Case Study: Society for Simulation in Europe (SESAM)

Annual Meeting – Seville, Spain – June 2022

Following a COVID19 cancelled year, quickly followed by a virtual iteration, the SESAM Annual Members Meeting was set to take place in Seville, Spain. We were tasked with designing and delivering a successful – and profitable – conference to bring members of this unique society together again, face-to-face. The conference had to reflect the ambition of the Society by being slick and professional but also budget-friendly.

What we did

By creating a sense of excitement – and certainty – around conference, we confirmed early interest from sponsors and exhibitors and a growing number of attendees. With budget confirmed, we worked to manage spend at our congress centre to create a modern and professional look-and-feel to proceedings. With sustainability to the fore, we create a completely paperless event with a zero approach to waste by using an online solution to programme and abstract content and collateral.

What we delivered

A professional conference that met the exacting standards of our audience of healthcare professionals. A fast-paced programme with fringe events and hands-on exhibits that kept plenary, workshop and show floor busy throughout. Setting the standard for future conferences, SESAM 2022 was a pivotal conference for our client. By converting online attendees to in person attendees, we turned COVID19 into a positive advantage and a “leg-up” to success in future years.

Results

Attendee numbers increased by 31% over the last in person conference pre-pandemic. Over 25% of attendees took our a newly-launched Group Registration enabling affordable team attendance and multi-disciplinary learning. We welcomed attendees from 53 countries including a sponsored delegation from Ukraine. 9 plenary sessions, 42 workshops, 71 parallel sessions were delivered over three days.