How to Effectively Plan for Life Science Conferences
In this post, we look at how to effectively plan for life science and pharma conferences.
Effectively planning for life science conferences isn’t easy. It wasn’t before COVID-19 and it certainly isn’t now.
How do you effectively plan for life science conferences? This article contains ten tips to help you effectively plan for life science conferences, as an exhibitor or delegate, virtually and physically.
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10 TIPS TO HELP PLAN FOR LIFE SCIENCE CONFERENCES
Following are ten tips to help you effectively plan for life science conferences, as an exhibitor or delegate (this post has been updated to factor in virtual events due to COVID-19.)
1. ENSURE THAT THE VENUE/BOOTH IS RIGHT FOR YOU
The setting of the conference needs to be right for you, your clients and your products. Size, sector, setting, vertical etc. all need to be considered before you begin planning your presence. If the conference infrastructure isn’t quite right, and you are only considering the conference to experiment or because you’ve had a good financial deal, alarm bells should be ringing. Conference participation needs to be strategic; ROI is the objective.
Conference booths also need to be welcoming and need to provide for immediate needs (even in the life sciences) that is accessible from around the world/any device. In a physical environment, this means having a warm feeling with smiles on faces and water bottles at the ready. In a digital setting, make content available upfront and a CTA that allows visitors to connect with team members immediately. Scientists, doctors and researchers receive a large number of invitations to conferences, so you need to make your conference, venue and booth appealing.
2. IF YOU ARE RUNNING YOUR OWN CONFERENCE, MAKE SURE IT DOESN’T CLASH WITH ANOTHER EVENT IN YOUR SECTOR
One of the biggest reasons for unsuccessful conferences is when there is generally a lack of exhibitors and delegates present: A lack of organisations, products and services on show, as well as a lack of people visiting. Often, the reason for this is that the conference clashes with another conference within the same sector or vertical. If you are running your own conference, make sure it doesn’t clash with another conference in the same sector it could be the death of that conference. If you are attending a conference as a delegate, be sure to look at the event calendar before you pay for a ticket/pack your bags for the plane journey - any clashes in dates will mean the event you are attending will not provide the same experience (and ROI). The life science conference calendar is busy, especially now during COVID-19 times where lots of digital events are running.
3. DO NOT RUSH - ENSURE SUFFICIENT TIME FOR PLANNING AND PROMOTION
Congrex suggests that deciding to attend a life science conference is rarely going to be a last-minute decision, so attendees need plenty of time to plan their attendance - meaning planning your conference twelve months ahead. We appreciate, however, that marketers and event managers in the life sciences are working to busy schedules (during uncertain times) and such forward planning isn’t always possible. But never run a conference or event that follows a rushed planning process; they are rarely successful. You need to make your event presence known months in advance to allow delegates and exhibitors time for their own planning. Promotion needs to happen approximately six months in advance, with the promotion intensifying as the conference date gets near.
4. CAREFULLY SELECT YOUR SUPPORT TEAM
An article which first appeared within the PLOS Computational Biology which highlights the importance of carefully selecting your key helpers. We couldn’t agree more. A single person will not have all the skills necessary to organise a large conference, but the organising committee collectively needs to have the required expertise. You might want to separate the areas of responsibilities between your aides depending on their interests and availability. And this is also the case for the digital event where content, web presences, platforms and keynotes amongst other elements need to be managed by someone… ideally someone else other than the individual focussed on promoting the conference to generate attendees. Carefully select your team and communicate regularly.
5. PROVIDE MULTIPLE CONTENT FORMATS
In a world where digital and physical often merge into one, having content available via multiple formats is a necessity. A 30-minute keynote will likely have enough content to serve four new thought leadership articles on your blog, for example. If you see these thought leadership articles building up, you could take 8 of them - where the topics complement each other - and create an e-book (physical or digital) to hand out during the conference, a well as promoting via LinkedIn or a specific publisher in the life sciences also during the duration of the conference. Whitepapers are huge investments for any organisation, not only in the life science sectors and are often promoted at conferences, so why not review the paper and ensure that its content is available in multiple formats - hugely important within the virtual event space.
6. …VIA A BALANCED AGENDA
To again cite the excellent article by Corpas et al. entitled Ten Rules of Organising a Scientific Meeting: A conference is a place for people wanting to share and exchange ideas. Having many well-known speakers will raise the demand for your event (and the cost) but that has to be balanced with enough time for the presentation of submitted materials. A mix of senior scientists and junior scientists always works for the better. Young researchers may be more enthusiastic and inspiring for students, while top senior scientists will be able to present a more complete perspective of the field. Allow plenty of time for socializing, too; breaks, meals, and poster sessions are ideal occasions to meet potential collaborators and to foster networking among peers.
7. MAKE EVERYTHING ON-DEMAND AFTER THE CONFERENCE
You’d think that ensuring that content is always available (as they act as free promoters for your life science organisation) would be commonplace, but unfortunately, it isn’t. We cannot convey how many instances we have gone to access/promote show-based content for clients only to be met with a 404 page or a message to say that the content has expired with no other option to get access to the content, or in fact, any other content to satisfy my needs at that particular moment. Content takes a long time to create, and whilst it makes sense to keep the content under wraps on the run-up to the conference, it should be readily available long after. Physical events are demanding, and often digital/supporting content goes overlooked leading to instances like the above, but in the world we currently operate within, digital and physical are merging. Ensure your content is on-demand.
8. TEST RUN EVERYTHING (ESPECIALLY ANY EQUIPMENT YOU HAVE)
Every aspect of the life science conference needs to be planned for and adequately tested. Should you wish to organise a test event you will find yourself more confident in running a successful conference. Test the equipment which you are using at the conference, this includes any live demonstrations of machinery associated with the development supply chains throughout the life sciences. Test website pages, forms and email marketing used for pre and post-conference communications. Provide training sessions for on-site staff and anyone who will be taking art/attending the conference. The bottlenecks might make themselves known to you before the conference so that you have time to address them for the actual event.
9. PREPARE FOR THE WORST
As with any event, prepare for the worst. Attendees, delegates and exhibitors also need to be aware of all emergency procedures in terms of evacuation, etc. All attendees should be reachable as far as possible during the conference. As a physical conference organiser, you are responsible for all delegates and exhibitors, just like exhibitors are responsible for delegates when they are at your booth. Preparing for the worst, however, is not limited to emergencies. This includes things like internet connection, having a paid channel that does not turn off before you have concluded and having less tech-savvy audience members attending virtual events. Send out an email that breaks down the process of getting into the event—something that explains exactly how to log in and have an expert on standby. Consider areas where things could go wrong and identify solutions early-on.
10. ASK YOURSELF: IS THE CONFERENCE FINANCIALLY VIABLE?
Possibly the most important planning aspect. Why are you thinking of attending or running a conference? Asking yourself this will ensure your objectives are aligned when planning the financial elements of the conference. If the conference can meet your objectives, and generate ROI, it’s full steam ahead. If not, rethink your life science conference planning.
CONCLUSION
Effectively planning for life science conferences isn’t easy. It wasn’t before COVID-19 and it certainly isn’t now. Prepare for victual and physical events to merge into one and use the tips above to help your planning. Should you require help with your next conference, please get in touch.
