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WCSJ2011 in Doha

Final Conference Report

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Contents Event Review ................................................................................................................................................. 3

Financial Summary ......................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

Event Objectives ........................................................................................................................................... 4

Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................................................... 5

Delegates .................................................................................................................................................... 11

Scholars ....................................................................................................................................................... 20

Sponsors ......................................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

Program....................................................................................................................................................... 23

WCSJ2011 Website ..................................................................................................................................... 26

Delegates Feedback and Comments – A Selection ..................................................................................... 28

Overview of Conference Management Issues and Recommendations ...................................................... 31

Appendix ..................................................................................................................................................... 33

Delegate Feedback ..................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

Exhibitors Feedback ................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

WCJS2011 Marketing Materials ................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.

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Event Review

World Conference of Science Journalists 2011 June 26 to 30, 2011

Doha, Qatar

Conference Highlights:

Despite tremendous challenges due to events in Cairo, the WCSJ2011 was held successfully on

time.

Collaboration between two associations in different regions of the world created a truly

international event.

Eight hundred delegates from 89 countries. More than 50 percent of delegates were from the

developing world.

More than 200 journalists were offered scholarships from the WCSJ2011, the WFSJ, and many

other organizations to participate in Doha.

Thirty-nine sponsoring organizations providing more than US $ 1.6 million in support.

220 speakers, 5 pre-conference workshops, 3 opening keynotes, 3 opening plenaries, 3

afternoon plenaries, 42 parallel sessions, 10 lunch sessions, and 9 press briefings.

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Event Objectives

To allow journalists from around the world to network, and to learn and report on global scientific issues and to discuss today’s challenges in order to raise the standards of the profession worldwide.

To provide opportunities for developing world journalists to actively participate, learn and exchange experiences at the WCSJ2011.

To operate a breakeven event

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Acknowledgements

The WCSJ is organized every two years under the umbrella of the World Federation of Science

Journalists.

Conference Co-Hosts

Arab Science Journalists Association

National Association of Science Writers

The WFSJ, Conference Co-hosts, Conference steering committee, co-directors, and program chair would like to sincerely thank the Qatar Foundation for going above and beyond to make the WCSJ2011 happen on time despite many challenges.

Steering Committee

Abdalla Alnajjar, Arab Science & Technology Foundation (UAE)

Abdelhady Mesbah, ASJA (Egypt)

Cristine Russel, Council for the Advancement of Science Writing (USA)

Christophe Mvondo, World Federation of Science Journalists (Cameroon)

Julie Clayton, WCSJ2009 Conference Co-director (UK)

Magdy Said, ASJA (Egypt)

Pallab Ghosh, World Federation of Science Journalists (UK)

Robert Lee Hotz, NASW (USA)

Sallie Robins, WCSJ2009 Conference Co-director (UK)

Tinsley Davis, NASW (USA)

Conference Co-Directors

Dalia Abdel-Salam (Egypt)

Nadia El-Awady (Egypt)

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The WCSJ2011 co-hosts, steering committee, conference co-directors and program chair would like to

give special thanks to Jean-Marc Fleury and Sarah Willan for the exceptional work they put into giving

the conference the final push it required in the month running up to the event in Doha.

Program Committee

Deborah Blum, Program Chair (USA)

Akin Jimoh (Nigeria)

Christina Scott (South Africa)

Frank Nuijens (The Netherlands)

Gervais Mbarga (Cameroon)

Horacio Salazar (Mexico)

Istvan Palugyai (Hungary)

John Bohannon (USA)

Luisa Massarani (Brazil)

Nancy Shute (USA)

Natasha Mitchell (Australia)

Raghida Haddad (Lebanon)

Robert Lee Hotz (USA)

Shereen El-Feki (UK)

Subhra Priyadarshini (India)

Tatiana Pichugina (Russia)

Waleed Al-Shobakky (Qatar)

Deborah Blum, WCSJ2011 program chair, would also like to thank the countless number of science journalists who have taken the time to speak with her and provide feedback on their needs and that of journalists from their regions for the WCSJ2011 program.

