For more than 60 years, the Parenteral Drug Association (PDA), a professional society headquartered in the Washington, D.C., area, has pioneered in providing research toward science, technology, and education for over 10,000 pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical community members. Each year PDA successfully coordinates several large-scale conferences while simultaneously managing multiple smaller pharmaceutical industry special interest group meetings that occur in conjunction with their large events. “The challenge that we were facing was that we hold interest group meetings on about 24 different industry topics for the pharmaceutical industry at our conferences. At the largest conferences, we’ll usually have between 600 and 800 people in attendance. After the conference was finished, we would have to do data entry of between 1,200 and 1,400 people onto committees to try to

1. The steadily increasing volume of
participants at each event—both large
and small—are a direct reflection of
the association’s continuously growing
membership and demand for additional
industry specific learning opportunities.
Albeit being a positive indicator of
the impact of their work within the
pharmaceutical industry, it also left the
PDA staff with a long and laborious task to
tackle after each event.
The team at PDA developed a simple,
user-friendly process driven by the Aptify
platform to assist with alleviating some
of the burden staff faced when entering
pertinent data after each event. Aptify
users of all skill levels can now implore
the Random List Trick to help quickly
import and export the member data they
need—reducing what originally took nearly
three days down to a 15-minute task. To
accomplish this, PDA staff first exports
the Aptify Linked Data, which typically
includes contact names, email addresses,
and telephone numbers into an Excel
document using the Aptify Excel integration
wizard. Next, the staff member will use
the FINDER TAB to verify the populated
information by cross-referencing meeting
registration lists with Aptify data. Once
that information has been confirmed, the
staff member can simply press a button
and seamlessly add those names to the
corresponding committees.
The simplicity and accuracy of this process
has allowed for end users at PDA to greatly
change the way they work. From Hill’s
perspective, it really showcases the power
behind the Aptify platform from all angles,
“As soon as they hear this process and
can get it done in 15 minutes, everybody’s
happy. That’s what I like about it. You figure
out the process, you share it with your
colleagues, and take advantage of Aptify.”
Keeping It Simple
SNAPSHOT
Customer Profile
PDA’s mission is to develop
scientifically sound, practical
technical information and
resources to advance science and
regulation for the pharmaceutical
and biopharmaceutical industry
through the expertise of our global
membership.
The Parenteral Drug Association
(PDA) is the leading global
provider of science, technology
and regulatory information and
education for the pharmaceutical
and biopharmaceutical
community. Founded in 1946
as a nonprofit organization,
PDA is committed to developing
scientifically sound, practical
technical information and
resources to advance science and
regulation through the expertise
of its nearly 10,000 members
worldwide.
How PDA Developed a Random List Trick to Simplify Staff Workload
For more than 60 years, the Parenteral Drug Association (PDA), a professional society
headquartered in the Washington, D.C., area, has pioneered in providing research toward
science, technology, and education for over 10,000 pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical
community members. Each year PDA successfully coordinates several large-scale
conferences while simultaneously managing multiple smaller pharmaceutical industry
special interest group meetings that occur in conjunction with their large events.
“The challenge that we were facing was that we hold interest group meetings on about
24 different industry topics for the pharmaceutical industry at our conferences. At the
largest conferences, we’ll usually have between 600 and 800 people in attendance. After
the conference was finished, we would have to do data entry of between 1,200 and 1,400
people onto committees to try to keep track of who is in which group,” shares Jonathan Hill,
Volunteer Coordinator at PDA.
Aptify users of all skill levels can now implore the
Random List Trick to help quickly import and export
the member data they need—reducing what originally
took nearly three days down to a 15-minute task.
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