UNOS members who serve on the board of directors and on various committees must travel multiple times a year. “We wanted to hear directly from these members about their travel and meeting experiences,” said Jeff Schmid, assistant director of UNOS Meeting Partners. “If they were pleased with how parts of the process worked, we wanted to know that. If something didn’t work, we wanted to know that too, so we could improve their overall travel experience.”
Earlier this year, between March 1 and July 29, UNOS Meeting Partners surveyed every transplant professional who traveled to attend a UNOS meeting. They emailed an online survey to 509 meeting attendees and 261 responded for a response rate of 51.3%.
Read a summary report of all results, including comments from members.
Summary of what they learned
• 97% of respondents were satisfied with the UNOS Meeting Partners Staff—a 5% increase from the last survey.
• 94% of the respondents were satisfied with their last meeting experience with UNOS.
• Over 91% of the respondents said they were satisfied with the hotel accommodations and services at their last meeting.
Changes coming
Survey feedback indicated that some members were confused by the way GetThere booking software searched for and displayed their flight alternatives. In response, members will now be able to select each leg of their flight separately, making it easier to get the exact fit for their needs. Additionally, the feedback indicated that members were confused by the error message that would sometimes appear when they used GetThere software, warning them they may be in violation of policy. GetThere is now redoing its travel policy engine, which means members will be seeing this message less in the future. “GetThere will work more logically to conform to what the UNOS travel policy actually states, which is that we weigh your needs against the lowest priced fare,” said Schmid. “What we end up with is a fare that is good for UNOS and ideal for the member’s schedule.”
Survey feedback also contained information about hotels that UNOS contracts with on a regular basis and information related to meeting logistics. UNOS Meeting Partners will share this information with the hotels and with the liaisons and committee chairs responsible for those meetings.
Thanks for your valuable input.
