Many team members at GoRemote were working on hybrid events pre-COVID. With the sheer number of events in this space, we acquired a new understanding and knowledge as to why hybrid events are ideally positioned for medical professionals and how online speaker support is invaluable to make these a success.
Healthcare professionals prefer online
Many doctors and healthcare professionals have said that they will continue to go to online events for the foreseeable future. This is because they can structure event participation around work, so they don’t have to take days out of the office to travel to and attend a physical event. Hybrid events offer flexibility in allowing speakers to switch from onsite to virtual close to the event if circumstances change. With a wide range of conferences providing an online platform, doctors can plan to attend more events than they might have when travel time and accommodation expenses were factored in.
“Surveys conducted by the IPCAA (International Pharmaceutical Congress Advisory Association) and other organisations indicate that only about 50% of doctors intend to participate in future physical conferences.”
“It is not until the third quarter of 2021 that a slight majority of HCP’s (51 per cent) anticipate feeling either “somewhat comfortable” or “very comfortable” with the idea of attending a medical congress. Even when looking ahead to the fourth quarter of 2021, 25 per cent remain “unsure”. And 12% said that they would prefer an online option all the time.”
We should also note that for those higher profile speakers, the option of a virtual talk or presentation means they are more likely to attend and be attracted to the talk. Many medical congresses are looking at hybrid as the default going forward; the question is whether the virtual audience will balance against those attending onsite.
Hybrid offers more opportunities for attendance
Attending online allows medical professionals who traditionally participated at physical events to have an online option. Still, it also opens up events to healthcare professionals who couldn’t ordinarily attend a large congress. EASL reported a percentage rise in nurses and medical students (usually too busy with work or studies) attending their ILC event, further increasing their delegate numbers:
“A record-breaking participation of more than 7500 connected delegates representing 114 different countries attended.”
Making your event more accessible through hybrid can be of benefit to other groups; read our blog, Why hybrid events are more inclusive for more on this.
Be at the cutting edge of medical events
GoRemote recently supported speakers at the ESOT (The European Society for Organ Transplantation) congress in Milan, where there were 850 speakers. It was one of the first hybrid medical events to occur, with over 1,400 online attendees and 1,200 face-to-face attendees. For ESOT – the online element offered more international representation than ever before, with 74 countries, including delegates from China and the USA.
“One of the worlds’ first large scale congresses that brought together both onsite and online speakers. A groundbreaking event that has set the new standard for medical congresses.”
For the recent ESOT event, we were chosen because we speak their language. We are comfortable developing strong communications systems and rapport between us, your events team and the medical professionals presenting at the congress.
“Flexibility, Professionalism, Expertise and Cooperative are just some of the key attributes that can describe the team at GoRemote. Anyone looking at organising a virtual or hybrid event should work with GoRemote if you want a smooth production!”
Support your virtual speakers
Having hundreds of speakers on your agenda, both in-person and virtual, while attractive for the attendees, can create challenges for event managers in the run-up to an event. Conference organisers may not have time to onboard all the online speakers in advance or help answer questions/prepare them for their session. Also, when there is the option of speaking virtually, you will find a number of speakers changing from onsite to virtual – and so you need to be prepared to accommodate them.
GoRemote has developed an automatic emailing and onboarding system that takes the pain out of speaker registration. We are also on-hand to help any speakers struggling with their technical setup or other presentation issues so that they look and feel confident when they present.
Read more about the 2021 ESOT Congress in this case study
“Over 50% of the issues faced were related to speakers having difficulty with the technical setup before the event. As one of our main roles was to ensure that the speakers were fully versed with the system and interactivity tools used and fully confident when they joined the event live, we solved these issues and helped give every speaker the confidence when they were live.”
View our International Liver Congress Case study here
Choose medical hybrid experts
Many businesses offer hybrid events management; however, most have little experience planning and organising large scale medical/healthcare conferences and congresses. It is essential that when choosing to put together a hybrid congress that you have a team that offers broader online and hybrid experience and advice.
GoRemote has a team of Virtual Stage Managers (VSM’s), all with a wide range of experience managing and supporting speakers at virtual and physical events. Over the past two years, we have had great success with our VSM’s (Virtual Stage Managers) helping support speakers at several high-profile medical congresses.
At the 2020 International Liver Congress, the EASL events manager commented:
“We really enjoyed the friendly relationship we have developed with your (GoRemote’s) team through the three days of the ILC. Your efficiency and professionalism in delivering a high-quality service that was up to our delegates & faculty’s expectations did not go unnoticed and was very much valued by all.”
Talk to one of GoRemote’s expert medical congress team at info@goremote.team to discuss how we can support the success of your next hybrid event.