Finance Committee

Beryl Benderley, NASW (USA)

Bothina Osama, ASJA (Egypt)

Martin Ince, WFSJ Finance Committee (UK)

Vesa Niinikingas, WFSJ Finance Committee (Finland)

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Website Committee

Mohammed Yahia, Committee Chair (Egypt)

Augustin Denis (Canada)

Frank Nuijens (The Netherlands)

Horacio Salazar (Mexico)

Communications Committee

Ginger Pinholster, AAAS, Committee Chair (USA)

Ashraf Amin, Ahram Newspaper (Egypt)

Augustin Denis, WFSJ (Canada)

Bruce Lewenstein, Cornell University (USA)

Charlie Petit, Knight Science Journalism Tracker (USA)

Clive Cookson, Financial Times (UK)

Curtis Brainard, Columbia Journalism Review (USA)

David Dickson, SciDev.Net (UK)

Jean-Marc Fleury, WFSJ (Canada)

Jim Cohen, The Kavli Foundation (USA)

Jim Cornell, International Science Writers Association (USA)

John Travis, Science (UK)

Julie Clayton, WCSJ2009 (UK)

Khaled Baramawy, Masrawy (Egypt)

Lynne Friedmann, National Association of Science Writers (USA)

Mohammed Yahia, Nature Middle East (Egypt)

Pallab Ghosh, BBC (UK)

Patrick McGinness, EurekAlert!-AAAS (USA)

Sallie Robins, WCSJ2009 (UK)

Sheril Kirshenbaum, Discover Magazine (USA)

Speakers: The WCSJ2011 organizing committees would like to thank the speakers and session

moderators and producers who made this a successful event.

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Sponsors:

Seed Funders:

World Federation of Science Journalists

Arab Science and Technology Foundation

American Association for the Advancement of Science

Council for the Advancement of Science Writing

National Association of Science Writers (US)

Lead Partner:

Qatar Foundation

Main Supporters:

Arab Science and Technology Foundation

Research, Development and Innovation Programme – Egypt

Platinum Sponsors:

Qatar Science and Technology Park

Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar

Gold Sponsor:

Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar

Silver Sponsors:

American Association for the Advancement of Science, EurekAlert!, Science

Johnson & Johnson

Sao Paulo Research Foundation

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Supporters:

Kavli Foundation

Nature and Nature Middle East

US Embassy in Egypt

Wellcome Trust

Media Room Sponsor

American Association for the Advancement of Science, EurekAlert!, Science

Media Partner

SciDev.net

Friends of the Conference

Council for the Advancement of Science Writing

Elsevier

Environment Agency Abu Dhabi

National Association of Science Writers

SciDev.net

Technical Center for Agricultural Development and Rural Cooperation

UNESCO

UKAid

US Embassy in Egypt

Workshop Sponsors

European School of Oncology

Knight Science Journalism Fellowships at MIT

UNESCO

Lunch Sponsors

American University in Cairo

European School of Oncology

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International Development Research Center

International Fund for Agricultural Development

Japan Science and Technology Agency

Knight Science Journalism Fellowships at MIT

Qatar Computing Research Institute

Qatar National Food Security Programme

Qatar Science & Technology Park

Waterloo Global Science Initiative

Official Carrier

Qatar Airways

Exhibitors

Alpha Galileo

American Association for the Advancement of Science

Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar

Elsevier

European Union of Science Journalism Associations

International Development Research Center

International Fund for Agricultural Development

Japan Science and Technology Agency

Johnson & Johnson

Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research

Qatar National Food Security Programme

Qatar Science & Technology Park

SKA South Africa

Sao Paulo Research Foundation FAPESP

Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council

Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar

Wiley-Blackwell

World Federation of Science Journalists

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Delegates

With the move from Cairo to Doha and the involvement of two separate teams putting together

delegate information, one based on online registration information and another based on on-site

registration, precise data is not entirely possible. However, based on the compilation of several available

lists, we know that the approximate total number of participants in the WCSJ2011 in Doha was 800 from

89 countries.

