The PAS 2018 App was an improvement over the disaster that was 2017. At least searches often worked, and you could create a schedule. But if I wanted to search for the presentations, even my own, of which I was not the presenting author, I was out of luck on the mobile App. I like the work of my friend Bill Meadow, for example, but a search of his name on the mobile App returned nothing. Even though he was author on 3 abstracts. On the website https://www.xcdsystem.com/pas/program/2018/ if you click on “presenters” you can actually search for any of the authors.
At least the mobile App allowed you to see the tables, and included a link to the figures, which you then had to download, and look at separately to the abstract if you were lucky and the download worked.
As I mentioned on the website you can at least search for the names of any of the authors, but then, if you see an abstract that is interesting you can’t see most of the tables (try it out: type ‘Onland’ for the name of the presenting author for STOP-BPD, you will find the abstract but not the tables, but if you do the same thing on the mobile app you can see the tables). There are a few tables that do appear in random abstracts; and you can see at least some of the figures. But if you want to try and save the abstract by printing it to pdf, again you’re out of luck, the print button just doesn’t work (unless you want a pdf file in which the content of the abstract is ‘loading’).
On the website also some symbols such as ≥ show up as ? (both in firefox and microsoft edge). Reading an abstract and seeing, for example that an intervention increased death, but only in the subgroup ?26 weeks is a little concerning, is that more than, or less than..?
Finally, there is no longer any archive of the abstracts from previous PAS meetings, I often used to search old meetings for those abstracts, to remind myself of trials that I was waiting to see, or to find authors that I could email to see what was happening to the publication of their study, but that is no longer possible. It was a useful source for systematic reviews, and to find things that I had seen, which were of interest to me, but that I could not find the full paper.
Also for trainees, to have a permanent archive of their abstracts was very useful. I guess that now you could list hundreds of PAS abstracts on your CV if you are applying for a job, and no-one can check to see if they really existed!
The PAS leadership should find out what people want from their meeting. When I submit an abstract I would like there to be a permanent record of it, preferably one which is searchable in terms of topics and all the author names. We used to have that, but it no longer exists; I can’t even find abstracts from 2017.
I know I am not alone in my frustration with some recent changes, but I do not know if I am in a majority! There must be some way to recreate an archive of the abstracts from the last several years, and to ensure that there is a searchable database of all the abstracts for the future. I am a member of both SPR and APS, if all of us raise our voices, maybe we can make changes for the future and recover all the old abstracts.
The people organizing this enormous meeting are people of good will, and maybe they don’t realize that the disappearance of older abstracts, and the difficulty with using the new Apps and website, are big problems for many of us.
I am going to write a letter to the PAS program chair Thomas Shanley, from the University of Michigan. Once I find out who we should be addressing, if it is not him, I will let you know.
Neonatal Research 
I’m a techie but the awful PAS app/website have really made me long for the days when we would receive a printed guide and I could just circle whatever I wanted to see or attend.
Keith, the AAP representatives to PAS are Drs. Rita Ryan (who started in July 2017) and Jochen Profit (to begin July 2018). I would suggest that you also forward any feedback or suggestions that you have about the meeting and how it can be optimized to address the needs of our membership to them. They can collate with the information they receive from other sources. They can be reached at ryanr@musc.edu and profit@stanford.edu, respectively. And, you are not alone in your frustrations. Beyond convenience related to the app and website, I agree that the absence of an archive of old abstracts is an issue of scientific integrity.
It frankly seems like willful neglect at this point. Even a modicum of end user testing would’ve pointed out the myriad problems with the app.
The activity feed was basically a rolling list of spam.
The constant UCSF adverts whenever you left the app and came back were obnoxious. Makes me never want to go there, not call them for a job.
I agree with your comments Keith. The App is an improvement from last year but still needs a lot of work. Been surfing the net looking for 2017 abstracts. Unsuccessful!!! The access to abstracts is much needed not only for verification but for searching for promising studies and their investigators. With the registration fee being charged each year and the many sponsors, we should be able to access the website for the archive of previous abstracts.
Do share your frustration.
Feedback on the PAS Program Guide website and app is always welcome and can be sent directly to info@pasmeeting.org. We are working actively on providing access to prior year abstracts as we do understand the importance of this record. We will share news as this work progresses. We have also noted the need to make all authors, not just presenting authors, searchable in the app version of the program guide, and this will guide our work on the PAS 2019 Meeting app.
Thank you.
Eileen Fenton, PAS Meeting Executive Director