2023 – May 11 – 12
Minutes: Board Meeting Nordic Fertility Society
| Date: | May 11 th -12 th 2023 |
| Location: | Clarion Hotel & Congress Copenhagen Airport |
| Invited: | Stina Järvholm (President), Astrid Helene Sydtveit (N), Steinunn Thorsteinsdottir (IC), Sirpa Mäkinen (FI), Niels Fuglede (S), Hans Ivar Hanevik (N), Kirsten Louise Tryde Macklon (DK), Antti Perheentupa (FI) Janni Vikkelsø Jeppesen (DFS), Hanna Savolainen-Peltonen (SFY), Åsmund Mjøen-Vigeland (present NOFAB), Mats Brännström (SSRM) |
| Not present: | Janni Vikkelsø Jeppesen (DFS) Kirsten Louise Tryde Macklon (DK), Antti Perheentupa (FI) Hans Ivar Hanevik (N) was not present during Friday (7 and forward) |
- Presentation of board members.
- Secretary of today’s meeting is Stina
- Last minutes. Nothing to add to previous protocol.
- Report from NFS 2022 Congress in Helsinki (Sirpa)
Sirpa summarizes the meeting. The congress went very well, and participants, sponsors and organizers are satisfied. Details of different posts were discussed to make balanced decision regarding the upcoming congress. - Next NFS meeting in Norway (Hans Ivar)
The planning of the Oslo meeting is moving forward. Details of the presentation are added to the board as supplementary. The meeting will be held in Oslo 15-17 of August in 2024 at the Hotel Radisson Scandinavia at Holbergs plass, not Holbergs plass. gate. A congress bureau is signed and will help with negotiating with stakeholders, planning, website, economic matters etc. The registration fee would benefit to be differentiated in three steps: early, normal and late. The fee for the upcoming congress would be in the span of 4500-5500 NOK. A motto will be formed, suggested including “northern light”. - Planning the program for next congress (All)
We discussed the importance in having a program representing different professionals in reproductive medicine, physicians, laboratory personal and nurse/counselors. We also elaborated in including sessions about administrative matters. The program also needs to balance between speakers from all the Nordic countries but in favor of Norway this time. We agreed to focus on those who are new/young in the field. A session will be dedicated to present one recent PhD thesis from each country. We will continue with a prize for best oral and poster presentation. We also discussed levels of different sponsor-package. In the next step of planning the Norwegian committee will make a draft for the program and circulated with the board for suggestions, and the program will also be discussed on the first board meeting in the fall. - Report from treasure (Astrid)
Finally, the situation with no exit to our accounts have been solved. Thanks Astrid and Janni this have truly been an effort. The economical situation for the society is in order and stable. Every change in the board leads to a situation with the bank where all board members need to agree/sign different documents. A reminder to all board members are to always sign and return questions about the bank ASP. We agreed that it would be a good idea to have access to a payment card and gave treasure/Astrid the task to move this matter further. When Astrid resigns as treasure, we agree that thereafter always elect a treasure from Denmark since Danish citizenship will simplify collaboration with the bank. We agreed to leave the fee for the national society unchanged 2023. - Using NFS resources for the members and giving the society attention (All)
An inspiring discussion took place in how we can make the society more visible and vivid for the members. We agreed that in first steps to focus on three activities.
- a Annual experiences exchanges within professions staring with a meeting for personnel in laboratory meeting in Iceland later this fall. One person from every country can be chosen for this exchange and the board will select whom among the applicants. Steinunn and Niels will form this invitation and Steiunn will host this first meeting. Each participant gets a grant of 10 000 DKR covering the trip, hotel etc.
- We also decide that the President, on NFS budget, could visit the national annual meetings and giving a short speak about the work in NFS.
- At next ESHRE congress (Amsterdam 2024) we will host a Nordic lunch for NFS-members.
Other suggestions for the future were: travel grants to congress for example NFS, EHSRE and ASRM, research scholarship and hot topic courses. - Homepage (Steinunn)
The page serves its purpose and that is satisfying. To go for a more interactive page would be a huge task and not possible for the board. We agreed to form an info-mail to NFS which could be linked to the President of NFS. Astrid will contact Arne Sunde and see if he is willing to write about the history of NFS and we will also publish a photo from the first Geilo meeting in 1993 celebrating that NFS turns 30 this year. We will also add a list of past Presidents of NFS on the home page so the succession will be easy to follow. - Logo
We decide to try to come to an end with choosing a new logo. The work stopped when Hildegunn left the board. Åsmund will carry the torch forward and we looked at the previous suggestions and decided to go for a clean and simple design. We would like to have the logo for the webpage, written materials, power points etc. The cost for the worked would be limited to maximum 50 000 DKR. - Collaborations (Kirsten)
We shared the positive news with the answer from the Scottish clinic about participation at next congress. We also discussed the pros and cons with this arrangement since we as a society would favor an exchange with a national society. We decided to postpone this discussion to next meeting when Kirsten also can attend. - Webinars/education (Antti)
We shared the good news from Antti about the upcoming webinar in June and stressed the importance that every chair from each society inform about this activity. A suggestion for upcoming webinar is to host one in the fall about “Best Nordic presentations at ESHRE” - Next Meeting/meeting in spring 2023
Next meet will be digital in late September. Stina will contact Hans Ivar about possible dates. We agreed on a 2-hour meeting during evening. During the fall/winter additional digital meetings will need to take place to finalizing the program. We agreed that digital meetings will be held to a maximum of 2 hour and more frequent if needed rather than longer time.
Next on-site board meeting will be held in Oslo 11-12 April 2023 and will give the board a possibility to see the venue etc before the congress. Stina and Åsmund will coordinate the facilities for this board meeting. - Matters arising
Sirpa is creating a congress playbook adding important information to bear in mind in every step of planning the congress. We discussed the need of a digital archive both for this kind of tools and for other documentation that needs to be storage for the future. This question will need to be given attention on upcoming meetings.