PM Society AGM 2011

Chairman's Report

Ladies and Gentlemen,

If I could just take up a couple of minutes of your time before we settle down to enjoy the evening, to highlight some of the activities that the Society has organised for you, its members, over the last 12 months.

Just to remind you, the PM Society is a not for profit organisation drawn from the pharmaceutical industry and its service companies.  It aims to bring people together to promote excellence in pharmaceutical marketing practice through: training and development; recognition and promotion of best practice; provision of a range of educational, networking and teambuilding activities.

Our meetings continue to track changes and developments in the NHS as they emerge, as reflected in our sold out meeting on ‘The Implications of the White Paper' held in October which was a hugely insightful event.  This meeting brought together Dr Joe McGilligan, chairman of ESyDoc, a commissioning consortium in East Surrey and Omar Ali, Formulary Advisory to Surrey and Sussex Healthcare Trust, who are both heavily engaged with the new agenda, to discuss the implications of the White Paper.
 

Similarly, our meeting looking at ‘Delivering mutual benefit from NHS and Pharma partnerships', chaired by Roy Lilley, was very well attended and focused on looking at the benefits, drawbacks and practical problems in forming and implementing joint working partnerships for the NHS and the pharma industry.  A webcast from this event can be found on our website.

And in similar vein, at our Annual Lecture last year we were delighted to be addressed by Coalition Government MP,  Margot James, who provided the audience with insight into the views of the new Government on where she believes the NHS is headed and the role of the industry in the new Government's healthcare agenda.

Add to that a review of the ABPI Code and an update on the outputs of the Society's industry working group looking at working with digital marketing in the pharmaceutical arena, and you will see we've had an exciting array of educational events.

In terms of training, we have continued to develop the Society's training programme, PriMe, which offers a comprehensive range of courses for new and aspiring marketeers through to marketing managers and those in global and leadership positions.

This year we've launched a new module, focusing on the practical applications of the ABPI code of practice, which has received excellent feedback to date.

In terms of recognition, both our, Advertising Awards and Digital Media Awards continue to thrive.

In January we celebrated the 25th anniversary of the Advertising Awards with special host, Graham Norton.  Growing from a small event in the mid1980s, this event is now the largest annual gathering of UK pharma industry and agency personnel.

The Society's second Digital Media Awards ceremony which took place last September was a sell-out attracting over 450 people.  Now in its third year the Digital Media Awards promises to be another main calendar date for both agencies and clients.

All our events offer the opportunity to network but our sailing regatta, which has completed its seventh year, also offers the opportunity for team building. Last year over 100 crew pitted their wits against the Solent and each other in yet another wonderful day out on the water.

The golf society continues to flourish with over 100 members enjoying four fixtures during the year.

 We are also pleased to report that this year the Society's finances are in good shape having made a modest profit on the year's activities which will enable us to invest in the development of new member services.
 

Finally, I would like to thank the committee, and particularly the executive sub-committee, for their continued support throughout the year.

Thank you,

Sandy Royden,
Chairman, PM Society