Geographical breakdown of participants is quite impressive: 24% from the Arab region, 18% from sub-

Saharan Africa, 12.5% from Australasia, 3% from Latin America, 25% from Europe, and 17% from North

America. As a result, more than half of the total participants of the WCSJ2011 in Doha were from the

developing world.

Of a total of 544 delegates who registered themselves online, 256 said they belonged to a WFSJ member

association. A significant portion of these belonged to the two hosting associations: 15% belonged to the

National Association of Science Writers (U.S.) and 12% belonged to the Arab Science Journalists

Association. The Association of British Science Writers and the Finnish Association of Science Editors and

Journalists also participated in large numbers: 9% and 6% each.

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Participant information:

General participant information

Speaker 220 27.50%

Delegate 390 48.75%

Exhibitor 28 3.50%

Scholar 72 9.00%

Local media 25 3.13%

QF spokesperson 9 1.13%

Student reporters 10 1.25%

Staff 46 5.75%

TOTAL 800 100.00%

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Paying delegates by month booked:

Paying delegates through online form by month booked

Jan-11 Feb-11 Mar-11 Apr-11 May-11 Jun-11 Total

Delegates 1 3 21 36 41 52 154

% 0.65% 1.95% 13.64% 23.38% 26.62% 33.77% 100.00%

Paying delegates through bank transfers by month booked

Jan-11 Feb-11 Mar-11 Apr-11 May-11 Jun-11 Total

Delegates 85 24 47 57 213

% 39.91% 11.27% 22.07% 26.76% 100.00%

TOTAL paying delegates by month booked

Jan-11 Feb-11 Mar-11 Apr-11 May-11 Jun-11 Total

Delegates 1 3 106 60 88 109 367

% 0.27% 0.82% 28.88% 16.35% 23.98% 29.70% 100.00%

Online bookings were launched at the end of January 2010, immediately before the Egyptian revolution.

The Egyptian revolution had a significant impact, as can be seen, on delaying online bookings. The

largest percentage of bookings were made in the months of May and June once it became clear to

potential delegates that the conference was running smoothly and that it would indeed happen in Doha

according to the new plan.

Bookings by delegate fee type:

Booking by delegate fee type

Commercial organization - early bird $750.00 0

Commercial organization - regular $800.00 3

Commercial organization - one day $280.00 4

Commercial organization - two days $560.00 7

NGO/Academic/Govt - early bird $560.00 1

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NGO/Academic/Govt - regular $600.00 51

NGO/Academic/Govt - one day $210.00 4

NGO/Academic/Govt - two days $420.00 7

Journalist - early bird $410.00 19

Journalist - regular $450.00 35

Journalist - one day $160.00 2

Journalist - two days $320.00 2

WFSJ member journalist - early bird $360.00 157

WFSJ member journalist - regular $400.00 49

WFSJ member journalist - one day $145.00 0

WFSJ member journalist - two days $280.00 0

Student - early bird $320.00 0

Student - regular $350.00 8

Student - one day $125.00 1

Student - two days $250.00 1

Student US Embassy scholarship $275.00 15

Other $500.00 1

TOTAL 367

Geographical regions of delegates:

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Geographical regions of delegates

Region Number %

Arab region 135 24.11%

Sub-Saharan Africa 99 17.68%

Australasia 70 12.50%

Latin America 18 3.21%

Europe 142 25.36%

North America 96 17.14%

TOTAL 560 100.00%

Geographical location of delegates:

WCSJ2011 participants came from 89 different countries.

Countries with the highest participation were the United States (11.6%), Qatar (9%), the United Kingdom

(8.8%), Egypt (6%), Canada (5%), and South Africa (4%).

