Planning an annual event for your medical association is a significant undertaking. We know, having planned a few ourselves! To ensure it stands out and leaves a lasting impression on attendees, here are six essential tips to guide you, from your friendly event professionals at CFS Events 😊
  1. Craft an Absorbing Agenda

Your programme is the beating heart of your event! It needs to meet attendees’ expectations for high-quality education and engagement. To cultivate ticket sales and ensure a memorable experience on the big day, consider these elements:

 

  • CPD Accreditation: Ensure your event offers Continuing Professional Development (CPD) credits; a crucial factor for healthcare professionals.
  • Wild Card Speakers: Add a twist with unique topics. We often include a bit of a ‘wild card’ speaker at our events, to add interest and depth to the programme. We recently welcomed a speaker discussing the future of AI on healthcare which was really well received.
  • Interactive Formats: A full day of high-level scientific plenary sessions can be full-on! We often play with the format of sessions to add interest – for example, we might choose a particularly divisive ‘hot topic’ in medicine and get two speakers to take part in a debate-style session.
  • Focus on diversity: Ensure both your programme committee and the speakers in your agenda represent a diverse set of cultures/races/sexes – this will ensure a more well-rounded programme for your attendees.

 

By curating an exceptional programme, you’ll meet attendees’ personal attendance goals and encourage them to return year after year.

 

  1. Choose a Virtuous Venue

Selecting the right venue is crucial, especially if you seek industry support for your event. Here are key considerations:

  • Privacy: Ensure the exhibition room is private if you’re securing pharmaceutical exhibitors (i.e. members of the public cannot accidentally walk in).
  • Flow and Space: The venue must accommodate your numbers and your exhibition – some of your exhibitors might have large machinery with them so you need to take that into account when placing your exhibitor stands.
  • Top-notch AV: Good AV is crucial to your delegates’ experience on the day. Ensure your screen is large enough; make sure there are enough microphones to facilitate your Q&A; ensure the PA system is fit for purpose. Good AV is a game changer in medical educational events.
  • Savvy seating arrangements: Your programme content is the cornerstone of your event! A tiered lecture theatre is therefore always a good idea where possible, as this helps all your attendees to see the content of the talks properly – especially where speakers might have videos, images or complex graphs.

 

The right venue enhances the overall experience, making your event both functional and impressive.

 

  1. Perfect Poster Displays

Poster presentations are a staple of medical events. Make yours stand out with these tips:

  • Unique Abstracts: Accept only abstracts not shown at other events to maintain exclusivity.
  • Categorisation: Group abstracts into categories for easier viewing and better organisation. This could also make marking easier. CFS Events have a state-of-the-art abstract review portal which makes abstract marking a doddle!
  • E-Poster Display: We often have a traditional poster display, for attendees to look at during the event. However, we also have an e-poster display (which delegates can look at through their delegate app) so that time constraints don’t mean people can’t look at all the posters.

 

These steps will showcase new research effectively and keep attendees engaged.

 

  1. Dazzling Digital Options

Healthcare professionals are notoriously busy – so offering your medical association’s annual event as a hybrid event is often a great idea. This might boost attendee numbers and ultimately your income.

  • State-of-the-Art Hybrid Functionality: CFS Events offer state of the art hybrid functionality for our events. Virtual attendees can watch live, take part in Q&A and live polling in real time along with their in-person counterparts.
  • Interactive Features: Virtual attendee have dedicated discussion forums and social media walls to help them remain connected to the event throughout.
  • Pre-Shared Content: We often suggest that speakers share links and discussion points with us prior to the event, so that we can drop those into the virtual site during their talks – just to ensure our virtual audience remains absorbed.

A robust virtual component ensures no one misses out, regardless of their schedule.

 

  1. Facilitate Fantastic Face-to-Face Networking

The most important outcome of any medical educational event is surely that our attendees go away with ideas on how to improve their practice for their patients. The majority of those ideas come from the programme and the expert speakers you’ve put together, sure. However, networking with like-minded colleagues is also a crucial part of how our attendees generate ideas to take back to their units. Allowing the time and the right conditions for good networking is therefore really important!

  • Ample Networking Time: Schedule longer lunch breaks with sufficient space for mingling.
  • Social Events: Organise social gatherings like a drinks reception or conference dinner. For longer conferences, consider both relaxed and formal events on different evenings to cater to diverse preferences.

 

By fostering an environment conducive to networking, you’ll help attendees gain valuable insights and connections.

 

  1. Aim, Accomplish, Assess!

Finally, a well-planned event starts with clear goals and ends with thorough evaluation. More on that in last month’s blog – here. Define your objectives and continuously assess your progress to ensure you meet your desired outcomes. Post-event evaluations will help you identify successes and areas for improvement, making each subsequent event even better.

By following these tips, you can elevate your medical association’s annual event, ensuring it’s educational, engaging, and memorable for all attendees. With careful planning and attention to detail, your event will stand out as a must-attend in the medical community.

 

Happy planning! 😊

 

Finding it a bit stressful? Get in touch with us to see how we can help you with your next annual event!

 

The CFS Events Team

robyn@cfsevents.co.uk

xx