Managing speaker disclosures for conferences can feel like a juggling act, especially when you’re dealing with standalone emails and forms that are completely disconnected from other speaker data.
When information is scattered across multiple platforms, there is a lot of room for error and many extra steps that take extra time. For example, if each speaker sends their disclosures in a separate email, your administrative team will spend hours managing a mountain of emails in a cluttered inbox, and it’s almost guaranteed that something will be missed.
If disclosures are submitted through various forms that are not integrated with your main speaker management system, consolidating information becomes difficult. Plus, this method likely means your staff is entering data manually, which is not only time-consuming but also prone to errors.
When things are missed and mistakes are made, your conference risks losing its integrity, which is devastating considering the tremendous amount of effort it takes to organize an event. There can also be financial, regulatory, FDA, and technical copyrights which are required by overriding governing bodies for speakers to complete for each conference they present at, or each talk they present, and missing these or burdening your speakers with cumbersome forms and processes can leave a bad taste in your presenter’s mouth.
Ultimately, a disjointed speaker disclosure management process can eat up a lot of administrative time. So, how can you streamline speaker disclosure management for your conference? Let’s dive in.
1. Gather All Information in One Place
If you’ve ever managed speaker disclosures for a conference, you’ve probably used a combination of tools and processes to collect, track, and verify information. It can be quite a headache, right?
One of the easiest ways to streamline this process is to collect all of the necessary information, such as financial disclosures or conflicts of interest (COIs), in the same place as abstract submissions and other information.
Conference management software, like X-CD, is the ideal solution for integrating all of your data and processes on a unified platform.
By eliminating the need to go back and forth between platforms, your team will have more time to focus on other important tasks, including overall event strategy and execution.
2. Collect All Necessary Information With Abstract Submission
A common mistake that conference organizers make is collecting speaker disclosures at a separate time from abstract submissions.
While we understand that abstract submissions are typically reviewed before financial disclosures, we recommend asking prospective speakers to submit both simultaneously.
Why? Well, have you ever tried to get information from a busy professional while on a tight deadline? (We know you have, and we’re sure you didn’t love that experience!)
By collecting both the abstract and financial disclosures right away, you streamline the speaker management process, reduce administrative burdens, and avoid the potential for delays caused by separate review timelines.
3. Provide a Deadline for Speakers to Submit their Disclosures
People are prone to procrastinate, so it’s important to have systems in place to mitigate that.
To help ensure your team has ample time to review disclosures and address any issues, we encourage you to set a deadline for speakers to submit their information.
While the best option is to get speakers to submit all their documents immediately, we recognize that they may need more time, depending on the conference requirements. With clear deadlines, speakers are more likely to hold themselves accountable and submit their information on time.
Using a speaker management system that sends out automated email reminders to speakers who have yet to submit their disclosures is also helpful for getting all necessary information on time. With X-CD’s speaker management software, these emails can be set up to run automatically in the background, allowing your team to focus on other tasks.
4. Clearly Communicate Disclosure Requirements
Communication is key, and it’s important that your speakers have a clear understanding of what is expected of them so that they are prepared to provide all the necessary disclosures according to schedule.
An easy way to confirm that a speaker acknowledges your conference’s disclosure requirements is by adding a checkbox to the abstract submission. This simple yet powerful feature acts as an initial agreement, reminding speakers of their responsibility and reducing the likelihood of delays or non-compliance.
Additionally, a checkbox prompts speakers to review their information before finalizing their submission, minimizing the risk of oversight or forgetfulness.
Speaker Disclosure Management with X-CD
At X-CD, we offer fully integrated speaker management software because we understand the value of having a centralized location for abstract submissions, speaker disclosure management, and more.
Our system allows you to structure financial disclosures in a once-per-conference or once-per-submission format, and all disclosures remain in the speaker’s profile for years to come. Depending on the content submitted, you can determine if it is relevant to your conference and label it as such.
While we provide a questionnaire with common disclosure questions, you can customize it for your speakers and add a checkbox for them to acknowledge their understanding of the requirements. Once this information has been filled out, you can easily provide it to your CME, CE, or other accreditation body.
Request a demo today to discover how X-CD can help you streamline speaker disclosure management for your conference.