Geographical location of delegates

Country Number %

Algeria 4 0.71%

Argentina 4 0.71%

Australia 9 1.61%

Austria 1 0.18%

Bahrain 1 0.18%

Bangladesh 4 0.71%

Belgium 5 0.89%

Benin 1 0.18%

Bosnia and Herzegovina 1 0.18%

Botswana 1 0.18%

Brazil 6 1.07%

Burkina Faso 1 0.18%

Cameroon 9 1.61%

Canada 30 5.36%

Chile 3 0.54%

China 7 1.25%

Congo 2 0.36%

Cote d'Ivoire 4 0.71%

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Cyprus 1 0.18%

Czech Republic 1 0.18%

Denmark 2 0.36%

Egypt 32 5.71%

Estonia 3 0.54%

Ethiopia 1 0.18%

Finland 15 2.68%

France 5 0.89%

Gabon 1 0.18%

Germany 4 0.71%

Ghana 4 0.71%

Greece 1 0.18%

Guatamala 1 0.18%

Hong Kong 2 0.36%

Hungary 2 0.36%

India 6 1.07%

Iraq 3 0.54%

Israel 1 0.18%

Italy 14 2.50%

Jamaica 1 0.18%

Japan 11 1.96%

Jordan 2 0.36%

Kenya 16 2.86%

Kuwait 3 0.54%

Laos 1 0.18%

Lebanon 6 1.07%

Madagascar 2 0.36%

Malawi 3 0.54%

Malaysia 3 0.54%

Mali 3 0.54%

Malta 1 0.18%

Mexico 4 0.71%

Mongolia 1 0.18%

Morocco 1 0.18%

Mozambique 1 0.18%

Nepal 1 0.18%

Netherlands 6 1.07%

Niger 1 0.18%

Nigeria 13 2.32%

Norway 11 1.96%

Pakistan 2 0.36%

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Philippines 3 0.54%

Poland 1 0.18%

Qatar 51 9.11%

Russia 3 0.54%

Rwanda 2 0.36%

Saudi Arabia 10 1.79%

Senegal 1 0.18%

Sierra Leone 1 0.18%

Singapore 2 0.36%

Solomon Islands 1 0.18%

South Africa 20 3.57%

South Korea 6 1.07%

Spain 6 1.07%

Sri Lanka 2 0.36%

Sudan 6 1.07%

Sweden 2 0.36%

Switzerland 9 1.61%

Syria 3 0.54%

Tanzania 2 0.36%

Thailand 3 0.54%

Tunisia 3 0.54%

Turkey 1 0.18%

Uganda 7 1.25%

United Arab Emirates 6 1.07%

United Kingdom 49 8.75%

United States 65 11.61%

Vietnam 1 0.18%

Yemen 4 0.71%

Zambia 4 0.71%

Zimbabwe 1 0.18%

TOTAL 560 100.00%

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WFSJ Associations – number of delegates per association:

WFSJ Associations - number of delegates per association

Association Number %

African Federation of Science Journalists 7 3.30%

Arab Science Journalists Association 31 14.62%

Australian Science Communicators 9 4.25%

Bangladesh Science Writers and Journalists Forum 3 1.42%

Cameroon Association of Science Journalists and Communicators - SciLife 7 3.30%

Canadian Science Writers Association 8 3.77%

Catalonian Association for Scientific Communication 2 0.94%

Chilean Association of Science Writers 2 0.94%

Chinese Society for Science & Technology Journalists 1 0.47%

Council for the Advancement of Science Writing 1 0.47%

Danish Science Journalists Association 2 0.94%

European Union of Science Journalists Associations 10 4.72%

Finnish Association of Science Editors and Journalists 15 7.08%

French Association of Science Journalists 3 1.42%

German Association of Science Writers - TELI 1 0.47%

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German Science Journalists Association - WPK 1 0.47%

International Science Writers Association 4 1.89%

Italian Association of Science Journalists 1 0.47%

Japanese Association of Science and Technology Journalists 5 2.36%

Medical Journalists Association of Japan 1 0.47%

Kenya Science Journalists Association 5 2.36%

Media for Environment, Science, Health and Agriculture - Kenya 1 0.47%

Dutch Association of Science Journalists 2 0.94%

Nigeria Association of Science Journalists 5 2.36%

Philippine Science Journalists Association 2 0.94%

Association of Science Communicators - Quebec 6 2.86%

Rwanda Association of Science Journalists 2 0.94%

South African Science Journalists Association 7 3.30%

Uganda Science Journalists Association 5 2.36%

Association of British Science Writers 23 10.85%

National Association of Science Writers 40 18.87%

TOTAL 212 100.00%

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Scholars

In total, the WCSJ2011 received 397 scholarship applications from 85 countries. An international

selection committee graded the applications.

