Will the congress be able to take place? – The initial situation
The date for the Swiss Congress on Giftedness and Talent Promotion had actually been set for a long time. It was supposed to start at the University of Teacher Education FHNW in early September 2020. Online registration was already in full swing when it began to become clear—as the date approached—that the planned in-person event would not be possible this time. However, there was no way the congress was going to be cancelled entirely. Yet, the team had little experience with designing a digital conference format up to that point.
The path to the first virtual congress – The solution
The first step was to find a platform through which the congress content could be provided and—crucially—where interaction with that content and between participants could take place. In addition to a mix of live streams and recorded sessions, a digital poster exhibition was also planned.
Connecting online registration to the Virtual Venue
It proved to be a stroke of luck for the event that the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland had already been using Converia since 2019 to organize participant registration as well as the submission and review of scientific papers for their own conferences. This significantly simplified the transition to the virtual space in terms of organization, especially since the first participants had already registered and should not have to do so a second time.
Their data needed to be available on the virtual platform without any extra effort. For many digital events, this is exactly where an unforeseen pitfall arises, because interfaces for exporting registration data are not always available. This means that not every online registration software allows personal data to be used subsequently on a virtual conference platform. In the worst-case scenario, all participant details must be re-entered manually and access rights defined individually for each person—a huge effort that costs a lot of valuable time when dealing with several hundred participants.
Access rights, in particular, were a key issue for the Swiss congress. During registration, participants could choose whether to attend the entire congress or purchase a one-day ticket only. For those with a one-day ticket, the platform was not intended to be available on the other congress days. When registration is handled via Converia, the information provided during sign-up is automatically taken into account in the Virtual Venue, meaning the organizers did not have to make any additional settings for individual participants.
More content for participants
The congress program was put together at a time when the team was still expecting a regular in-person event. All lectures and workshops were then included in the virtual congress schedule. However, this resulted in one decisive change—to the great benefit of the participants. They could now profit from the entire program because the sessions were recorded and remained available in the Virtual Venue even after the congress. This would not have been possible on-site, as it would have only been possible to attend one of the up to three parallel sessions at any given time. Thanks to the online format, participants now gained access to program items they would otherwise have had to miss. This allowed for a more intensive engagement with all congress content. Additionally, presentation slides were available for download in the Virtual Venue.
Interaction and networking
No conference is complete without a social component and the opportunity to create space for encounters. The virtual edition of the Giftedness Promotion Congress was to be no exception. Every program item included a chat for participants to exchange ideas. Those looking to expand their network could also use the features to start a video meeting with other participants or simply send them a message. After logging in, people with similar interests were suggested on the Virtual Venue homepage. Furthermore, it was possible to filter the list of participants to find interesting new contacts. Poster authors could also be contacted to discuss their work with them.
Comprehensive support
Although the switch to the Converia Virtual Venue was completely new territory for the congress team, it was not meant to be overly complicated. Installation, setup, and maintenance were therefore tasks handled by Converia. This also included uploading the provided content, ensuring the software was ready to go on time for the start of the conference, with time left over for testing.
Streams were planned for all three days and needed to run as smoothly as possible, which is why the Converia team kept an eye on the congress proceedings in standby mode and could intervene at any time if necessary—either if our support team noticed something that needed improvement, or if the team from Switzerland had a specific question that could then be answered immediately.
Assistance for participants
The event team familiarized themselves very thoroughly with the Virtual Venue in advance and was thus able to provide the total of about 500 participants with valuable help and tips for a relaxed start before the congress began. This is highly recommended when it must be assumed that most participants have had little experience with virtual events and are not yet familiar with the software being used.
A menu item on the IBBF website addressed this and answered the most important questions about the Virtual Venue, such as whether a separate login is required after registration to enter the virtual congress hall, or what the technical requirements are. Another sub-item on the website explained how participants can navigate the Virtual Venue and what is possible there.
Would you like your next conference to take place in a virtual space? Contact us – we would be happy to advise you and show you a solution that fits your event.
