iHEA

April 6, 2005

Guidance for Organizers of iHEA Conferences

This document will provide you with the majority of the information that you will need to put in a proposal to take on the role of conference convener. It is organized as follows:

1. Call for “Letters of Intent” to Host Future iHEA Conferences
2. Attendees
3. Duration, Time of Year
4. Space Requirements
5. Food and Beverage
6. Sessions
7. Satellite Conferences
8. Budget/Fees/Finances
9. Fundraising & Sponsorship
10. Exhibits & Print Program Advertisements
11. Promotion and Publications
12. Roles and Division of Responsibilities
13. Timeline for Planning

1. Call for Letters of Intent - to Host Future iHEA Conferences

The International Health Economics Association is interested in receiving expressions of interest from health economics research organizations to host future conferences of the association for up to 2000 delegates. We will not consider proposals from organizations that are not involved in the health economics research field. We do welcome proposals from emerging universities and national organizations as well as established centers.

Please submit “Letters of Intent” no longer than two pages in length which outline your capabilities in the following areas:

Physical Capacity: You should be able to demonstrate that you have access to facilities for plenary sessions, registration, poster and exhibit space, up to 15-20 parallel sessions, meals and lodging all reasonably close to each other.

Site Access: Your location should be easily accessible from abroad and be relatively close to an international airport, including good airport ground transportation of varying cost. Local transportation should also be available at varying costs. Ideally, most delegates should be able to walk to the conference venue from their accommodation within a reasonable amount of time.

Funding: You should demonstrate the ability to take part in and support the fundraising activities surrounding the conference.

Planning/Abstract Review: You should be able to form a local host organizing committee (HOC) of 6 to 12 individuals drawn from relevant constituencies, such as academia, industry and government. You should also have the capacity to draw on some abstract reviewers locally and internationally to join those provided by the standing iHEA Scientific Committee.

Operations: The Host Organizing Committee (HOC) is responsible for gathering a large group (25+) of volunteers to serve as technical support to the sessions and the conference. Registration, promotion, printing and other administrative tasks are handled by the iHEA secretariat. The HOC is deeply involved in the planning and implementation of plenary sessions, workshops, fundraising and social events, and has primary responsibility for conference receptions and gala events.

Time Line: Proposals must usually be submitted at least six (6) years in advance, so that a host organization and site confirmation can be made four (4) years in advance. Conferences usually run from Sunday to mid-afternoon Wednesday with pre-conference sessions, affiliated sessions, a gala dinner and opening and closing receptions.

Inquiries and expressions of interest should be made as soon as possible to bill@healtheconomics.org (before May 15, 2005). Written proposals are due by June 10, 2005

2. Attendees

The iHEA membership constitutes the core of conference delegates. The lead plenary speakers are among the most notable people in health economics, and have included 6 nobel laureates, ministers of health and finance, and leaders of NGOs. All of the activities that build the association and enhance its reputation are, in a sense, conference promotion. Typically, about 60-70% of delegates are making a presentation (plenary, podium or poster) at the conference.

Attendance has grown over time

City	Year	Attendees
Vancouver	1996	646
Rotterdam	1999	927
York	2001	1239
San Francisco	2003	1435

iHEA is truly international, drawing delegates from 70+ countries. Thus the LOC should plan for visa and other issues involved in hosting international delegates. Proposals should reflect these historical trends, and should plan for 1500 to 2000 attendees from a variety of countries.

3. Duration, Time of Year

Conferences should run from Sunday to Wednesday with pre-conference sessions, affiliated sessions and an opening reception. Wednesday should be a partial day program typically ending early to mid-afternoon. In order to ensure the greatest attendance conferences should run as near to the 2nd week in July as possible. Reasons for this are:

• Many European teaching programs are not completed until well into June.
• European holidays typically start after the middle of July.
• July 1st and July 4th are North American holidays and may affect attendance from the region with the highest proportion of iHEA members.

iHEA conferences require a relatively compact space where all venues are within a close distance to each other. There should be wheelchair access. Generally we prefer the following:

1. A large central area
2. Easy access to 15-20 breakout spaces
3. Easy access to plenary space
4. Office space

4. Space Requirements

1. Central Area Requirements

   Registration Area

   registration tables for material pick up, area for on-site registration, message board, storage for luggage, coats, conference materials, etc

   Internet kiosks

   providing Ethernet, phone and wireless access for up to 50 users at a time

   Exhibits

   prefer space for 25-50 exhibits, ranging from table-top to full trade show set-ups

   Posters

   space for 100-200 posters, ranging from 1 metre by 1 metre, to 2 metres by 1 metre