A total of 38 scholarships were provided directly by the WCSJ2011 through funds it received from

sponsoring organizations.

Through a fund from Elsevier, the WCSJ2011 organized the travel and accommodations of six Asian

journalists to Doha. The Elsevier scholars were from Singapore, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Cambodia,

Philippines, and China.

Through a fund provided by the Wellcome Trust, the WCSJ2011 organized the travel and

accommodations of nine journalists to Doha. They were from Kuwait, Egypt, Argentina, Mexico, Ghana,

Chile and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

UNESCO’s Paris office provided a fund to the WCSJ2011 that supported the travel and accommodation

of eight journalists. They were from Egypt, Yemen, Zambia, Rwanda, Algeria, Uganda, and Saudi Arabia.

The US Embassy in Egypt provided a fund to the WCSJ2011 to support the travel of fifteen journalism

students from Cairo University.

In addition to the above, several organizations provided direct support to bring journalists to the

WCSJ2011 in Doha.

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The World Federation of Science Journalists supported a total of 109 journalists, mainly participants in

project SjCOOP which is funded by UK Aid, The Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Canada's

International Development Research Centre.

SciDev.net provided support for 18 journalists in addition to many of its fulltime staff and freelance

writers; totaling more than 30 journalists.

Environment Agency Abu Dhabi supported six journalists from the Emirates to participate.

The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) provided support for 15 African

journalists to participate.

ISESCO provided support for six Arab journalists to participate in the conference.

The National Association of Science Writers provided six scholarships to NASW members to participate

in the conference.

And UNESCO’s Arab regional office provided support for six people to participate in the conference.

In addition to all of the above, several organizations supported the conference by covering the travel

and accommodation costs of speakers.

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Budget management

The Qatar Foundation (QF) was the Lead Partner for the WCSJ2011. The QF had originally agreed to

sponsor the conference with US $200k however when they then agreed to host the conference in Doha,

as well as providing all the venues in kind, they also covered all additional costs related to the

conference so their total contribution to the costs of the conference we believe totaled approx US

$800k.

The WCSJ organizers raised and spent a further almost $600k on organizing the WCSJ2011.

Without the incredible contribution, flexibility, efforts and support from a huge team at the Qatar

Foundation and their subsidiary organizations, this conference simply would not have been possible,

especially given the very tight timescales in the lead up to the conference after the agreed move to

Doha, following the Revolutions in Cairo. WCSJ and the conference host associations, NASW and ASJA

are very grateful to the QF for their unwavering support and huge commitment made to ensure the

WCSJ2011 was a success.

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Program

The WCSJ2011 program was put together by an international program committee chaired by Deborah

Blum.

Approximately 15 program committee members were chosen from each region of the world in order to

satisfy the needs of science journalists no matter where they came from.

After initial email discussions among program committee members in order to develop the most

important themes and topics for the conference, Blum expanded her consultations with science

journalists during multiple trips during the first year of conference organizing. She then asked for

specific session ideas along the main themes and topics decided by the committee and eventually

assigned producers to organize sessions and choose speakers.

