J.Jpn. Surg. Soc.. 123(2): 159-164, 2022

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Feature topic

LIVE SESSIONS: ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF WEB CONFERENCES

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the annual congress of the Japan Surgical Society was held online for the second consecutive year from 2020. Comparing the 120th and 121st web congresses with the 117th to 119th held at physical venues, there were fewer participants in each “live” advanced session of the virtual web-based congresses than in the face-to-face congresses even though the total number of participants was greater in the virtual congresses. The possible advantages of live sessions held online are reduced costs, less time and financial burdens on participants, increased number of participants, ease of chat or questionnaire systems, acquisition of access data, ease of archive distribution of recorded sessions, etc. On the other hand, the problems are difficulties in judging the atmosphere of discussions, developing relationships among participants, holding accompanying events such as social gatherings, attendance of overseas participants due to time differences, emergency responses to lost connections, etc. Even in the post-COVID era, virtual web-based meetings are expected to become mainstream, and it is important to create the optimal form of live sessions which enables fulfilling presentations and discussions.

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