Given the sheer size of the 70th AACC Annual Scientific Meeting & Clinical Lab Expo in Chicago it’s no wonder this year’s brown bag sessions are as popular as ever. These small group sessions with just 10 attendees interacting at roundtables offer an intimate venue for laboratorians to share and discuss ideas and learn new things, Deanna Franke, PhD, brown bag session coordinator for the Annual Meeting Organizing Committee, told CLN Stat. “Greater collaborations across our membership have started from our Brown Bag program,” Franke said.
The format appeals to speakers and program attendees, as it fosters networking and meeting other individuals who share similar interests around a given focus topic. For speakers who enjoy engaging with an audience, the interactive nature of Brown Bag sessions holds special appeal. “This program offering also fills a niche within the annual scientific meeting educational sessions for single speakers. As an attendee of a Brown Bag session, given the small group setting, participants may feel more comfortable asking questions,” Franke observed.
A small group within the Annual Meeting Organizing Committee reviewed more than 100 session proposals for this year’s Brown Bag program, which features case-based learning, hot topics in lab medicine, quality, compliance, and many other topics.
“The focus of any educational offering is to support our membership by covering diverse topics within laboratory medicine. Since Brown Bag sessions are only an hour and are presented twice on their scheduled day, we looked for well-written, succinct proposals with actionable learning objectives,” according to Franke.
Brown Bags will take place twice a day on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. They are limited to 10 participants at each session and require extra registration ($25) above regular registration. Many of these popular sessions already have sold out; check their availability here.