7 Ways to Streamline Your Abstract Management

Let’s talk about Amara. 

Amara is managing an abstracts conference, but she’s up to her ears in inefficiency. Between manual record-keeping in Excel spreadsheets and the scribbled-on scans of printed PDFs that are clogging up her inbox, Amara has very little time for the multitude of other priorities in abstract management. And this doesn’t include the leadership summit, oil change, and parent-teacher conference she also has to make time for this week.

She needs ways to streamline her process. Among other things, Amara wishes she could rid herself of:

• Grueling manual updates to contact and submission data
• Time triaging last-minute abstract edits, post-submission
• The merry-go-round of logins for her CRM, AMS, and marketing software
• Abstracts that ignore requirements
• Busy reviewers that need chasing
• Her whiteboard—where she’s sketching the final session agenda

Amara Wants Abstract Management Software

Amara daydreams about all the ways an abstract management system could save her time. A centralized platform could handle all aspects of the abstract collection process, from the call for papers to final review, selection, and scheduling. The whole conference would come together with so much less stress and frustrating duplication of her efforts. 

Then on Wednesday, Jeff comes into her office with exciting news. The association is going to start using something called OpenWater! At a meeting that afternoon, she learns all the ways she’ll be able to streamline her job. This new system will:

1. Help Presenters Manage Themselves 

They’ll be able to log in and complete or edit their abstracts later, on their own, without Amara’s help.

2. Ensure All Abstracts Meet Expectations

The ability to create required fields and customizable eligibility rules will end her follow-up runaround. She can prevent abstracts from being submitted at all if they don’t include the necessary information, in the required format, and meet the required standards. Data will always match the needs of her CRM, membership, and registration systems.

3. Access All Relevant Software In One Place

The centralized OpenWater platform integrates with all of the software that touches abstract management, like MailChimp, HubSpot, PayPal, Google Analytics, and Personify. Single sign-on functionality will mean she can ditch the sticky password notes—everything is accessible in one application, through her Google account.

4. Automate Email Communications

Built-in email messaging and automation will help Amara contact presenters with targeted invitations, broadcast customized emails about guidelines (or deadlines), send out confirmations or alerts, and slip in timely reminders that keep reviewers on track. 

5. Create Reusable Program Templates

Next year, Amara will be able to start her abstract management cycle by picking up right where she left off. Last year’s abstract program template will already be built out with a submission form, eligibility rules, a contact list, customized scoring for multiple rounds of review, and a similar schedule. This approach is so much easier to update and modify than the alternative, which would usually involve starting the whole process over again.

6. Track User Analytics

With abstract management software that tracks behavior on submission forms, Amara will be able to monitor progress and troubleshoot in real-time. Better yet, there will be a repository of information on user behavior to help her address dropoff points and improve the program template for the next go-around, so that more users complete their abstracts before the deadline.

7. Build the Sessions and Schedule Online

At long last, Amara’s whiteboard can go! She’ll be able to browse completed papers, group them into sessions, and drag-and-drop them into an easy online schedule builder.

Amara’s Dream Can Become Reality

At OpenWater, we set out to create the ideal abstract management solution for people like Amara. There is truly no better way to streamline your process than a comprehensive software that collects abstract submissions, conducts a customizable review process, schedules your sessions, and integrates with dozens of external APIs. Kick off a seamless, robust review process next year with all-in-one abstract management software.

David Lincoln

The Features You Want in an Abstract Submission Management System

How to Sort Conference Abstracts Into a Conference Agenda