First biometric passports, now ESTA. The US Department of Homeland Security has announced the implementation of its long awaited Electronic  System for Travel Authorization (ESTA), "a new fully automated, electronic system for screening passengers before they begin travel to the US under the VISA waiver program". It is anticipated that this will become mandatory in January 2009, and will affect almost all European countries; so anyone thinking of traveling to the US for a convention might want to add this to his/her checklist of things to do in advance. To get an idea, the following link takes you to the official US government site for Italy, but the same information is true for other countries.

We all know about 50% of participants at large US conventions are international. With new barriers like this, the debate is just starting as to how long these numbers will hold up.

This is an important development for those in the medical meetings business. In July, Pfizer, the world's largest pharma company, announced that in an effort to avoid the appearance of conflict of interest, they will no longer directly fund continuing medical education (CME) courses and meetings offered by medical education and communication companies (MECCs). Importantly for the association markets, the drug maker stated it would continue to fund CME courses offered by organizations such as academic institutions and teaching hospitals as well as those supported by medical societies. Opportunity for some, pain for others. Watch this space for other companies to follow. Learn more >>

Marathon's new Call4Abstracts™ Version 10.0 is getting more and more attention. Big or small, every meeting is different and your online abstract management system needs to be robust, flexible and allow you to be in control. If you haven't yet taken a look at our new developments, click here for more information and find out if one of our three levels of service suits your needs. Learn more >>