I particularly enjoyed the talk by BlueSEQ on next generation sequencing.  The company offers a freelance review of current sequencing technologies, and consult on the technology for researchers.  Rory McNeil also gave a talk on mobile lab applications, and eCat from Axiope, which looked like an interesting sample management/electronic notebook tool that can be used with with desktops as well as mobiles and tablets.

The technology driving the conference enabled speakers to give a live video stream of themselves, next to their presentation screen.  Questions could be posted through the interface, and the speakers could respond after their presentation, and made each talk interactive with the audience.  Talks could also be imported into calendar tools so you could pick and chose your talks throughout the day, whilst carrying on with other work.  Slides could also be added to a virtual briefcase and downloaded after the talk.

Everybody likes conferences for freebies, and there was also an exhibitor hall.  The hall contained a virtual mall of exhibitor stands that could be scrolled through, and then clicked on for a particular vendor.  Each stand then had a multimedia presentation, links to produces and information, and free offers of samples.  Vendors could also be contacted live via video link to ask questions and get more information.

Also, there was a networking lobby using a chat room, where conference visitors could meet and chat with each other.  There were reps and exhibitors, as well as delegates and it was an excellent facility for meeting new people.

There were a diverse range of keynote speakers, listed here covering a whole range of different fields and specialisms.

Overall, the conference was excellent, and provides people like myself, no longer working in the field, the opportunity to keep on attending scientific conferences.  In the current financial climate, the technology shows it’s possible to host big international conferences with no travel costs, and retain many of the features of a live event, that can be fitted around the increasingly busy working schedule.  Hopefully it is a sign of things to come, rather than an exception.

There are further conferences from the organizers, and there appears to be another life sciences event in September 12-13 2012.

Back to the talks!