Hello! After over 20 years of attending ARVO, I have 3 pieces of advice to help you plan for a successful 2014 ARVO meeting.
1. Use the ARVO Mobile App. The ARVO meeting is an excellent venue for developing contacts, collaborations, or catching up with old friends. The main reason to attend, for most of us, is to learn cutting edge science in ophthalmology. However, with the sheer size of the convention center and large number of abstracts at ARVO, simply finding the correct poster at the right time can be a challenge. I strongly urge you to use the ARVO Mobile App that is available directly from the ARVO meeting webpage. This is an easy-to-use and powerful search engine that will find every abstract that you are interested in - from your area of science or an abstract from a former graduate student! I did not make an itinerary last year and I was lost the entire meeting! The smart phone app has also been very helpful.
2. Make appointments in advance of the ARVO meeting for your key contacts. There are some people you absolutely do not want to miss at the meeting, but due to the size of the venue, it is possible that you will not run into them by chance. Go ahead and preschedule meetings, lunches, and even dinners so that your important contacts will be made.
3. Set some time aside to relax (Remember you are in Florida!). After you have found all the sessions, abstracts, and lectures that you want to attend and have scheduled all of your contact appointments – set aside some time to stroll along the beach and relax. I have found that when I try to cram everything into my ARVO schedule and have no down time, I learn much less. Furthermore, remember ARVO is somewhat like a marathon, a good steady pace and not a sprint will get you through to the finish, or in this case, Thursday!
Have a great meeting and I hope to see you in Orlando.