Speaker FAQs

The Australian Pharmacy Professional Conference and Trade Exhibition (APP) is The Pharmacy Guild of Australia’s annual national conference and the largest pharmacy conference and trade show in Australia. APP offers attendees a four-day educational program, a trade exhibition featuring over 450 stands, an exciting social program and networking opportunities.

The conference is attended by a wide range of community pharmacy stakeholders including pharmacy owners, community and hospital pharmacists, pharmacy assistants, pharmacy students and interns, pharmacy industry service providers, educators, government officials and representatives, pharmacy trade press and other pharmaceutical and health related industry professionals.

APP2024 is being held from 14-17 March 2024 at the Gold Coast Convention & Exhibition Centre, 2684-2690 Gold Coast Highway, Broadbeach.

To view your presentation day, time and session room please download the latest copy of the program here.

Please refer to the program link above for your presentation duration. For CPD purposes (see below), your overall presentation must run for the full time allocated and must factor in five (5) minutes of question time.

Speakers presenting in the Business, Innovation & Leadership Stream in Arena 1A must also factor in five (5) minutes at the beginning of their session for a sponsor address.

To ensure the smooth running of sessions and as a courtesy to other speakers, please restrict your presentation to the allocated time period.

Sessions at APP2024 have been allocated to one of the following streams:

1. Business, Innovation & Leadership Stream – the purpose of this stream is to provide attendees with the latest industry updates and advances in pharmacy, sessions on how to run your business more effectively and efficiently, and motivational presentations

2. Clinical Pharmacy/Product Update Stream – these sessions are categorised as one of the following:

• Clinical Pharmacy Updates – these presentations should provide an update on a particular disease state and ideally be presented by an expert in the given field. Speakers presenting a Clinical Pharmacy Update are highly encouraged to apply for Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Group 2 accreditation.
• Product Updates – these sessions provide an update on existing pharmacy products or the introduction of a product new to the market. Presentations may contain commercial information as these sessions are not required to be CPD accredited.

Your session sponsor has already advised which of these categories fits your presentation. If you disagree with the classification as outlined in the program, please contact your session sponsor or the APP Event Manager as soon as possible.

Yes, your personalised PowerPoint template will be available to download via a Dropbox link (the link will be emailed to you). If possible, we would like all speakers to use the PowerPoint template for visual consistency. If you do not wish to use the template, please create your PowerPoint slides in 16:9 format (widescreen) to fit the screen size. An introductory slide will be added to the front of your presentation to acknowledge the session sponsor.

The following audiovisual equipment will be available in your session room:

• lectern & microphone
• lapel microphone
• laser pointer
• dual projection screens

If you require additional audiovisual equipment, please advise the Event Manager as soon as possible. Your presentation will be pre-loaded and ready for you on arrival in your session room.

An online recording of the conference sessions is made available to all full delegates following the event. To advise whether or not you wish to have your session made available on this recording, please indicate this on the online Speaker Registration & Agreement Form (see below).

Yes. All speakers are entitled to a complimentary Day Registration on the day of their presentation (unless otherwise advised by the Events Manager). To register, please complete the online Speaker Registration & Agreement Form. A personalised link to this form will be sent to you shortly. This form allows you to purchase social function tickets and/or to upgrade to a full registration for a discounted rate of $440.

Please return this form by 2 February 2024.

If accommodation has not been arranged by your session sponsor or The Pharmacy Guild of Australia, you can book accommodation via the following link https://pulseevent.com.au/app24/.

If your session has been categorised as a Clinical Pharmacy Update, you are highly encouraged to apply for CPD accreditation. If you’re unsure of your presentation classification, please refer to the program.

Speakers presenting in the Business, Innovation & Leadership Stream are also encouraged to apply for CPD accreditation, unless the presentation has a predominately commercial and promotional focus (e.g. advertorial and product-based sessions).

Product Update presenters do not need to apply for CPD accreditation.

NB: Panel sessions are not eligible for CPD accreditation. If you are presenting in a panel session you do not need to apply for CPD accreditation.

Speakers not applying for CPD accreditation must provide their presentation by Friday 8 March 2024 in order for this to be checked, loaded and ready for you on arrival to your presentation room.

The accreditation of sessions allows pharmacists to gain CPD credits when they attend accredited sessions. Each year, pharmacists must obtain a specified number of credits to maintain registration. Sessions which are CPD accredited generally attract a larger audience.

For a session to be eligible for CPD accreditation, certain material (as outlined below) must be submitted. The session content will be reviewed against the criteria described in the Accreditation Standards for Continuing Professional Development Activities. The Australasian College of Pharmacy (the College) has also developed College CPD accreditation guidelines to support presenters, authors, and other parties seeking CPD accreditation. If further information is required to accredit the session, the Event Manager will contact the presenter.

1. Speaker Registration & Agreement Form – the purpose of this form is to register each speaker for the conference and to allow speakers to grant permission for their presentation to be recorded and made available on the online session recordings, which are available to all full delegates after the event. A personalised link to this form will be sent to you shortly.

2. Completed CPD Accreditation Application Form for each presenter – this form allows speakers to disclose any conflicts of interest and provides a checklist of items required. A personalised link to this form will be sent to you shortly.

