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Powerful Abstract Software for Conference & Event Planning

Easily collect proposals, review abstract submissions, organize sessions, and manage speakers within a single, user-friendly platform. OpenWater streamlines association and higher education conference planning for a seamless experience.
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Trusted by the Industry Leaders

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Key Abstract Management Software Features

Say goodbye to event-induced stress with our proven platform designed specifically for educational conferences involving lots of sessions and a call for speakers.

Conference-Schedule
01Conference Website Builder

Create a conference website that wows speakers and attendees right in OpenWater—no coding required!

online-form-builder
02Form Creation

Use our drag-and-drop form builder to collect all necessary information, accept attached files of any size, and set conditional logic.

Multiround-review
03Multi-Round Review

Allow reviewers to see all of their assigned submissions and submit their scores as soon as they log in.

Session-Builder
04Session Builder

Once your team approves abstracts, organize them by topic or presentation style to establish the flow of your conference sessions.

Public-Calendar
05Public-Facing Conference Calendars

Display the conference sessions you’ve built on an easy-to-navigate, branded calendar so attendees can browse their options.

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06Mobile App

Give attendees control of their conference schedules and make the process convenient by meeting them where they likely already are—on their smartphones.

Email-Wizard
07Email Wizard

Keep your community in the loop about calls for proposals, submission deadlines, decisions, conference updates, and more with a user-friendly email builder.

Reporting
08Reporting & Analytics

Collect and review data on your abstract management process to fine-tune your efforts over time.

Integrations-Hub
09Integrations Hub

Integrate OpenWater with popular databases and management systems like iMIS, Salesforce, and Higher Logic to ensure seamless information transfer.

The OpenWater Abstract Management Difference

Traditional Conference Management

 

OpenWater Abstract Software

Need for Multiple Systems

Most online abstract management solutions begin and end with entry collection. Then, you have to manage session creation, scheduling, and communication through separate spreadsheets or marketing tools.

Unified, Robust Platform

With OpenWater, your organization can handle all abstract management tasks—whether completed by applicants, reviewers, chairs, or administrators—in one fully integrated solution, saving you time, money, and stress.

Disconnected Look & Feel

Many abstract submission platforms take authors to a seemingly unconnected site to upload their materials. This switch confuses users and often leads to higher rates of form abandonment.

Consistent Branding

The OpenWater team will create a custom-branded upload portal that matches your organization’s existing website and visual identity. This way, users will know they’re in a place they can trust and be more likely to submit their abstracts.

Too Many Moving Parts

When your staff collects conference information across multiple tools, they spend lots of extra time and energy exporting and importing spreadsheets, formatting data, and keeping tabs on last-minute updates.

Easily Accessible Information

OpenWater is your conference content collection engine. Collect abstracts, speaker materials, exhibitors, posters and more within OpenWater, then send the information where it needs to go.

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Frequently Asked Questions

 
What is abstract management? Abstract management is the process of vetting and organizing speaker submissions for a conference or annual meeting. In this context, an abstract is a brief summary of a proposed presentation, typically based on research.
What is abstract management software? Abstract management software describes tools that associations, higher education institutions, and other similar organizations use to manage the process of submitting, reviewing, and publishing research and presentations at a conference or annual meeting. Program managers leverage abstract management systems to make reviewing presentations, posters, or research papers more efficient.
Can I use OpenWater for speaker management? Yes! Our software allows speakers to upload all of their materials for applications and presentations. You can also use OpenWater to email speakers with updates and submission reminders.
Can OpenWater process special scientific characters in abstracts? Yes! In fact, the first client ever to leverage our abstract software, the American Association of Geographers (AAG), required special character input, so OpenWater has supported this need from the very beginning.
What languages does OpenWater support? On both the submitter and reviewer sides of the platform, OpenWater supports any language that is read and written from left to right (English, Spanish, French, German, etc.).