Seoul to Host World Congress of Internal Medicine
International Society of Internal Medicine recognizes city’s strengths
Seoul was selected as host of the 2014 World Congress of Internal Medicine at the 2008 event, held Sept. 16-20 of that year in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
The biennial World Congress is held sequentially on each continent. In the Asian region, Manila, Kyoto and Taipei hosted the congress in 1996, 2002, and 2006, respectively. In particular, the congress in Kyoto was attended by the emperor of Japan, indicating its significance. The 2006 congress in Argentina attracted more than 10,000 experts in internal medicine from all over the world. Australia and Chile were selected to host the congress in 2010 and 2012, respectively.
Decision to Bid for the Congress
In late 2007, the KAIM decided to bid for the 2014 World Congress and delivered its letter of intent to the ISIM secretary general. About a month later, it obtained a short reply that the ISIM would accept the application and notify the KAIM of specific bidding procedures later. Against this backdrop, the KAIM started its preparations for the bidding in March. Taking into account that the bidding process is conducted in the September congress, the KAIM and the PCO did not have sufficient time to fully prepare for it. To make matters worse, lack of bidding information made it rely solely on the reply from the secretary general.
Bidding Data and Activities for Hosting the Congress
Because it did not receive any notice other than the short reply, the KAIM and the PCO did not have a clear idea of what was required. As a result, they checked the ISIM website and contacted affiliated societies in Japan and Taiwan, past congress hosts, and organizing committees in Argentina, Australia, and Chile, future congress hosts, in order to gather data regarding bidding procedures. However, the societies and organizing committees delivered simple replies saying they would not directly relate to the bidding process and that the KAIM should contact the ISIM secretary general. The KAIM and the PCO notified the secretary general of their needs in writing and finally obtained bidding data in April.
First of all, a power point (PPT) proposal for hosting the congress had to be sent to the secretary general by late July, focusing on international conference infrastructure and KAIM information before an official presentation would be provided in the World Congress held from September 16 to 20. The 11-member ISIM executive committee reviews each proposal and then formal presentations are made before the final candidate is presented to the General Assembly. Therefore, the candidate chosen by the executive committee is deemed as host of the next congress.
The KAIM and the PCO chose their PPT manufacturer to prepare the proposal and consulted an affiliated professor for phase one contents. Thereafter, PPT contents were prepared, in cooperation with another professor who would provide the official presentation. Then, the final proposal approved by the KAIM board of directors was sent to ISIM executive committee members by late July.
In the bidding preparation process, the Korea Tourism Organization and the Seoul Convention Bureau provided necessary data and photos but failed to enable the KAIM and the PCO to systematically gather quality data. Furthermore, because printing firms and PPT manufacturers had only limited data and only assumed responsibility for technical works, the PCO had to prepare and deliver almost all of the contents.
Almost none of fundamental activities to host the 2014 congress are deemed to have been implemented in the process as a whole. The KAIM did not know any ISIM executive committee members other than one Japanese member, who represents Asia, and had few members who had ever attended the congress. Therefore, the KAIM had to depend solely on information from the Japanese member, only to find that the Philippines and Indonesia would also bid for the event.
Even though Korea is considered to have a competitive advantage in medicine and the national economy, the KAIM could not avoid difficulties due to its lack of data. In this context, resorting only to bidding data and its presentation, Korea was chosen as the host of the 2014 congress.
Presentation contents were organized to meet the ISIM time requirements. The 10-minute presentation consisted of a video introduction to Seoul and PPT contents that provided key academic and venue data. After several rehearsals and corrections, the presenter prepared English texts for individual practices. The Seoul Convention Bureau opened a clinic for hosting the congress and organized an English editing and training program where the presenter actively participated in order to revise the English texts and learn more appropriate expressions and highlights. In addition, presentation techniques were given through one-on-one lessons with native English speakers. The presenter stressed that the program played a pivotal role in winning the bidding.
Only a five-member group, rather than the PCO or the KAIM as a whole, attended the Argentina congress for effective promotion and a successful presentation. Their active endeavors enabled Korea to win the bidding. Only the presenter was allowed to join the presentation session for executive committee members before all of the competitor groups took part in the General Assembly presentations. This procedure is designed to ensure fair competition. The Korean group did not have sufficient time and data but its Indonesian counterpart was known to have invited executive committee members to its society meetings as guest speakers and conducted a variety of promotion activities. Five Indonesians were invited to the Argentina congress as speakers. Despite such unfavorable circumstances, Korea was chosen mainly due to its distinguished presentation content. The Philippines and Indonesian representatives relied on tourism data from their national tourism organizations, while their Korean counterpart focused on specific academic programs and procedures. As a result, in spite of the short preparation period and lack of data and personal networking, the Korean representatives were able to achieve their goal. The Korean members placed printed presentation files and small souvenirs in the rooms of executive committee members in order to help them gain a general idea of the presentation in advance. This is also deemed to have had a positive effect on their decision.
This preparation process as a whole provided an invaluable opportunity for Korea to learn the following significant lessons. First, the necessary strategy and data should be identified in order to successfully host a global event. Second, the Korea Tourism Organization and Convention Bureau need to systematize their database in order to enable affiliated parties to access their data conveniently and thereby save time and costs. Third, societies and organizations should more actively participate in international conferences and promote cooperation with global congress HQs. Korean experts should be given more opportunities to globally work as executive committee members. As Korea was selected as the host of the 2014 congress, the KAIM president is expected to lead the Congress as one of the executive committee members for the next six years. Such a position is likely to help Korean representatives in global contexts. In conclusion, the hosting of a global congress depends not on a single professional or society but active and seamless cooperation with affiliated national agencies. Thereby, Korea can solidify its position as one of the most reliable and effective convention venues in the world.
It should also be noted that this successful strategy enabled the PCO to accumulate significant experience and to gain confidence in future competition. Convention PM.