On conference evaluation forms, a full 63% of this year’s participants regard the quality of ACC Lake Louise as better or much better than all other CME events they’ve attended.

Over 65% of this year’s attendees already have responded that they are likely or very likely to return next year. Why? The quality of CME programming was the number one reason people cited, with the Lake Louise opportunity for camaraderie being number two.

Attendees felt strongly that, overall, faculty presentations were of a high instructional quality. For the charts below, attendees expressed to what extent they agreed with the following statements:

• the topic achieved important educational objectives.
• the presenter was knowledgeable, well prepared and engaging.

Scores below indicate the average response. The key to interpreting numbers is:
4= Strongly Agree
3= Agree
2= Neutral
1= Disagree
0= Strongly Disagree

Sunday & Monday Presentations

Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday Presentations

Tuesday & Wednesday Workshops

Faculty and events specially praised in written comments

• Dr. Genest
• Dr. Gersh
• Dr. Grogan (”excellent”)
• Dr. Kastelein (”superb!”)
• Dr. Lau (”Bring Dr. Lau back.”)
• Dr. Sleight (”…a delight!” “…a revelation…” “…really enjoyed Dr. Sleight’s music talk…” “… excellent [declaration of competing interests]…”)
• Dr. Smith

• “Session in cardiac imaging was superb”
• “Merck Frosst morning meeting was excellent. It should have been a non-symposium and made a main event. The collection of speakers was outstanding…”

Ninety-seven percent said registration lived up to its billing as easy and quick, and 99% found the conference website, e-mails and RSS feed useful.

Cost of attending the event was worthy of remark by many attendees, and 85% report staying at the Fairmont Château. Some attendees requested favourite recreational events be reinstituted in future years (the barn dance, hikes or outdoor activities in addition to skiing). In any case, even when commenting on expenses, 91% of attendees still regard the quality of food and lodging as commensurate with pricing.

As one of the premier international cardiology events held in Canada each year, ACC Lake Louise provides a companionable environment for thought leaders and educators to interact with medical practitioners and local health leaders.

Overall at the 2008 Annual Cardiovascular Conference at Lake Louise 86% of attendees were from Canada, 8% were from the US and 6% were from outside North America, including Australia, Belgium, Japan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, The Netherlands and The United Kingdom.

Nine Canadian provinces were represented by over 225 attendees: more than half came from Alberta and Ontario, and a third were from Québec, Manitoba and British Columbia.

For those who attended before, their average number of years attending was more than eight. Over 20 people indicated having attended more than 10 years, and five of these had attended 20 or more times.

Faculty were from McGill, Alberta, Montréal, Toronto, the Mayo Clinic, Oxford University and the University of Amsterdam, among elsewhere.