MSOHNS Annual Congress– A Hybrid Medical Conference
The Malaysian Society of Otorhinolaryngology and Head-Neck Surgeons (MSO-HNS) is the representative body of ENT surgeons of Malaysia. As a representative body, the MSO-HNS also organizes various international congresses and conferences. Their 42nd Annual General Meeting organized alongside the 14th Malaysian General ORL-HNS Congress was hosted on Samaaro from 16th-18th June.
MSOHNS executive committee knew they needed a virtual events platform that was in synch with their event objectives. They saw added benefits in a hybrid approach. For one, they could reach the persons who couldn’t have travelled to the physical venue. Secondly, they could extend the event duration by keeping the platform live even after the physical event was over. Thirdly, integrating newer event tech solutions would allow them to offer a positive attendee experience and help in attendee retention for their future events.
The three-day hybrid conference drew in over 400 medical professionals across the globe. In this case study, we’ll take you through the challenges the organizer was facing and the solutions we provided.
Project Info:
About the Client:
The prestigious institution has been serving as the sole voice of ENT surgeons in national medical conferences and international forums for over two decades. The society also conducts annual health camps in various parts of Malaysia enabling the rural population to enjoy the benefits of ENT treatment.
Challenges & Objectives:
Their team expected to come across a set of challenges while preparing for the hybrid events such as –
- Due to its very nature, hybrid conferences demand meticulous planning for both the physical and virtual experience. The first roadblock for them was to find the right platform that would offer an engaging event experience to the virtual attendees.
- To keep the attendees engaged in virtual sessions, interactive virtual conference rooms with engagement features were required.
- Making the papers, and poster presentations available for the remote attendees in one place.
MSOHNS executive committee also had a few clear objectives that they wanted to achieve.
- Maintaining MSOHNS’ reputation as the leading voice of ENT surgeons in Malaysia
- Creating an academic milieu of knowledge-sharing and idea exchange.
- Giving the attendees an opportunity to learn from others’ practical experiences in the field.
- Adding value to the sponsors by giving them enough brand exposure and helping them generate leads.
- Lastly, a platform for medical community to come together and fraternize with each other.
Solutions:
We closely collaborated with the client on every aspect and helped them achieve their goals. Let’s deep dive into the solutions we provided.
1. Animated Welcome Lobby
Welcome lounge is the first place where attendees land after logging in. So, it’s the first impression that attendees have of the event.
For that purpose, a beautifully designed animated lobby was built to set the tone of the conference. The lobby included dedicated spaces for showcasing sponsors’ banners.
All the necessary information regarding the event including the welcome booklet and newsletters was also available in the lobby. Furthermore, an info desk was placed in the lobby. Attendees could get in touch with the organizers for event-related queries anytime
2. Exhibition Wall & Exhibitor Booths
MSOHNS opted for tiered sponsoring. As per their request, four sponsorship slabs – Diamond, Gold, Silver, and Bronze, were added to the exhibitor wall. The event included 19 exhibitors including pharmaceutical giants such as GSK, Proctor & Gamble, and others. Attendees could visit specific exhibitor booths by clicking on the banner.
Exhibitors were given full control of their booths. They could customize the booth design and colors, and change the look and feel of the booth to match it with their brand image. Furthermore, they were allowed to upload product videos, and documents and add booth representatives to meet with the queries from visitors.
Each booth was equipped with a meeting scheduler and direct chat options. Any interested visitor could get in touch with the exhibitor’s team and book a meeting instantly. The direct chat feature helped exhibitors connect with the attendees in a more personalized way.
3. Conference Hall
The conference hall or the auditorium served as the main stage for the event. The live sessions were being streamed in the conference hall. Organizers could push a session live from the admin dashboard from the backend.
To enable remote attendees to ask questions, a Q&A box was added in the auditorium. This helped virtual participants get in touch with the speakers, ask questions, and clear doubts. Moderators were given full control of sorting and filtering the questions.
4. Poster Presentations:
We incorporated an e-poster wall for virtual attendees to check the thesis and posters selected by the organizing committee. The e-poster wall opened the doors for those who were not able to physically come to the venue and present their papers.
5. Virtual Photobooth
A virtual photobooth with custom frames was also available for the attendees to click pictures and share on social media platforms.
Results
- The event received 450+ registrations from around the world.
- A total of 215 posters were submitted and 194 documents were downloaded during the event.
- 90 connections were made during the three-day conference.
Conclusion
We hope that the hybrid conference case study has offered you some actionable insights that you can utilize in your next event. For more in-depth discussion and suggestions, get in touch with us for an expert chat. Samaaro is an award-winning virtual events platform helping clients host successful virtual and hybrid events and reach their business goals. Book a free personalized demo tour today.