The program had approximately 220 speakers. Sessions were divided into the following tracks:

Biomedical Track: 5 sessions

Planet Earth Track: 4 sessions

Public and Private Track: 5 sessions

Media Matters Track: 6 sessions

Exploring the Boundaries Track: 3

sessions

Communication Challenge Track: 7

sessions

Best Practices Track: 12 sessions

Pre-conference workshops:

Five pre-conference workshops were organized on Sunday, June 26 at the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar:

The Digital Storyteller: sponsored by Knight Science Journalism Fellowships

Reporting on Climate Change and Biodiversity: sponsored by UNESCO

Implementing a Science Journalism Curriculum: sponsored by UNESCO

Cancer: the Role of Journalists in Informing Attitudes and Beliefs: sponsored by European School

of Oncology.

Science Journalism Development Training for Beginning Arab-Region Journalists: sponsored by

the Islamic Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization.

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All workshops reached full capacity except for the workshop on reporting on cancer that was negatively

impacted due to the inability of a large group of World Federation of Science Journalists’ trainees to

participate in this workshop as originally planned due to disruptions in their own program resulting from

visa delays. Nevertheless, the reporting on cancer workshop was attended by approximately 20

participants. The Science Journalism Development Training workshop was an on-going

training/mentoring throughout the course of the conference and gained increasing numbers of

participants each day of the conference.

Evening social event: Welcome Dinner hosted by Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar

Main program (organized at the Qatar Foundation Student Center):

Monday, June 27:

Morning: Opening ceremony, opening keynote,

opening plenary, 7 parallel sessions

Lunch: 3 sponsored lunch sessions

Afternoon: 7 parallels, 2 press briefings, 1

afternoon plenary, 1 networking event

Evening social event: Mocktail reception at Qatar

Science & Technology Park

Tuesday, June 28:

Morning: Keynote, opening plenary, 7 parallels

Lunch: 4 sponsored lunch sessions

Afternoon: 7 parallels, 4 press briefings, and 1 afternoon plenary

Evening social event: Siemens Profile Awards Ceremony

Wednesday, June 29:

Morning: Keynote, plenary, reception event, 7 parallels

Lunch: 3 sponsored lunch sessions

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Afternoon: 7 parallels, 3 press briefings, closing plenary, closing ceremony

Thursday, June 30:

Fieldtrips were organized to:

ASPIRE Academy for Sports Excellence & Aspetar

Mada (Qatar Assistive Technology Center)

Lusail City

Museum of Islamic Art

Al Jazeera English

Al Shaqab

Weill Cornell Medical Center in Qatar

Texas A&M at Qatar

Satellite Event (pre-event)

SjCOOP Meeting - June 24-26

Some 109 journalists and several consultants involved in the SjCOOP mentoring program of the World

Federation of Science Journalists participated in a three-day meeting held prior to the Conference. The

meeting was made possible thanks to funds from UK Aid, The Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs,

and Canada's International Development Research Centre.

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WCSJ2011 Website

31 news stories were produced for the WCSJ2011 website during the conference of which 14 were video

reports. 14 news stories were produced pre-conference. News stories published during the conference

were produced largely by Northwestern University students based in Qatar and by scholars.

Visitor statistics:

Between July 16, 2010 and July 16, 2011 the WCSJ2011 website received a total of 42,739 visits, 117,278

page views, and 18,735 absolute unique visitors.

42,739 visits came from 171 countries/territories.

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The highest number of visits came from the United States, Egypt, Qatar, United Kingdom, Italy, Canada,

India, Finland, Germany, and South Africa.

Traffic sources:

The main referring sites to the WCSJ2011 website were: the WFSJ website, Facebook, Twitter,

International Center for Journalists website, NASW website, FASEJ website, and SciDev.net.

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Delegates Feedback and Comments – A Selection

“Thank you for the flawless conference. It was an enjoyable as well as an enlightening experience for

me”.

“Congratulations on a brilliant WCSJ. You guys did a fantastic job. The world needs more people like you,

and not just to organise great conferences (which I am sure you won’t want to do anytime soon). I have

been to four WCSJs now and this was the best by far. In four days in Doha I managed to meet people

from at least 58 countries and watch some terrific talks. There were some great formats to replace the

tired old ‘death-by-PowerPoint’ approach and I think you have set a very high standard for the Finns to

follow.”