3. Final PowerPoint presentation on APP template – as mentioned above, you will be sent a link to a Dropbox folder which includes all PowerPoint templates. We ask all speakers to use for visual consistency. If you do not wish to use the template, please create your PowerPoint slides in 16:9 format (widescreen) to fit the screen size

4. Learning objectives – please supply three (3) learning objectives you want the audience to take away from your presentation. These should be specific, actionable and measurable i.e. after completing this CPD activity, pharmacists should be able to …., but should also be as broad as possible. For more information about the development of learning objectives, refer to the CPD Accreditation Guidelines – 4. Setting learning objectives for the activity

5. Handouts/instructional material (if applicable)

6. Assessment questions (Multiple Choice Questions/MCQs) – presenters must submit five (5) MCQs. MCQs answers must:

• Relate to the above learning objectives you want to provide to the audience – for more information, refer to the College CPD accreditation guidelines – 7. Designing assessment for the activity
• Have four (4) plausible answers (A-D) – answers to be provided
• Not include ‘true / false’, ‘all of the above’ and /or ‘don’t know’ answer options
• Be covered in the content of the presentation (i.e. not new or additional to the presentation)
• Be of sufficient difficulty and not answerable unless the participant has attended the session

Overview of documents to be submitted:

*For presenters not applying for CPD accreditation, this is due on 8 March

Session material submitted after 2 February 2024 will not be eligible for CPD accreditation. Please submit to the Events Manager.

• The presentation should state the justification for its purpose e.g. new medicine, product, service, guideline, regulation etc or evidence of gaps in pharmacist knowledge, skills, abilities or service delivery
• Each of the stated learning objectives must be assessed by at least one (1) of the required number of MCQs
• Current and complete references must be included in the presentation, where applicable
• Content should be free of commercial bias and have no promotional content
• Content should be relevant and contemporaneous to the pharmacy industry
• Content should be a critical evaluation of the available literature e.g. limitations of the quoted literature should be declared etc
• When referring to available products, both active ingredient and brand names must be used to achieve a balanced presentation e.g Ibuprofen (Nurofen™, Advil™, Brufen™, Rafen™) is indicated for the management of mild pain. The same applies for the use of pictures/images of a certain product (e.g. Nurofen™) – the pictures/images of the other brands must also be included (e.g. Advil™, Brufen™, Rafen™)
• When referring to a product or service it must be presented in a way which outlines the overall concept rather than an individual product and/or service, e.g. discuss a pharmacy adherence program concept, rather than a specific service such as PDL etc.
• The presentation content must cover information for the assessment questions that will be asked of participants when seeking CPD points
• Content development must have significant input from a pharmacist and/or subject matter expert, to ensure relevance to contemporary pharmacy practice
• The content and method of delivery must promote effective adult learning principles, i.e. adult learners:
  • want learning experiences that are relevant, meet their needs and help them achieve their goals
  • are independent, self-motivated and self-directed
  • apply their diverse life experiences and knowledge to new learning, using problem solving, reflection and reasoning
  • need learning experiences to be practical and related to their lives and work
  • seek learning experiences that could improve their job satisfaction, self-esteem, quality of life, personal growth and development

Yes, we offer all speakers access to pharmacists who can assist with the application process and answer any questions, free of charge. Please contact the Events Manager for further information.

The CPD accreditation review process will be undertaken on any material submitted up to 2 February 2024. Any materials submitted after this date will not be accepted for CPD accreditation.

Making major changes to a PowerPoint presentation are not recommended as this may affect the accreditation status of the session. Any presentations which are changed post CPD accreditation will need to be reviewed again. If you need to make any changes to your material after submission, please contact the Events Manager to discuss further.

Please arrive at the conference 30-60 minutes prior to your session and advise staff at the Enquiries Desk that you are on-site. If you arrive within this timeframe you will be taken directly to your session room and introduced to the session Chairperson or Chairperson’s support person.

Following your presentation, you are free to leave the session room unless arrangements have been made with your session sponsor to remain until the end of the session block.

Yes, a dedicated Speakers’ Preparation Room is available to all presenters where tea, coffee and water will be available. This room is located off Foyer A on the Ground Floor of the GCCEC.

If you are running late for your session, please call the Events Manager, Emma Fernance on 0402 427 691. Emma will liaise with the session Chairperson and develop a contingency plan for your presentation time.

Yes. Although we will have your presentation loaded and ready for you on arrival at your session, we request that you bring an additional copy on a USB on the day of your session as a precaution.

Yes, parking at the Gold Coast Convention & Exhibition Centre is complimentary for all speakers. The entrance to the car park is off the Gold Coast Highway. Please see staff at the Enquiries Desk prior to departing for your complimentary car park exit ticket.

Your Chairperson will advise you when you have five (5) minutes left in your session. Once again, to ensure the sessions run smoothly and as a courtesy to other speakers, please restrict your presentation to the allocated timeframe.

Business, Innovation & Leadership Stream – Arena 1A (Thursday to Saturday)
Arena 1A contains auditorium-style seating and can accommodate up to 1,100 delegates with no capacity restrictions. This room is located on the Ground Floor of the Gold Coast Convention & Exhibition Centre.

Clinical/Pharmacy Product Update Stream – Meeting Rooms 5-7 (Thursday –Saturday)
Meeting Rooms 5-7 will be set theatre-style for up to 600 delegates with no capacity restrictions. This room is located on Level 1 of the Gold Coast Convention & Exhibition Centre.

For any speaker related questions before, during or after the event, please contact:

APP Event Manager
Emma Fernance
P. 0402 427 691
E: emma.fernance@qldguild.org.au