This article was written by CadmiumCD Contributor, Pamela Shigeoka.
This past May, the American Urological Association held its 112th annual conference, the AUA Annual Meeting. Over 16,000 attendees and 4,000 speakers gathered in Boston to discuss the latest advances in urologic medicine. Such a large conference means a lot of behind-the-scenes work is needed to make sure everything runs smoothly. This year, CadmiumCD and the AUA worked together using a synergistic combination of technology solutions to give attendees a great experience. Let’s take a look at some of the ways CadmiumCD was able to streamline the AUA Annual Meeting experience.
Speaker Experience
With so many speakers spread across 55 meeting rooms, it’s essential to have a sleek system that manages speaker data while giving event planners and speakers quick and easy ways to upload and access information. By combining the power of the Hermes® SSR and the Conference Harvester® software systems, CadmiumCD was able to craft an excellent speaker experience.
Speakers’ accounts were specially coded so their experience with the mobile app was tuned to their needs. From the app’s home screen, speakers could see the location and hours of the Speaker Ready Room as well as have easy access to instructions for their role as a speaker. Their own personal speaking schedule is also readily available on the app, as were the locations for their own speaking engagements.
The app also gave speakers direct access to the audience response system. They could read and reply to questions from the audience from the app and extend their session beyond the meeting room. They could also create polls directly from the app and see responses from attendees.
Those speaker accounts were specially tagged so that speaker data was pushed directly into the eventScribe® account data. CadmiumCD was able to preload registrants and merge speaker data from Conference Harvester® so that speaker accounts were automatically upgraded to give them access to the expanded data within the app. The biography, photograph, and social media information attendees added during registration were also carried through, and speakers could choose what information they would like displayed on their speaker biography page in the app.
The app also made the check in process much faster for speakers. When they entered the Speaker Ready Room, a CadmiumCD employee engaged with them immediately. All they needed to do to check in was to walk up to a laptop, scan a QR code, and they were checked in and ready to work. Attendees and speakers were also able to check themselves in from their own devices with that QR code, making getting checked in that much easier.
With a conference as large as the AUA Annual Meeting, a quick check in process is extremely helpful at simplifying everyone’s day. There were no long lines, no waiting for someone to look up your information; you simply walked in, checked in, and got started on your day at the conference.
Meeting Planner Experience
Much like how speakers had access to speaker-specific information, the event’s planners and staff also had access to an app interface specifically designed for their needs, giving them quick access to important information.
For example, planners could go in and do daily debriefs with the Hermes SSR® data, with immediate access to information like the number of uploads, how many speakers were logged in, and so on. They could also access itinerary planner stats, like how many views each presentation had, and the level of activity and engagement from users. The engagement stats could even be broken down by hour each day of the conference.
Planners also had access to Conference Harvester® statistics for speakers, with fingertip access to faculty log ins and the over 4500 presentations managed by the system. They could see how speakers were engaging with the system both before and during the event. And thanks to the special boost bars on speaker biography pages in the planners’ app, they could call or text speakers directly from the app. This feature was also available to AV techs in the meeting rooms, so the techs and senior staff could quickly get in touch with speakers. Planners could also send push notifications directly from the app to different audiences, such as volunteers, when they needed to get the word out quickly.
Conclusion
For a conference as large and well-attended as the AUA Annual Meeting, event planners need to have the best combination of technology available to help them wrangle all of their data and keep everything running as smoothly as possible. CadmiumCD’s event management solutions work together to streamline even the largest events and help everything go off without a hitch. Planners, speakers, and attendees all benefit from a robust system that can manage each aspect of a conference.