Why Annual Meeting Attendees Keep Coming Back

"This meeting is very different now compared to how it was when it first started," a world-renowned gene therapy researcher based at the University of Florida told me when I asked him about the early days of the ASGCT Annual Meeting. Nowadays, the meeting garners attention from an extremely diverse audience, ranging from scientists to academics, entrepreneurs, investors, journalists, and science enthusiasts worldwide. That same researcher told me that, at its core, the Annual Meeting is still centered around all the amazing science happening in the cell and gene therapy (CGT) space to help ameliorate and save lives. The attention the meeting has received over the years is a testament to the rapid improvements, discoveries, and technological advances in the field of CGT. The researcher said he does not take these massive changes for granted and is proud to have been one of the first people to attend the very first Annual Meeting, which this year will likely involve more than 8,000 participants in Baltimore, a city rich with arts and a history of cultural innovation.

The account described above took place back in 2022. This year, ahead of the 27th Annual Meeting, I reached out to fellow CGT enthusiasts  on LinkedIn via a poll to learn more about the real reasons why they like to attend the meeting. My question was, "What's your favorite part about going to the ASGCT Annual Meetings?" and I offered the following choices:

1- Reconnect with colleagues

2- Talks and poster sessions

3- Keynotes & awards ceremony

4- Closing night reception

Twenty-two people responded to the poll, and we're excited to report that 59% want to reconnect with colleagues, while 23% want to check out the talks and poster sessions. Regarding the keynotes and awards ceremony, 14% of poll participants say that's what they look forward to the most. Lastly, the remaining 5% can't wait to turn up at the closing night reception.

If the majority of people who go to the meeting in person are there to meet up with their long lost colleagues, this means that somewhere in the crowd of 8,000 plus people this year, there'll be someone looking for you like a missing pen and hoping to catch up with you. Also, with the hundreds of poster presentations and talks, there'll be people who can't wait to see your groundbreaking work. Further, when you walk across the stage to receive an award or get recognized for your contributions to this amazing field, know that hundreds of people will have looked forward to sharing this moment with you all year long. Last but not least, when it's time to attend the closing ceremony, know that there'll be a lot of people there to celebrate with you and cap off the amazing memories you created throughout the conference.

In closing, from just a few people to now thousands of attendees, the ASGCT Annual Meeting is certainly more exciting now than ever. Personally, I can't wait to proudly look back 10-20 years from now, when the number of participants is in the tens of thousands, to say that this meeting used to attract only a few thousand people. It'll be interesting then to also find out the reasons why people continue to go to the meeting.

What are you looking forward to the most while attending the Annual Meeting in Baltimore this year?

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Widler Casy, PhD is Scientist III at Solid Biosciences, Inc. and a member of ASGCT's Communications Committee.

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