Welcome to your first ARVO Annual Meeting!

Attending your first Annual Meeting, whether as an observer, speaker or presenter, while incredibly exciting, can also feel overwhelming with pressure to make the most out of all that ARVO has to offer. Over this blog series, we hope to enable to you make the most out the meeting, gain the experience you want and sustain the effects long after the week is over.

The Meeting is where the world of ophthalmology and vision research can come together and allows scientists, clinicians, industry, advocacy, education, faculty and students to connect with each other.  It’s all about engaging with your peers and mentors, being stimulated, sharing and debating ideas, developing new ones, hearing the latest in cutting edge innovation, getting feedback on your work and discover new ways to become involved. It’s also a great opportunity for career advice and that next job offer!

Preparation is key, and ARVO will have a programme timetable both on their Meeting website and via a mobile app to download in advance. This will allow you to scroll through the programme and abstracts in detail beforehand and design a personalised schedule for each day. The location and timings of each individual presentations are provided so, if you find there is a clash between sessions you want to attend, it’s fairly easy to time it so you’re there for the specific talk you want to hear. Alternatively, sessions will be recorded or you can always contact the presenter directly and arrange a meeting with them to discuss the work further. 

ARVO's First-Time Attendees Table, manned by the Members-in-Training (MIT) Committee, is a great first port of call for any questions or queries. There will be a dedicated MIT Lounge as well for you to relax in between sessions. First-timer ribbons are available also to attach to your conference badge which help to identify that it’s your first time to the Meeting, making it a little easier to ask someone for help!