   Refreshments

   space for people to meet during break times for refreshments to discuss posters

   Capacity

   Should be able to hold 1500-2000 people

2. Breakout Space Requirements

   Need around 15-20 spaces, easily accessible from the central area with an average capacity of 100 and a minimum of 80. Should be able to deal with overhead and projector based presentations

3. Plenary Space

   Room for 1500-2000 people. 2 spaces may also be adequate with a capacity of 1500-2000 for the first 2 sessions and 1000 for the closing session, but prefer to use 1 space

4. Office space

   A room suitable for a temporary iHEA Executive Office, where iHEA’s officers can access the internet, make ‘phone calls and meet key individuals (e.g. major conference funders). Also, it would be useful to have a room where speakers could review their presentation and generally prepare for their session

5. Food and Beverage

   Traditionally, iHEA conferences have a Gala Dinner on Monday or Tuesday Night, and provide lunches for participants. There are also closing and opening receptions. These are all somewhat flexible and largely a responsibility of the LOC.

   Chilled drinking water should be easily available to attendees throughout the conference.

6. Sessions

   iHEA Conference Sessions Memorandum

   iHEA conferences typically run for 3+ days and have more than 100 session times. The following is a brief description of the different types of sessions, timing, the forms of scientific review, etc.

   Plenary Sessions

   Plenaries are invited sessions featuring a single distinguished speaker or panel. Invitations for a plenary are extended by the executive conference organizing committee in consultation with iHEA. Suggestions for future speakers are welcome. Such speakers are leaders in economics or health care. Previous plenary sessions have featured Nobel laureates, ministers and heads of major NGOs

   Organized Sessions

   Organized sessions are peer-reviewed sessions that are submitted as a complete package. An organized session may be several papers on a related subject with a chair and discussants, a panel examining a major policy or social experiment, a single paper with commentary, or other format. Organized sessions are solicited by members of the scientific committee and may also be submitted by any member of iHEA. Submissions should include a brief explanation/overview of the session, abstracts, and relevant details regarding the presenters. Prior professional activities of the organizer and presenters are criteria for acceptance and thus review is not blinded. Peer review and acceptance for organized sessions takes place prior to the deadline for the contributed abstracts. (Organized sessions will not normally occupy more than 50% of the total slots for parallel sessions.)

   Contributed Abstracts

   Contributed abstracts are single abstracts submitted individually for blinded peer review. Abstracts are collated by iHEA and the review is coordinated electronically for members of the scientific committee. Each abstract is read and scored by at least two reviewers.Contributed abstracts are grouped and presented in three kinds of sessions.

   • Podium (long format), usually 3 papers per session
   • Podium (short format), usually 5 papers per session
   • Posters, usually in large sessions in the main hall during an open full-day time slot

   The following sessions and events are a part of the iHEA conference but outside the framework of the scientific program, and thus are not peer-reviewed, and the content is not included in the proceedings.

   Social Events

   These include breakfasts, dinners, award presentations, cocktail hours and other events that may have a speaker or other presentation, but are primarily honorary or social rather than scientific

   Workshops

   Workshops are usually half- or full-day training sessions run by iHEA carried out by invited experts on a specific subject or methodology (e.g., logistic regression, conjoint analysis, anti-trust law). They require advance registration and additional fee payment

   SESE (Satellite Economic and Social Events)

   These are sessions held by related organizations (e.g., Australian Health Economics Association, OHE) that are included in the printed program but operate outside of the regular iHEA conference structure. Since they are under the direction of the sponsoring organization, not iHEA, they may use alternatives to the normal procedures (i.e., use of other languages, special equipment, participation by invitation, restricted attendance, fees, honoraria, etc.)

   Satellite Conferences

   Satellites are conferences under the aegis of related organizations (e.g., World Bank, Ministries of Health, trade organizations, consultancies) with the cooperation of the iHEA conference executive taking place in days before or after the regular iHEA conference or in during the evening.

7. Budget/Fees/Finances

   The conference registration fee has been kept at the same modest level (in real terms) since the first iHEA conference in 1996, about €500. This is sufficient to cover basic costs and maintain a 10% contingency reserve. Part of the conference registration fee is used to cover the administrative costs of the Host Organizing Committee. In addition, part of the conference registration fee is dedicated to overhead for maintenance of the iHEA administrative offices and planning for future conferences. Typically, differential conference fees are set: (i) between members and non-members; and (ii) between early registrants and late registrants. Student registrations are accommodated through a scholarship scheme (see below).

