Outsourcing in Clinical Trials (OCT) Midwest 2019

Chicago, also known as the “windy city” is a hot-spot of modern art, fine dining, cutting edge comedy, and die-hard sports fans. There are dozens of major museums and theater companies in Chicago, so a cultural experience is never that hard to find. If you’re into shopping, the Magnificent Mile is one of the greatest avenues in the world and is at the center of all that makes Chicago an international destination, with over 460 luxury boutiques, art galleries, historical landmarks, hotels, restaurants. Another must-see when visiting Chicago is Navy Pier, which is one of Chicago’s top attractions. Stretching into Lake Michigan, this pier is a year-round destination but truly comes to life in the summer, with fireworks displays, live music, theatre, and cruises setting sail daily. With well over 100 major pharma and biotech conferences taking place every year in Chicago, it’s a great place for the industry. One of the conferences worth attending this year is OCT Midwest 2019.  

The Outsourcing in Clinical Trials (OCT) Midwest 2019 conference will be held from October 29th - 30th at the Marriott O’Hare Event Center, in Chicago, Illinois. The Outsourcing in Clinical Trials Midwest conference will return for its 4th year in October 2019 after previously successful meeting in Chicago. Co-located with the Clinical Trial Supply Midwest event, the meeting offers attendees an opportunity to develop their end-to-end clinical trials strategy over the course of 2 full days of activities. 

The 2018 conference included more interactive sessions than ever before, giving the attendees a chance to collaborate and overcome issues such as change management and developing a comprehensive risk management strategy for their clinical trial programs. Attendees were able to hear from expert speakers from top companies in the region including Eli Lilly, Horizon Pharma, Astellas and Abbvie as well as join networking activities with a multitude of innovative solution-providers. The 2019 program will packed with similar activities and built through a series of interactive speaker sessions, informative panel discussions and in-depth educational functions with the local industry. So if you are interested in being involved in this unique event, then please register your team today. 

For events such as OCT Midwest 2019, it can quickly become overwhelming for a team of company attendees, particularly if limited in size. With so much potential ground to cover, making the most of your time and investment is key, so we’ve put a few tips together for planning out your time in Chicago:   

Know the area and activities 

The Outsourcing in Clinical Trials Midwest event will bring together a definitive group of executives responsible for outsourcing clinical trials and enhancing partnerships with associated vendors in the area. There will be expert guidance through speaker sessions, panel discussions, interactive Q&A sessions, and roundtable discussions, as well as numerous networking opportunities for all attendees throughout the conference.

Some of the features that OCT Midwest 2019 will have to offer include: 

• 150+ attendees to meet each year

• 15+ exhibitors to explore

• 30+ speakers

• 60% attendees at director-level or higher
  

This particular conference is an exceptional networking opportunity for industry accelerators in the Midwest clinical trial space to meet their peers, uncover new insights into common challenges and engage with seasoned solution providers. During the conference you will be able to join like-minded colleagues and learn new perspectives and case studies on recent clinical trial developments through a series of speaker presentations, panel discussions, round-table sessions and roundtables. The conference will also discuss the vital connections between process, tools, and new technologies in order to manage the changes in clinical trial technology. The exhibition space will feature some of the best-in-class solution providers who will be ready to discuss improvements for your team’s clinical trial pipeline. 

This educational-driven conference will offer attendees opportunities to develop practical strategies that they can implement to optimize their unique drug development programs and overall goals. For more details visit the conference’s full agenda for a complete list of all the activities taking place during the event.   

Identify the right companies to meet

Overall the conference is geared toward addressing the concerns of trial sponsors based in the Midwest region who are conducting clinical trials at local and global levels. With a content-driven agenda, interactive networking sessions and a host of innovative exhibitors, the conference focuses on helping attendees find solutions to their most pressing clinical trial challenges. Even though this particular conference is small in size compared to some of the larger events we’ve recently talked about, OCT Midwest provides and unique advantage of networking with people on a very personal level, creating a unique atmosphere of close-knit experiences and building intimate relationships that would otherwise be difficult to achieve at the larger conferences. 

After listening to some speaker sessions and panel discussions, take some time to visit vendors in the exhibitor hall and discover new solutions that will speed up and lower the costs of your clinical trials. There will be a small source of exhibitors to learn about and discuss new technologies, current roadblocks, and potential solutions to your clinical trial pipeline. In order to plan ahead we think it’s important to view the full list of exhibitors and sponsors prior to arriving in order to make the best use of your time. 

Another great way to prepare for your trek through the exhibit area is to check out the Interactive Floor Plan to find specific companies that you’re interested in speaking with and lay out your plans for navigating the show. The interactive map is a great tool for anyone interested in making the most of their time at the OCT Midwest 2019.  

Find out who’s going

Sometimes it’s difficult to determine who’s going to be attending conferences in smaller venues, but we believe the Outsourcing in Clinical Trials Midwest event will be a unique platform for the pharma and biotech industries in the region to network and collaborate in order to refine their outsourcing strategies. Selecting the right partners, managing your relationships with your solution providers and targeting other stakeholders are all key factors in reducing the overall cost of your clinical trial pipeline. This content-driven conference will offer attendees opportunities to develop practical strategies that they can implement to further optimize their unique clinical trial programs. 

Day 1 will kick-off the conference with registration promptly followed by the chair’s opening remarks. Starting at 9am there will be a Keynote presentation regarding outsourcing management for small-sized companies, and then two educational tracks covering outsourcing in clinical trials and clinical trial supply with multiple speaker sessions and panel discussions on various informative topics. The networking lunch will be held at 12pm, followed by more presentations, and then interactive Q&A sessions starting at 3:45pm, with additional time for networking with fellow attendees and exhibitors. 

Day 2 will continue with more roundtable discussions, interactive Q&A’s, and panel discussions. In addition to all of these speaker presentations, there will be around 15 exhibitors to explore, so make sure to leave room for networking with potential solution providers as well as other attendees! Also be sure to check out the 2019 speaker list for more background information on all of the speakers attending the conference!

Wear comfortable footwear 

We always like to make a note of this for most conferences, and while the event space is much smaller than the behemoth exhibition centres contracted by other conferences, a good pair of shoes will go a long way!

Meet up with Zymewire

While we may not be attending OCT Midwest 2019 this year, we’d still like to hear from you! Let us know about your experiences, and how your company preps for events to maximize ROI. If you would like to learn more about how teams at service providers around the world are getting more face to face meetings with the right prospects, reach out for a demo today!