Symposium spotlight: Carry all the event materials and networking opportunities in your pocket

Those attending this year’s ACDIS Symposium: Outpatient in November will receive an email with online login information for materials and download instructions for this year’s Symposium smartphone app. The email will be sent approximately one week before the event. Check your spam filters and hospital firewalls. This post is meant to provide an overview of the app features.

Those who’ve attended the national ACDIS conference or Symposium previously can attest to how beneficial the event app can be. It brings all the speaker materials and bios, PowerPoint presentations, daily agenda, networking opportunities, and other event details to your fingertips so you can stay up-to-date without carrying around a stack of papers.

Those who prefer to take notes on paper should print the materials prior to leaving your office for the Symposium. To print the materials, use the download link included in your welcome letter. The letter will be emailed to attendees a few days before the event.

Once you’ve downloaded and logged into the app, you’ll see several dedicated icons (located along the bottom of your screen) for the following items:

• Activity newsfeed: Feel free to post pictures, tag other attendees, or include your location. Use the app to check into sessions and to share any take-home tips from a given speaker in a particular session.
• Notifications: Anytime someone follows you, messages you, or tags you, you’ll get a notification. We’ll also send you reminders with general event information. Be sure to “allow notifications” from the ACDIS app so you don’t miss out.
• Agenda: This tab houses a complete agenda for the event. You can personalize it, adding sessions you wish to attend, making it easy to keep track of your schedule. By clicking on the session, you will be brought to a page with a brief description of the topic and speaker. Here you can access the slides before, during, and after the conference right from your phone. (Note: Materials will open within the app for iPhone users. For Android users, the materials will download to your phone and can be accessed through your phone’s downloads folder.)

There are also a number of features in the menu section of the app. To access these features, go to the “more” icon along the bottom of the screen and scroll through the various categories, including:

• Exhibitors: This tab features an alphabetic list of all our exhibitors and information about each one.
• Conference details: This section includes all the logistical information about the conference you need to know. For instance, this section includes continuing education credit information, location, parking, suggested attire, and WiFi instructions.
• Sponsors: Similar to the exhibitor section, this section features a list of all our sponsors and information about those companies.
• Messages: Much like Facebook, this section will be for any private messages you may receive through the app. This can be especially helpful for connecting with old friends.
• Photo feed: This is where all the photos uploaded to the app will live.
• Attendees: This tab lets you network with and “follow” one another, much like Twitter (don’t worry, we do not provide any contact information—only your name, credentials, and facility). This allows you to network with all your CDI friends, old and new.

To get started, simply download the app by visiting the Google Play store or the Apple App store and searching ACDIS Conference. Should you need technical assistance, please visit the registration desk at the event.

Once you’ve downloaded the app, there are a few things you should do:

• Upload a photo of yourself
• Double check your profile information—your name, title, and facility or company—and edit if needed
• Link your account to existing Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn accounts, allowing you to post status updates to multiple accounts at once

Next, play around with the app to familiarize yourself with the agenda and the calendar, make sure you know how to access the slides.

Remember—this app is intended for professional networking purposes. Please keep all posts and pictures appropriate.

We appreciate your cooperation, and we hope you are as excited as we are. Of course, you may have a few questions or concerns. If you need help, please visit the registration desk. You can also call our customer service folks at 800-650-6787 or customerservice@hcpro.com.