Melbourne Convention Centre, Melbourne, Australia

May 6 - 8 2005

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ICMS' World-beater Congress

The 6^th World Brain Injury Congress has exceeded all previous world standards thanks to its organizers, ICMS.

Held in Melbourne recently, the congress far exceeded the expected 600 delegates, with over 1,200 ultimately visiting Melbourne for this prestigious medical event. More than 25% of the attendees were international delegates.

It was the first time the event has been hosted in southern hemisphere and featured more than 250 presenters from around the globe and 9 workshops over a five day period at the Melbourne Convention Centre.

The Congress was held under the auspices of the International Brain Injury Association (IBIA), Australasian Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine (AFRM) and the Australian Society for the Study of Brain Impairment (ASSBI).

"The congress' success is good for both Australia and the committee," according to Madeleine Cullity, ICMS Conference Manager.

"The last congress was held in Sweden and that was our starting point in terms of a global marketing campaign to promote the next conference in Melbourne.

"We took advantage of any global connections the various stakeholders had in promoting the event to their members.

"The congress was also expertly supported by the Melbourne Convention Bureau in selling Melbourne and Australia as the destination," Ms Cullity explained.

The marketing campaign for the congress was expanded to incorporate a vast array of interest groups, such as occupational therapists, hospitals and private rehabilitation facilities, ensuring a broad cross-section of people working in this field was represented. It also contributed to the overwhelming number and variety of abstracts according to ICMS.

"The committee had a hard time trying to compile the scientific program because there were just so many abstracts of an extremely high quality.

"We ended up having 2 days of workshops with keynote speakers prior to the official opening ceremony and three concurrent workshops running for 3 days during the main program.

"What surprised us most was that interest didn't wane on Sunday which was the last day of the program and traditionally the day of sight-seeing. We opened the exhibition to interest groups within the general public and had a huge response. This represented a great return on investment for our exhibitors"

One initiative which proved especially successful was the suggestion to have an internet lounge on a lower level where other workshops were being conducted. "This not only gave delegates the opportunity to catch up on business at home, but also drew delegates to the different floor and ensured traffic for all aspects of the congress," Ms Cullity said.

ICMS provided a fully integrated management solution including comprehensive abstract management and exhibition services, as well as the sourcing, packaging and co-ordination of sponsorship arrangements. This is in addition to the traditional conference management services including all travel, accommodation and venue management.

The congress also broke an ICMS record. Planning was four years in the making and during that time, the Conference Manager got married and had a child.

"Whilst I was obviously quite busy during this time, ICMS ensured that the Organizing Committee had consistent and professional service."

"It was a most professional performance by the company and I believe that ICMS made a very significant contribution to its success," according to Dr David Burke, Chairman of the Local Organizing Committee.