Bringing delegates together
From 20-23 June, hundreds of people from across Europe gathered on campus and online for the biennial EUNOS conference.
Hosted by the European Neuro-Ophthalmology Society (EUNOS) to showcase the latest research and innovation in the field of neuro-ophthalmology, this year’s conference was of particular importance.
After two false starts in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic, it was more important than ever to bring industry professionals together. But with some delegates still having reservations about overseas travel and meeting in person, EUNOS had a challenge on their hands.
Luckily, our event management team provided the ideal solution: a fully integrated hybrid event. Pulling together the AV specialities of our team and expert events software, the team were able to recreate all aspects of the in-person conference for delegates online, ensuring that everyone enjoyed the same great experience, no matter where they were in the world.
Creating a conference community
It can be difficult to get people to engage and connect with one another if they’re in the same room, let alone if they’re in different parts of the world! To ensure all attendees had an equal chance to network and make the most of the opportunity to connect with fellow professionals, the team created a fully branded online conference hub.
Through this, delegates were able to view the conference programme and engage with its material in advance and discuss them informally with other attendees. Communication and collaboration are at the heart of any conference, so to offer delegates a chance to chat to people without having to be in the same room helped to enhance the delegate experience before the conference had even started.
To create a sense of togetherness amongst delegates, meeting hubs were also created on the platform to mimic the function on in-person social events. These were open to all for the duration of the conference, offering delegates the flexibility to network whenever and wherever they wanted.
A seamless event experience
An issue with many hybrid events is providing the same great experience to online delegates as in-person ones. However, this wasn’t a challenge for our event experts who were able to mirror the on-campus experience online.
Thanks to the expertise of our skilled team, all key elements of the conference were reproduced in real time via the conference hub, from keynotes and presentations to resource packs. Our AV team worked behind the scenes to ensure that everything went without a hitch, masterfully managing our venues’ sound systems and lighting with virtual event technology to ensure presenters could deliver talks with impact on both the physical and virtual stage.
Unlike other online events, every speaker presented live via live stream so that virtual delegates could engage with topics at the same time as everyone else. The team also hosted the conference’s abstract book and poster boards online. This not only helped to make the event more sustainable by reducing paper consumption but ensured that everyone could engage with the content in the same way, leading to delegate satisfaction across the board.
