THE SOLUTION

Increasing the Attendance of Sponsored Sessions

To deliver BTOG's goal of maximising the attendance for their sponsored sessions, an innovative solution was provided that would see their participant numbers soar.

A 5m x 2m LED wall was built and programmed to display the conference agenda as a handy guide for delegates to plan their day around. With a hard to miss large screen placed in the centre of the conference venue the digital signage grabbed the attention of the attendees and made the day’s programme easy to map out. Thanks to a few days of pre-programming wizardry, the information on screen was ready to be rolled out as soon as the doors to the venue opened to delegates, and then rotated every hour to keep things fresh and up to date. Information shown on the screen included details of the current talks happening and a countdown to the next sessions, and a visual guide of directions, indicating where the talks were taking place in the large venue, meaning attendees could easily navigate the conference agenda and venue. Promotional videos were also played out on screen with pre-recorded greetings from the presenters of the sponsored symposia to encourage BTOG’s membership to come along to their talks. The results were a huge success with this year’s attendance rate up by 50%.

Confident Speakers = Smooth Flow of Content

Closely collaborating with the client and venue, the crew took charge of the speaker preview area. This area was used to encourage presenters to drop in and hand over their slides ahead of their sessions. From there, all the session content was prepared to ensure there were no delays to the schedule, despite the packed agenda. This put speakers at ease before taking to the lectern, having tested their presentations, and carried out any technical checks. This also allowed for a smooth, content rich viewing experience for the audience across sessions.

On-Demand Footage with High Production Values

With 3 lecture theatres and meeting rooms for over 1000 attendees, including 700+ healthcare professionals who were joining live, footage from the 70+ lectures and panel discussions was converted into on-demand learning resources for online viewing via the conference app. To accommodate this, an innovative two-camera solution with a picture-in-picture feature on each stage was implemented. This meant online viewers could watch presenters alongside their slides, delivering a clear and informative viewing experience. Producing high-quality content that matched the in-person experience, a quick upload was then delivered to the BTOG platform, providing valuable online resources for delegates and members that would last far beyond the 3-day event. So far, BTOG members from around the world, have been able to view the content, from the USA and Spain all the way to South Korea. The “Events BTOG 2024” page also had up to 33,000 views, the highest of any webpage on their website in the last 12 months.

Conclusion

"First Sight Media's involvement as our technical production partner has been instrumental in delivering a professional and seamless experience for our BTOG Annual Conference attendees. They bring an extra level of professionalism to our production needs, allowing us to focus on other aspects of the event. We implemented various improvement measures from the previous year, some associated with First Sight Media, and these measures contributed to an increase to our sponsorship sessions attendance by 50%. With incredible results like this, we have complete trust in the whole team as they prove time and time again, that they deliver exactly what they promise. Their consistent quality, approachability, and open communication make them an invaluable partner to work with.”- Dawn McKinley, Senior Executive Officer (SEO), British Thoracic Oncology Group (BTOG)