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As discussed in the previous entry, we are now post-op after the successful live surgery program on Dec 6, 2012, part of the three-day 4th International Consensus Summit for Sleeve Gastrectomy.
The lead up was a cascade of phone calls and e-mails with 22 surgeons, their technical teams, a webcast team, a satellite company, a video conferencing bridge company and their on-site sub-contractor.
Weekly team conference calls in the final 6 weeks kept everyone on the same page, however weekly and even daily schedule changes were to be expected.
The status document became the bible for the project - all updates go on the same doc which got distributed around the group and around the world.
Skype has become a vital business communication tool. Video chat with folks in France, Mexico and Australia all on the same day was just one example of its utility.
Web-based streaming services such as Ustream and Livestream also came into play. However there is a 7 to 15 second delay between real-time and the incoming stream, so two-way voice communication required the use of an audio bridge.
Long story short - lots of pieces to the puzzle and a minute to minute dance on the day of execution. We had at any given moment from 1 to 7 live cases to choose from.
We not only coordinated and received video of live operations from returning players, but also featured the first ever live surgery transmissions from hospitals in Dendermonde, Prague, Perth, Tijuana and Tokyo.
Additionally we had participants from NY, San Fran, Chicago, Baton Rouge, St. Augustine, Sao Paulo, Brussels, Poissy, Rome, Madrid and Westchester, NY.
During the 9 hours of surgery viewing, our course chairman and expert faculty provided running commentary, and Q+A from the audience made for a dynamic event. Box lunches allowed people to return to their seats and a special lunch sessions featured cases from Tijuana, Madrid and Prague.
The surgeon in Montpellier made his local news:
http://languedoc-roussillon.france3.fr/2012/12/07/montpellier-une-operation...
But this was only day 1 of the meeting.
My other responsibilities including stills photography and making photo slide shows to play during breaks, and general AV and speaker support, and of course updating the Facebook page and sending a few tweets during the meeting.
Join the conversation:
https://www.facebook.com/ICSSG
We also had the event switched live and webcast as well as recorded to a KiPro for safe keeping.
Did I mention the meeting was in New York during the first weekend of December, in a hotel in the heart of Times Square? Lots of holiday cheer all around.
Stay tuned for my next entry "4 Days in NY".
For now, thanks for reading.
Mike Cohen
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