“Thank you for all your efforts in organizing the Doha conference and congratulations for a successful

and unique event with such a noticeable turnout.”

“Hi team I know we all spoke in Doha but I wanted to drop you an e-mail now I am back in the UK to say

how impressed I was with WCSJ2011, it was an incredible achievement under extraordinary

circumstances. The final plenary was so fascinating and really brought home to me how incredible it

was that you managed to keep the Conference on track with all that was happening around you – quite

literally – just extraordinary. I hope you managed to enjoy the event despite being so deeply involved.”

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“I would like to thank you for all the efforts to

organize my flights and stay at WSCJ 2011, which

after the problems at the beginning (I am impressed

you solved it so quickly) went so well. I would like to

thank Qatar Foundation for generously sponsoring

my attendance. It was very interesting and

developing experience, I learned a lot. Thank you. I

also believe that the session “One Gas Pipeline,

Seven Versions of Reality: Framing in Journalism” by

Finnish Association of Science Editors and Journalists

in which I was kindly invited to take part in, also

contributed to this enriching experience.”

“Congratulations for the fantastic conference! It was

really good! And it was fascinating to know more

about the Arabian science journalism!”

“Just a quick note to say I really enjoyed the congress. It was very well-organized in spite of the last-

minute move, we had a great session, and it was very nice to speak to all these amazing colleagues from

all over the world. We do have it easy, here in Holland...”

“I would like to thank you for a very enjoyable and productive conference. It is difficult to believe you

were able to reorganise everything for Doha in such a short amount of time, well done to you and all

your Team. I enjoyed the variety of sessions and meeting new people. I particularly enjoyed the closing

plenary; it was very moving and insightful.”

“Thank you for a wonderful conference, it was my first WCSJ and I learned a lot; it gave me the

opportunity to meet so many people whom I would never have been able to meet due to the

geographical distances between us. It really was an honor to be part of two panels. I have a lot to report

back to the SA Science Journalists’ Association.”

“I would like to thank you very much for your invitation to the WCSJ2011 in Doha. It has been a

wonderful experience. I left Doha electrified with inspiration.”

“Congratulations on an excellent conference! Excellent on all fronts – organization, logistics, and

content. Our session, ‘How do you solve a problem like malaria’ was well attended and aroused a great

deal of interest.”

“I wanted to congratulate you and your team on the conference in Doha. This is the 3rd WCSJ that I have

attended and it is the one that I found most relevant. The sessions were very interested and useful. It

was so good to hear so much about science in the Arab world, much of it is relevant to the countries I

work in (even though it is not in the Arab world). Well done.”

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“I wanted to thank you all as well for a really wonderful experience—on so many levels. I met loads of

amazing journalists, interviewed the 6 journalists we sponsored, and even served on a panel myself—a

personal first for me! Congratulations on an amazing achievement--to have reached a 50% developing

world attendance. I think the three of you created a highly inclusive, warm and unique organizational

culture during the past year. I hope that you can enjoy some well-deserved time to recharge with family

and friends after all you have given us.”

“I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate you and the level of professionalism and

dedication to pull off a huge event with such short time, the event was great and everything ran so

smooth.”

“We had a very positive experience and will certainly participate in 2011. I found the conference to be

intellectually stimulating as well as a good networking opportunity, and it was extremely well run (and

believe me, after working for 18 years at organizations that put on big national or global meetings each

year, I certainly understand what you went through and have real respect for the excellence exhibited

throughout the conference, from the program itself to the logistics behind it).”

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Organizers conference feedback and recommendations for future years

Exhibition

Ensure this is well located within the conference venue to guarantee footfall to the exhibition stands. In

Doha, the exhibition stands were too removed from the main conference rooms therefore meaning that

many delegates didn’t visit the stands, or didn’t walk past them often. It is advisable to have the

exhibition next to the main catering area and close to breakout rooms ideally.

