ACGS Summer Scientific Meeting 2016 Responses to Feedback Questionnaire July 2016

65 =45% Total Responses Out of 145 delegates invited to give feedback Response rate

100% of delegates rated the meeting good, very good or excellent Q1: Overall, how would you rate the 2016 ACGS Summer Scientific Meeting? Answered: 65 Skipped: 0 100% of delegates rated the meeting good, very good or excellent

Q2: Did the time of year suit your calendar for attendance or would you have preferred a different time Answered: 65 Skipped: 0 82% of delegates were either happy with a summer meeting or have no preference

Q3: Did you feel that there was ample time for discussion in the scientific sessions? Answered: 64 Skipped: 1 Just 1 delegate felt that the time set aside for discussion was poor

Q4: Did you feel that the meeting contained new ideas and materials? Answered: 62 Skipped: 3

Q5: Would you consider implementing any of the ideas/concept learnt in your workplace? Answered: 64 Skipped: 1 94% of delegates felt there was a good chance or better of them implementing ideas in their own lab!!!

Q6: Did the facilities & catering meet your requirements? Answered: 65 Skipped: 0 88% rated the facilities as very good or excellent

Q7: Was there sufficient space in the programme for breaks and networking? Answered: 64 Skipped: 1

Q8: Would you have liked the option to submit an abstract for poster presentation? Answered: 60 Skipped: 5 85% would like the option for posters to be considered for the next meeting…we’ll make sure we look at this next year

Q9: Do you think expanding the meeting to a larger venue with concurrent sessions would be an improvement? Answered: 57 Skipped: 8 74% of delegates feel that expanding the meeting could have a negative impact Comments included: “It was good to be able to attend all of the talks rather than having to decide between which one to go too and it meant a nice atmosphere in the lecture theatre” “Not sure, would probably like single day focussed meetings and then a larger meeting once a year with parallel sessions”

Some great suggestions for future conferences include: The return of the Conference dinner Inviting international speakers A forum where delegates can put their questions and ideas to the professional body A trainee presentation session / poster session (aimed at presentation of research projects) Future sessions on CEQAS, solid tumours, NIPD, PGD, HSST training projects, commissioning, bioinformatics, more on 100,000 genomes…

Other comments: Suggestions for improvement………. “The sessions were very long with few breaks-it was sometimes hard to maintain concentration even though the talks were interesting.” “(need to) check for trainee clashes. It was exam and OSFA week and I imagine many trainees would have liked to have the opportunity to attend, also maybe to present.” “I feel there was too much time taken up with talks about policy and high level national strategy issues. Only very few people are involved in making these decisions so perhaps a head of labs meeting is more appropriate. Understand general workforce should be aware of some key issues though. Much prefer the scientific/problem solving/best practice presentations from the afternoon sessions. Much more useful from my point of view for my practice at work.” “I worry we tried to fit too much into a short amount of time. I attended the Monday and the afternoon felt very rushed, and there was very little time to ask questions.”

“The meeting and quality of talks were great.” More comments: Positive feedback………. “The meeting and quality of talks were great.” “Overall the meeting was excellent!” “The themed session on variant interpretation worked well” “ I think you have done a fantastic job, and the meeting was a real success. Well done to the organising committee!” “Excellent meeting, with a good and relevant range of topics! I like the smaller venue of Austin Court, and would prefer a longer day so I can attend all talks, rather than concurrent sessions where you sometimes have to miss some of the talks due to location/logistics of moving around. Well done for a great conference!” “A great meeting!”

Thank you to everyone who took the time to complete this feedback!! ACGS 2016 organising committee