We understand that our clients and meeting professionals across the industry have been up against some really big challenges in the last couple of years. As COVID-19 caused widespread shut downs, we had to rethink the way we do meetings.
Each year, the American Geophysical Union’s (AGU) annual meeting draws more than 20,000 people from around the world to share information, collaborate with colleagues, network and learn about advances in earth and space science. And, there is a lot of information to present; over the usual five-day meeting, there are more than 10,000 individual presentations delivered each year.
So, as we started planning the fully virtual Fall 2020 meeting, the team had to get creative about how to design and execute an exceptional and flawless attendee experience that supported such a content-heavy agenda.
It’s easy to look at all we’ve lost this year, especially in the meetings and events industry. Our friends and colleagues have been hit especially hard, their livelihoods disrupted by the need to stay home.
And yet, we have seen those same friends, colleagues and business partners design, create and execute virtual experiences that rival the best in-person events. The creativity, innovation and perseverance we have seen across this industry continues to amaze and inspire me, and will carry me through the next few months as we await vaccine news and begin to find ways to gather together in person again. Read More
Even if a meeting is fully virtual for attendees, there is always a physical element. Whether it’s the tech team in a “command center” or speakers gathering in a virtual studio to pre-record their talks or deliver them live, every event starts from a physical place.
And, now, even though most meetings are still taking place in virtual environments, we are starting to talk about and plan for hybrid events with elements of both virtual and in-person. Read More
An alternative to executing a full-spectrum virtual meeting Read More
The ASTRO Annual Refresher event typically draws 500 attendees each year from around the world who come for a review of core competencies and updates on emerging trends across radiation oncology. Read More
With the impact from the COVID-19 Coronavirus already being felt in the meetings and events industry – and likely to grow – we pulled together some options for presenters who are unable to make it to your event. (There are additional options available should you decide to take your entire event virtual, which we will address in an upcoming post.)