2004-06-01
5th MACRO User Group sees record attendance
The latest MACRO User Group took place at the BMA Scotland meeting facility in Edinburgh on May 26th and 27th 2004 and saw record numbers attend. This year 71 users of the MACRO EDC system came to Edinburgh to exchange ideas and experiences and discuss future requirements for the software with the InferMed team. The meeting was organised by a committee of users and the users themselves created its structure and content.
The BMA Scotland meeting facility proved to be the ideal venue for this meeting with its purpose-built, state-of-the-art council chamber. Each of the delegates had an individual microphone and also had the opportunity to vote electronically from their seat on technical specifications, user requirements and future directions.
In addition to the plenary sessions at which users presented on their experiences of using the MACRO software, the group spent various sessions in smaller groups looking into further detail at their working practices and at their wishes for the future. These same groups also did some work on predicting the future trends for clinical trials and the likely changes in practice that the future may bring.
A survey measuring the satisfaction amongst users with the level of technical support and service provided by InferMed was also carried out. All user responses were in the ‘satisfied’ to ‘extremely satisfied’ range, with scores for training, installation and consultancy services being particularly high.
Commenting on this high scoring, Jocelyn Siddle Brown, InferMed’s Technical Services Manager, said, “ This level of satisfaction reflects the robust escalation procedures, call-tracking systems and knowledge bases that have been built up for MACRO support over the last few years. It is great to see that our customers appreciate and value the hard work put in by all the departments who have contributed to this success, whether from technical services, development or quality.”
The positive feedback given by attendees at the meeting also reflected an overall satisfaction with the new MACRO User Group format and the user committee will build on this success at future meetings. As the MACRO user community continues to grow, so too will the enthusiasm and the interest generated at this annual gathering.
