ISMRM Annual Meeting shops for Asian host

Kerry Crockett

The International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM) has started investigating potential destinations in Asia for its Annual Meeting and Exhibition in 2024, when the event’s compulsory rotation takes it to this part of the world.

Kerry Crockett

Kerry Crockett, ISMRM’s Associate Executive Director, told TTGmice that her team is “now looking at getting together an RFP to send out for the meeting”.

To qualify, the destination must satisfy “the basics”.

One of the basics is a convention centre that can accommodate 6,000 attendees from all over the world, has sufficient breakout rooms for “a tremendous amount of concurrent sessions”, and has a hall that supports an exhibition of about 9,290m2 in size.

“Easy access is another thing we will look at,” said Crockett, who added that ISMRM does not use shuttle buses for its meeting delegates, so venues and hotels must be within walking distance or conveniently connected by public transport.

She said: “The hotel package comes next, and it is something we are very careful about. We have a ceiling budget for hotel room rates because we have residents and students in attendance, all the way through senior people in their field, so we need a wide range of quality properties that are affordable for all. They pay for their own travel, meeting registration fees and accommodation, so we need to be sensitive to their expenses. An average room rate of US$250 is ideal, but we certainly look for properties that are less expensive for our residents and students.”

ISMRM has investigated Japan, Hong Kong and Malaysia as possible host destinations for previous meetings, and is “starting to look at South Korea”.

“We may do a workshop in South Korea, so we are also taking the opportunity to consider that for the 2024 meeting,” she shared.

The ISMRM Annual Meeting and Exhibition rotates in a compulsory sequence – North America, Europe, North America and Asia. Its last Asian edition was held in Singapore in 2016. ­

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