Goal: To increase the number of study section meetings held in areas outside Washington, D.C., to improve convenience for reviewers in the west and central regions of the United States who typically travel to Washington to attend CSR review meetings. Out-of-town meetings can be held in any of the following five cities: Chicago, Seattle, Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego, and/or in association with a national scientific conference.

Benefits: Holding out-of-town meetings will relieve some of the travel burden experienced by reviewers from the west coast, and thereby facilitate reviewer recruitment and improve attendance. The option to hold meetings out-of-town will allow CSR staff to choose from a broader selection of available hotels and will increase flexibility in scheduling meetings. It is also expected that cost savings may result for the out-of-town initiative.

Status: Over one hundred out-of-town meetings have been held in the approved metropolitan areas since the initiative began during the 2007/10 council round. Ninety-four of these meetings were held in California, with San Francisco and San Diego proving especially popular destinations.

Cost savings have been much more than expected, because of a dramatic rise in meeting room costs in Washington. Average per meeting hotel costs are $19,166 for Washington meetings and $8,974 for west coast meetings. Average per-meeting costs for airfare are $7,682 for Washington meetings and $6,486 for west coast meetings. The total average savings for holding a west coast meeting is $11,388, which is 42.4 percent less costly than holding a Washington meeting.

Schedule for Implementation: The number of out-of-town meetings is increasing rapidly, as evidenced by the number of study section meetings held in California in the last three council rounds—6, 20, 68, respectively. CSR staff are encouraged to schedule one out-of-town meeting each year; approximately a third of all face-to-face meeting will be scheduled out-of-town in 2009. Efforts have begun to include hotels from San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Seattle and Chicago on the Blanket Purchase Agreement and SROs are organizing calendars and databases to facilitate holding meetings out-of-town.