Educational symposium support at an international congress

Objectives

A global agency specialising in the treatment of rare diseases, sought to develop two educational symposia at the 21st International Congress of Endocrinology in Dubai in March 2024.

Our approach

In collaboration with our Studio team, the Cogora: The Agency began the project by creating a brand identity for the educational symposia for use across activities. This concept aligned with client’s own brand identity but was separate enough to emphasise the distinct nature of the educational activities.

Once the branding was agreed upon, the team developed a range of materials to support the conference, including email copy, event flyers and pull-up banners.

When topics had been confirmed with the relevant key opinion leaders and draft slides developed, the team stepped in to complete a final polish of the materials, creating a harmonious flow throughout the content, ensuring consistency, and streamlining the approval process through the creation of reference packs.

At the conference, the team ensured the smooth running of both sessions through assistance in technical rehearsals, last-minute slide updates and encouraging conference attendees to join the session. Printed and digital evaluation forms were available for attendees to share their thoughts on the symposia, allowing the client to adapt their strategy for their next educational event.

Post-symposia reports were developed, summarising the learnings from the events and the outcomes of the evaluations.

Outcome

• 100% of attendees would recommend the educational activity
• >97% felt it met their needs and was pitched at the correct level – neither too basic nor too complex
• >96% considered the quality and relevance as very good or excellent
• >91% of attendees felt the education would improve their ability to manage patients

Despite challenging time slots, with multiple industry sessions running in parallel, both symposia were well attended, with nearly 200 attendees across the two sessions. The sessions ran smoothly, with sufficient time remaining for the planned Q&A portion of the symposia.

The client was extremely happy with the event. The team have subsequently supported the same client at their next congress, the European Congress of Endocrinology, which took place in May.

A post-event evaluation form was shared, gathering valuable insight into the educational needs of HCPs.

This insight has been essential in planning for the next educational event. A plethora of suggested topics on which HPCs felt they would benefit from further education were provided, with >12 new areas suggested at each symposium.

The client also benefited from insight into the attendees’ preferences for interactivity within an educational symposium. Live voting and the option to submit a case for discussion were the most popular methods and the use of Q&A sessions and quizzes were also seen as appropriate interactive methods, albeit slightly less popular.

In addition, the client gained awareness of attendee educational preferences, which can be factored into future educational strategies, with face-to-face activities, interactive workshops, case studies and webinars highlighted as the most popular educational methods.