   Any surplus generated by the conference is split equally between the host organization and iHEA. The HOC and iHEA are usually able to generate between €200,000 and €300,000 in sponsorships to supplement conference funding, supporting the Gala Dinner, more elaborate receptions, etc

8. Fundraising and Sponsorship

   A key feature of the proposal to host an iHEA conference is a fundraising plan. Usually the local/provincial/national governments agencies of the host institution(s) are able to provide some core support. Some of this is in-kind (e.g., free use of convention facility, hosting a reception). The extent of local events depends largely on fundraising, as registration fees are required to support basic conference administration and operations. Funds have been provided by a variety of Academic Publishers, NGOs, Consultancies, Pharmaceutical Firms, Information Technology Firms and Universities. The statement below spells out the official policy on funding and sponsorship adopted by the iHEA board.

   iHEA Policy #2: Memorandum on Funding and Sponsorship

   iHEA is an academic society supported by its membership. It welcomes organizational members whose sponsorship helps to disseminate research, support development of new initiatives and extend activities to less developed countries. iHEA recognizes that all sponsoring organizations (government ministries, NGOs and corporations) have interests. iHEA protects its academic integrity by requiring transparency in all financial support, by relying primarily on membership for core funding, and by having a diversified pool of sponsors so that no single interest has undue importance. For conference sponsorship, iHEA welcomes contributions in support of the meeting, which will be given appropriate acknowledgment in the conference programs and posters. Scientific sessions are run exclusively by Association under the standards of academic peer-review and are not sponsored by any outside organization. Social events, workshops and other elements (e.g., bags, books, etc.) may be sponsored at the discretion of the conference organizing committee. Attendance at the conference is the financial responsibility of the individual, and of course will make use of a variety of funding sources. iHEA willingly invites organization to sponsor attendance at the meeting by subsidizing registration, travel and housing costs, particularly for students and researchers from the developing world. iHEA adheres to the principles on conflict of interest promulgated by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors and will adopt a modified form of their “uniform principles” for all peer-reviewed submissions (ICMJE uniform principles are currently under revision: see J. Am. Med. Assoc. 286(10):1232-1234, September 12, 2001). All contributors to scientific sessions will be obliged to declare sources of support and potential conflicts of interest as a regular part of the abstract submission process for both organized and contributed sessions. Finally, iHEA supports academic integrity by inviting all members and interested outsiders to view its financial statements, which are made publicly available at www.healtheconomics.org.

   iHEA accepts general conference sponsorship. Peer-reviewed scientific sessions are never sponsored (although attendees may have their travel and registration costs covered by a sponsor). Sponsorship of Scholarships for students and delegates from developing countries is actively encouraged. Sponsorship of breakfasts, workshops, etc. is usually allowed, and in some cases the HOC may, in consultation with iHEA conference administration, allow sponsorship of specific items (social events, bags, etc.)

9. Exhibits and Print Program Advertisements

   iHEA makes available tables and booth space for organizational members, sponsors and, with approval, some vendors. Print advertisements in the Conference Program are solicited. Pricing of these items is available from the iHEA Secretariat. All funds obtained from exhibits and print program advertisements are added to general conference funding.

10. Promotion and Publications

    Since the membership constitutes the core attendees of the iHEA conference, all of the activities that build the association and enhance its reputation are, in a sense, promotion. Continuity and strong linkages to journals, research units, publishers and academic agencies are important to delegates. Thus print brochures, posters, emailings, etc., are more in the nature of reminders and general association building rather than traditional “promotion.” Collections of papers from the iHEA conference may appear as special issues of journals, and occasionally as monographs or edited conference volumes. The iHEA Secretariat works with the HOC to develop a consistent print and promotion plan. The HOC may also desire to create a conference volume, journal issue, etc., for which it will take the lead, while coordinating with the iHEA Secretariat.

11. Roles and Division of Responsibilities

    The ultimate responsibility for the conference rests with the iHEA board, acting through the executive director (E.D.). The Board has established a Conference Committee, which advises on general policy relating to iHEA Conferences. On a practical level, the responsibilities are divided between the Host Organizing Committee (HOC), the iHEA Secretariat (headquartered in Kingston), and usually one or more professional conference consultants or destination management companies (DMC), all coordinated by the E.D. who supervises the timeline, task assignments, financial plan, budget and approval process

    Sessions

    Abstract review and choice of papers for oral or poster presentations rests with the Scientific Committee. Abstract collection and review coordination is handled through the iHEA Secretariat.

    Web Site

    A web site is constructed at least 2 years prior to the conference by the iHEA secretariat, and updated periodically.

    Registration

    Delegates register through the website under the management of the secretariat. There is also usually a small amount of on-site registration (typically 5 - 10%) managed by the DMC or conference consultant.

    Financial Management

    The budget is drafted by the executive director with the input of the HOC. Typically, budgetary authority is devolved to the appropriate level — HOC responsible for its own administrative costs and special events (subject to budget); DMC arranging for hotel, dinner venue, transport; secretariat responsible for printing and promotion, processing of abstracts and registration; with coordination.

