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ECNP
Virtual Congress Environment
Design of a virtual environment to host Europe’s largest conference in applied neuro research. Featuring a design that improves face-to-face congress experiences and expands the conference’s reach to delegates around the world.
The European College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ECNP) is the largest non-institutional supporter of applied and translational neuroscience research in Europe.
The annual ECNP Congress has always been held in the traditional face-to-face format spanning 4 days. In 2020, the congress was intended to be in Vienna, Austria, however, due to the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, TMC were asked to work with the ECNP team, their IT partner, and sponsors to develop a compelling online experience that would rival and improve upon previous congresses. This afforded the opportunity to expand the congress to delegates throughout the world.
Our brief was to deliver a high-value virtual experience for all attendees. A solution that was easy-to-use, engaging, and allowed delegates to network and connect with healthcare professionals, exhibitors and speakers. The development of the overall look and feel of the web platform, the user interface and congress centre, lobby, session rooms and plaza breakout area, all enabled returning delegates to feel comfortable with the consistency, and provided first-time attendees the opportunity to experience the ECNP Congress remotely.
Results
Over 100 live and pre-recorded sessions available to 4,500 delegates
Over 850 e-posters and abstract presentations
Streamed over 4 days and available on-demand for 3 months
Our Solution
Whilst it was envisaged that most delegates would attend the event using a laptop or desktop, we planned our solution around developing an interface and virtual environment that would be fully responsive, working across all modern devices with a quick load speed.
Our teams worked with ECNP to evaluate which areas of the Congress needed to be created virtually to deliver the full ‘ECNP Congress experience’.
Navigate through the bespoke hotspots and features in the virtual environment below:
The scientific sessions blended live, pre-recorded and on-demand content, whilst the ability for up to 1,000 delegates to attend each live session, 24 hours per day was crucial. There was also an industry virtual exhibition and e-Poster area.
Each virtual area was designed to maximise engagement within a 3D environment. With delegates from 98 countries, the user journey needed to be straight-forward and logical. It was of utmost importance that delegates took away the same value from the virtual Congress as they did from the face-to-face Congresses.
“Our platform is the best I have seen and I have attended many Congresses in the last few months.”
Alexander Schubert – Executive Director, ECNP
TMC created a user interface that allowed delegates to discover the most relevant content and sessions through 3D environments, whilst ensuring they could plan and attend sessions within 2-3 clicks. Essential to this was integration with the ECNP CRM, enabling ‘single sign on’, delegate profile population and the programme to be updated dynamically from the central system. Attendees could then schedule their time throughout the Congress and maximise the value from the sessions.
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