o matter how good the latest technology, it cannot replace a live event. However, the challenge for event organisers is a creative one – to devise fresh content and a new format each time that will both
keep the same delegates coming back and attract new ones.
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unning annual conferences is an ongoing learning process for organisers. With the Associations Congress now in its 12th edition Damian Hutt, Executive Director Associations
Network, was committed to give delegates exactly what they wanted.
The ECCO Congress has undergone an evolution, making it the most successful cancer congress in Europe. At every biannual meeting the number of delegates has risen.
How the European Cancer Organisation revamped its conference programme
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reviously, the congress was not viewed as an
important meeting on the cancer congress agenda;
the programme did not cater for the needs of the
participant and there was a concern
that the meeting would lose delegates,” says Davi Kaur, ECCO’s Head of Congress Unit.
“We increased the size of the scientific committee from 20 to 200 people and restructured the programme into 32 tracks that were more impactful, multi-disciplinary and scientific and included a higher calibre of speaker and new, unique scientific data.”
Also, rescheduling from weekdays to weekends helped to increase attendance from 12,000 to 18,500 delegates. The number of rooms used increased from 10 to 17, as a variety of session styles were added. These included interactive sessions focused on key issues and peer to peer sessions for young oncologists.
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‘No paper, no bullet points’ – the way ahead for Associations Congress
ith the support of the professional conference programme developer, Hema Chowdhury and Dr Elling Hamso of the Event ROI Institute as Delegate Value Director of the congress, Damian produced an event of high value for April’s Congress that’s accurately geared towards the needs of participants.
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Providing value
“Elling spent up to five hours with each speaker, working with them to create presentations that provide high value information” said Damian.
“We focused on valuable information and elimination of unnecessary slides that provide no value, as well as improving the quality of slides with the help of a graphic designer. In future speakers will be restricted to one piece of information per slide rather than a list of bullet points."
"They expanded on points by telling a story or provided examples to get their messages across and they provided delegates with ‘takeaways’, such as a valuable tips or practical guidance.”
lenary sessions, three core streams covering Events,
Membership, Marketing, Employee development, and
Strategy, and the Associations CEO Summit made up
the core of the event. New to the event this year were:
Association Success Stories where associations presented at round-tables to small groups their individual triumphs in areas such as ‘growing events by 500 delegates’, ‘a global 24hr PR initiative’ and a new use technology to add value for members.
And Breakfast Briefings where expert consultants updated delegates on new techniques and approaches in eight key areas and involved them in discussions about how they can apply them.
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Technology
There were no takeaway conference bags and there was no paper this year. All delegates received the Spotme app and an iPad if they didn’t have their own.
During the event, Spotme replaced the printed Event Guide. It provided many highly developed interactive features that added value to the delegate’s experience instead of distracting them.
Harvesting value from all delegates
A group of ‘value harvesters’ talked to delegates, discovered what they learnt and how they expected to put that into practice at their own organisations, and then spread these ideas to other delegates.
At the end of the two days several delegates were interviewed by the Chair on stage to identify what new membership and staff development, governance, income generation and event organising practices and techniques they have learned and planned to apply in their associations. This information is now available to all delegates.
Be innovative – you’re competing with modern media;
Create an event that’s new and different and will drag people away from their mobiles;
Choose good presenters – delegates want to listen to people who have something new to say that’s of value to them;
Engage a professional conference researcher to work on the programme or support your committee;
Use stories to convey messages – avoid long rambling presentations;
Cut the waffle. Tell a story or show a video that gets to the heart of the matter and puts the points across with impact;
Make full use of technology – if there’s an app that will enhance the experience of delegates and help you collate valuable data, use it;
Encourage networking – build time into the schedule for delegates to network (both structured and un-structured) and to enable them to catch up with their emails and phone messages.
Top tips for a successful event:
See more of what happened at the
International & European Associations Congress