Sponsored lunches

It is advisable to serve the lunches for sponsored sessions within the room so that only those delegates

attending these sessions will take their food from these points. All other delegates should take their

lunch from another main serving point, ideally within the exhibition. Additional extras could also be

offered to those attending the sponsored lunches to encourage attendance.

Trips and excursions

Make sure that trips and excursions are not organized to clash with the main program, especially not

with the plenary sessions. Post conference trips should be organized to take place only on the day

following the conference so not to distract from the core program. Tourist excursions are a good idea

however again; this should not be offered when the main program is taking place.

Transport

If venue is situated away from public transport routes and outside of a city centre and removed from the

hotel, ensure that the shuttle bus to and from the conference venue is frequent to allow delegates to

move between the 2 venues easily.

Visas

Start the visa application process earlier with the receiving immigration office and explain that there are

several people travelling from the developing world, thereby expecting these visas to take longer to be

processed.

Social events

Ensure that all social events are branded as WCSJ events if possible. Be careful which events are

scheduled as they must have relevance and be suitable for the WCSJ audience. This year’s Siemens

dinner, which was organized independently by Siemens and had no input from WCSJ team, was not an

ideal format for the journalist audience as it was too long with too many speeches that were not directly

related to the WCSJ.

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Scholarships

Transfer monies as early as possible to pay the hotels etc to ensure that money is received prior to the

delegates’ stay and to avoid issues with the hotel during the stay when the money has still not been

received.

Marketing

It would be wise to send regular e-newsletters to the database. They should be sent at least bi-monthly

from the beginning of the planning to keep people interested and updated on progress. Engage

audience more via social media channels. These channels should be regularly updated and used to

ensure constant activity to followers/audience.

Breakout room organizers

A member of staff should be allocated to each breakout room to ensure speakers have arrived,

presentations have been received and speakers, producers and sponsors have everything they require.

They should also ensure that sessions keep to time and flag up any overrun to the conference manager.

Translation/Interpreting

If possible, if speakers are presenting in a language other than English, it would be useful to insert a

country flag/key into the program so that delegates are aware and can take interpreting headsets prior

to the session starting.

Overview of Conference Management Issues and Recommendations

The WCSJ2011 was originally intended to be held in Cairo, Egypt. The eruption of the Egyptian

revolution, however, resulted in a need for a decision to move the conference to Doha, Qatar.

Management issues before the move to Doha were mainly related to difficulties setting up the

conference as an independent entity in Egypt. Due to this difficulty, a rather fluid arrangement was

made that later resulted in several problems. The set up was such that ASJA contracted two conference

co-directors and the conference accounts were spread between an account under the umbrella of the

WFSJ and two under the umbrella of the Arab Science & Technology Foundation (the umbrella

organization of ASJA).

A major issue was that no contracts were signed between the owner of the event (the WFSJ) and the co-

hosts of the event (ASJA and the NASW). Nor was an agreement signed between the two co-hosts of the

event defining roles and responsibilities. An attempt was made at drafting such an agreement rather

late in the conference but failed. Also, no agreement was signed between ASJA and ASTF defining roles

and responsibilities of each.

The move from Cairo to Doha created many challenges that were eventually overcome.

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The WCSJ2011 conference organizers very strongly recommend that the WFSJ draft an agreement that

clearly defines the roles and responsibilities of the WCSJ host and of the WFSJ as an umbrella

organization of the event.

We also recommend a more formalized involvement of the WFSJ in WCSJ organization, mostly in terms

of support and guidance. Some central support from the WFSJ that could alleviate some of the financial

and legal burden from what are usually small local associations and/or the individuals who organize the

conference is also recommended. However, we acknowledge that it is vital that the main bulk and

efforts of conference organization remain in the host country with the host association so that the

conference adopts its own unique identity each year.

Also needed is a more formal process of handover from one conference management team to the next.

Although the current handover process has been quite successful and efficient, this has been done

based on the good will of individuals involved. Handover should be a requirement of the WFSJ to

conference organizers and details of this handover process need to be clearly stated in the WFSJ

contract with the WCSJ conference organizer.

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