You’re planning your virtual CME event and wondering how to get started. It may seem a bit daunting, especially if you’ve had to cancel your upcoming in-person event due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has now presented you with a completely different set of circumstances when it comes to your events.
You had webinars, conferences, annual meetings, workshops, CME courses, and other events that were all live. Now you need to be creative as you transition from face-to-face activities to the virtual platform.
So, where do you begin?
In this post, we look at hosting virtual CME events to help you get on track.
Choose the Right Time for Your Event
Whether you’re a small, medium, or large organization, you must decide how many people you want to attend. With an in-person event, this was a necessity. You had to book a venue, choose a food and beverage vendor, and plan the various elements surrounding the on-site event.
Even with the virtual format, you have to consider when to select the date and time of your event. You need to be mindful of the various time zones and national country holidays. For example, the US Thanksgiving holiday won’t fall on the same day as the Canadian Thanksgiving holiday (November versus October).
Have a Clear Agenda for What Happens and When
When you’re hosting virtual CME events, you want to set goals for your learners—what do you want them to achieve?
As you plan your CME event, be sure to have a pre-established meeting agenda. Distribute it well ahead of time (via the email feature of your learning management system [LMS]) so your attendees have the opportunity to prepare. More time will enable your meeting participants to be prepared with questions, especially when you have interactive Q&As and other elements in the mix.
Look at your agenda, and consider the time involved in each activity. If a specific session lasts longer than an hour, split it into more easily digestible segments, especially since attendees are viewing it through a computer screen or mobile device. Allow time for coffee and snacks (and bathroom breaks).
Engage Your Learners with the Right Content and Interactivity
Hosting virtual CME events can look easy when you have hot topics that your attendees will find informative and valuable. Look for timely, relevant topics that are well-attended on-site. This content can be easily transformed into a virtual format. Consider offering these interactive elements for your virtual CME event:
- AMA (Ask Me Anything): As the name suggests, your attendees can ask questions about anything during these sessions.
- Live Q&A: Incorporate attendee questions and answers so they can interact with speakers in real time.
- Attendee chat: Attendees have opportunities to connect with one another and chat. If you offer a live chat feature during sessions, they can share topic insights and ideas.
- Breakout sessions: You can encourage collaboration using breakout sessions and for networking or knowledge sharing.
- Community forums: You can incorporate forums and chat rooms to extend the event experience after your live sessions.
- Social media: Your attendees can use sites such as Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram to leverage your content and share their experiences about your virtual CME event.
Offer Video Conferencing That Can Be Converted into Enduring Content
Enduring content is critical for any physician or medical professional. For you, the ability to create them is vital. It’s a straightforward process when you have the right LMS:
- Create your new enduring activity.
- Upload your video conferencing file.
- Add your pre-tests, post-tests, and/or your evaluations.
- Publish.
- You’re done—on to the next!
Look at What Your LMS Can Do for You
Look to your LMS for technology that enables hosting virtual CME events. With audio and video conferencing, your attendees can access your event and its content from anywhere and at any time.
Tools such as Zoom Meetings, GoToWebinar, Webex, YouTube, and others can help you use high-quality events (such as conferences, webinars, small classes, symposia, advisory boards, and annual meetings) as viable and highly convenient replacements for in-person meetings. Audio files can be converted into podcasts, for example.
EthosCE Helps with Your Virtual CME Event Hosting
The EthosCE team understands the challenges of hosting virtual CME events in today’s CME event environment. EthosCE offers full multimedia coverage for your CME event content, whether it’s for small events or large meetings. Your Zoom Meeting recordings are immediately available directly in the LMS, so you can convert your content into enduring materials and extend your reach to even more learners.
EthosCE provides a compressive all-in-one solution for small, medium, and large organizations. Regardless of the size of your event, EthosCE’s tools can help you optimize your content so you can focus on providing your CME event attendees with the best possible meeting experience.
At EthosCE, we understand the challenges of staying up to date and compliant with ACCME changes. We know how critical it is to get things done right the first time when it comes to team-based education and success.
To learn how EthosCE can enhance the continuing education of your healthcare teams, schedule a free 1-on-1 demo with one of our specialists today!
