By: Anthony Chadwick–Founder and CVO, The Webinar Vet
With many businesses now looking to return to a new way of working and their offices, many have learnt lessons along the way and will continue to keep certain practices in place post pandemic such as flexible working. Another big benefit the past year has pushed many to implement is global conferences, and it seems as though there is no rush to return to in person events, especially on such a large scale. That being said, it’s likely, moving forward they will be a blend of in-person and digital global conferences and thankfully you can grow your conference in both ways.
I’ve been attending veterinary conferences for over 30 years across the globe. The World Congress of Veterinary Dermatology Association was set up in 1989 with the aim of furthering veterinary dermatology and with a remit to meet every four years, a bit like the Olympics. I was still a vet student, so I didn’t attend the first two. My first congress was WCVD3 in Edinburgh. I’ve since attended every congress since; in San Francisco in 2000; Vienna 2004; Hong Kong 2008; Vancouver in 2012 and Bordeaux in 2016.
This congress has grown dramatically over the years from a few hundred to closer to 1500 for the 2016 iteration and there are some factors that have contributed to global congresses evolving.
What has helped this global congress to grow:
Firstly, having a very dedicated committee who weren’t afraid of working hard and without pay was a big benefit. By them doing it for the love of the discipline and wanting to improve veterinary knowledge and, hence, animal welfare meant that they were very invested in the cause and gave 110% all of the time. While it may not always be possible to find this every single time, especially those that are able to work without pay, always make sure your committee is dedicated and committed to the cause.
Secondly, a fabulous programme. As the reputation of the congress has grown, leading dermatologists have wanted to present their most recent work as well as companies wishing to share their advances too. Make sure for your global congress you’re offering valuable insight and expertise in areas that are of interest to your audience.
Thirdly, being well organised in all aspects including marketing, ease of purchase of tickets and accommodation and a well-run, punctual event with excellent AV facilities is a big factor in growth. Streamlining? your conference as much as possible will sit well with your attendees and committee and make the experiences an enjoyable and memorable one for all attending.
Finally, if it’s an in-person conference, having it in fabulous locations and venues that look after their delegates well is always a deciding factor in a lot of attendees. Social events in amazing locations with an opportunity to network with colleagues from all over the world and learn from each other in the bars and restaurants as well as the lecture theatres is always a big incentive to those attending.
So, what can be learnt from this & how to grow your own conference
Digitalising content democratises it. You’re much more likely to get a larger number of attendees making the conference more of a success if you’re able to digitalise it as some attendees will struggle to attend certain global conferences due to time constraints or cost challenges. By digitalising content, it also helps attendees and speakers to reduce their time away from family and their business.
Remember that content can be both live and recorded. Where possible try to pre-record most of the lectures. This will give your audience the freedom to watch the presentations when they want to rather than at a prescribed time. It also allows for the fact that at a physical conference there are often several lectures happening at the same time and difficult choices have to be made. By pre-recording the lectures, it eliminates attendees missing out on content.
Of course, all the things that are important for a physical event are also important for a virtual event too, such as a good automated registration process, clear signposting to attend lectures as well as excellent presentations and lecturers. All of these factors will help your conference to grow.
Marketing is also very important to fill a conference both physical or virtual. Active promotion on Facebook, use of pre-event webinars, pay-per-click and networking to the national and regional associations can help to get attendees registered in a short space of time. It’s also worth considering translating content into other languages to widen the appeal of speakers and attendees who prefer to watch the lectures in their own language.
Corporate sponsors are often essential to help make a large conference successful. The sponsors also want the chance to chat to people on their booths and also during corporate symposia. If an in person global conference isn’t possible, look into ways you’re able to bring both of these elements virtually.
As we reach an equilibrium position with Covid 19, my belief is that many events will take the advantages from physical and virtual conferences and go hybrid. This will, in turn, lead to smaller physical events with many more watching via livestream. There will be advantages and disadvantages to this approach, but it will certainly help our wounded environment.
Anthony Chadwick
Anthony Chadwick
Founder and CVO, The Webinar Vet
Anthony Chadwick, a serial entrepreneur, is the founder and CEO of The Webinar Vet, a world leader in online veterinary education. He is one of the most recognised and respected thought leaders in the UK veterinary sector. Anthony is famous for disrupting the veterinary profession with new and innovative ideas to make life easier for vets and nurses. He is very passionate about providing high quality education and services to veterinary professionals in a very accessible and affordable manner which is also sustainable for the environment.
Anthony founded The Webinar Vet in 2010, when the word webinar was not in the veterinary dictionary. A vet by trade, whilst at an internet conference he spotted a gap in the market to make veterinary education and training more accessible and affordable, via the medium of webinars. Trailblazers in the industry, the company grew very quickly and now has over 75,000 veterinary professionals accessing the training in over 120 countries. Students currently spend a combined annual total of over 200,000 a year training on the site. The Webinar Vet training has reduced travel mileage by several million miles since starting in 2010 with concomitant carbon reduction.