    Host Organizing Committee (HOC) and Local Conference Organizer (LCO)

    Once a conference site is chosen, the convener(s) first task is to develop a local organizing committee of 6-12 individuals. These people should be able to meet face-to-face relatively often with increasing frequency as the conference date nears. The HOC is intimately involved with the selection of hotels and conference sites

    DMC and Conference Consultant

    It is usual for iHEA to engage professional conference support both for planning and local operations. The choice of a local conference firm, if any, is made by the iHEA secretariat in conjunction with the HOC. The particular division of local support tasks between the HOC, DMC and consultant varies with the locale and availability of resources.

    Local Conference Support Service

    • On-site management
    • On-site registration
    • Exhibit management
    • Local staff (volunteers)
    • Hotel registration
    • Restaurant information
    • Transportation coordination
    • Social event coordination
    • VIP treatment
    • Immigration

    Scholarships

    In order to maintain the international focus of iHEA, active solicitation of scholarship support to enable researchers from developing countries is necessary. Scholarships, including those externally funded by NGOs and Corporate sponsors, are usually coordinated by the iHEA secretariat. Scholarships should also be made available to students who are unable to obtain full financial support from their host institution.

    Application must be made prior to conference, with a deadline usually 6 months in advance. The order of priority is usually as follows: participants presenting papers/posters from developing countries, other researchers from developing countries, participants presenting papers from developed countries, other students, other non-presenters.

    Disclosure

    All presenters must submit a disclosure form while submitting their abstracts or organized sessions. These must indicate all relevant affiliations for the presenter and co-authors and all funding sources for the research you are presenting. This information will not be used during the assessment of abstracts received in the open call.

    Awards

    There are student awards available that will be presented during the final plenary. They will be assessed based on abstract, paper, and presentation. Each element will be weighted depending on presentation type.

    Chairs

    Chairs take an active role in the management of sessions. In particular, they are to control the timing of speakers, discussants, audiovisuals, and distribution of handouts. Approximately 120 chairs are selected by the scientific committee, the HOC and the secretariat. Chairs are expected to contact all presenters in their sessions well before the conference begins.

    Conference evaluation and report

    The local organizers will evaluate the conference using an on-line form devised by iHEA. They will also submit a report to the iHEA Board.

    Financial audit

    The conference accounts will be subjected to independent financial review and approval by the iHEA audit committee.

12. Timeline for Planning

    See the appended Conference Timeline. Planning usually starts at least 6 years in advance of the anticipated conference date, with final site selection at least 4 years in advance. Discussions are begun with a potential host and evolve over a period of years to allow for better understanding of the issues, local resources and responsibilities, and extent of interest and official sponsorship. Instead of a single choice being made at one point in time among competing proposals, the process is more akin to the development of a relationship that eventually results in the committed local group, after thorough investigation of the potential for an iHEA conference, building toward a successful proposal, most of which is approved in advance.

Appendix: iHEA Conference TIMELINE

(revised May 06, 2003)

iHEA Conference Timeline

Year	Date	Description of Activity
-6		preliminary discussions, investigate support
-5	April	site selection
-5	Oct	Local (Host) organizing committee (HOC) formed Hotel & facilities negotiations Preliminary budget. Letters of Agreement
-4	**June	(Prior Prior CONFERENCE) Planning meeting
-3	April	Preliminary venue bookings for social / plenary events Revised budget. Choose “Theme.” Contact DMC.
-2	April	Set all Deadlines. Postcard & Poster copy. Administrator hired and briefed. Pre-registration web site established. Plenary speakers. Fundraising Plan
-2	**June	(Prior CONFERENCE) Poster distributed, HOC meets
-2	Oct	preliminary call for abstracts (i.e., notice in journals). Mail postcard. Site inspection / review. Confirm rooms, AV, etc.
-2	Dec	Contact speakers, contact sponsors
-1	Feb	Brochure/Call for Organized Session proposals Set up abstract submission & registration system Confirm plenary speakers, sponsors Organize Sessions
-1	Aug 15	Deadline for Workshops, Sponsored events. email call for abstracts
-1	Sept 15	Conference Program Posted (partial listing.) Org sessions proposal deadline Registration opens on web, Brochure (& last call for abstracts) mailed
-1	Nov 15	Abstract submission deadline. Review Abstracts
0	Jan 15	Abstract acceptances emailed. Prelim session schedule posted. Presenter confirmation. Early Registration Deadline.
0	April 30	Conference Program (detail) Posted.
0	May 15	Proceedings (Plenaries, Program and Abstracts) sent to printer. (prior week: walk through, final check, setup)
0	**July	CONFERENCE
o	Aug	Final report, conference evaluation
0	Nov	Final accounting, budget closed

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