VIDEO: Virtual ASH meeting made accessible for attendees

Editor’s note: This is a previously posted video, and the below is an automatically generated transcript to be used for informational purposes. Please notify editor@healio.com if there are concerns regarding accuracy of the transcription.

So this year, ASH, like many conferences, pivoted to a virtual format given the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. And I have to say that as an attendee, did an outstanding job. I found that the online format was easy to navigate and I was also able to watch presentations from sessions that were happening at the same time since they were recorded and could be watched later. I also found that I was able to engage with more abstracts and more sessions than typically just because I wasn't having to walk back and forth and so forth. The one downside is that I often utilize ASH as an opportunity to catch up with colleagues and also to engage in research projects and to develop new collaborations. And this was the part that was missing and I really missed that in-person feel and the opportunity to really develop relationships with colleagues that really helped me in my care of patients as well as developing research projects moving forward. So I do hope that in the future we'll be able to get back to an in-person format, but I found that from the standpoint of actually watching the meeting and engaging with the material, I found actually that it was much easier to do so. I also was able to take a break, you know, by being in my own home. I could plan around my family's schedule, for example, to be able to watch the sessions but also participate in family activities. Normally, ASH is almost one week time away which can be very difficult especially at that time of year. And so there were certainly some benefits here.