While conference organisers are exploring hybrid events in the long term, virtual conferences are here to stay.
The reason?
The benefits, not just in terms of sustainability, are clear, with accessibility to virtual conferences increasing exponentially, while the costs associated with live conferences plummet.
It’s been a steep learning curve, demanding a rapid response to the impact of emergency restrictions from everyone in the events industry. Embracing new technologies and skills is never easy, but even harder when you have just weeks to get to grips with unfamiliar software to transition to staging your event online.
But, as with all change, with it comes opportunity.
With 20 years of experience supporting academic conferences, Oxford Abstracts grabbed the bull by the horns and decided to knock on their clients’ virtual doors to ask: What do you need from us? Aside from an easy-to-use interface that reduced the requirement for specialist IT skills, clients, in no particular order, wanted to attract, engage and delight their delegates. Budget was also a key factor.
Creating an immersive experience online isn’t easy, especially when your budget doesn’t stretch to elaborate virtual exhibition spaces complete with personalised avatars. So, how do you stop your delegates from switching from your virtual conference to Netflix?
- Give delegates the opportunity to engage, host, collaborate and contribute by adding lots of content. As well as traditional abstracts and posters, offer live, on-demand and interactive media
Oxford Abstract Virtual Conference Suite gives you the tools to pack your schedule with lots of dynamic content, all accessible from PCs, Macs, tablets and phones. Add abstracts and posters, embed links to pre-recorded presentations (Youtube, Vimeo etc.) and live webinars and Q&A sessions (Zoom, Google Meet etc.). As well as adding posters to individual sessions, the Poster Gallery offers a clean and engaging space where delegates can search, view and download submissions.
- Give delegates ownership of their virtual conference experience
With unlimited multiple sessions, and a range of personalisation tools, the VC Suite lets delegates customise their virtual conference experience with a range of features, designed to optimise engagement. Delegates can create name badges, set local time zones from anywhere in the world, download sessions to calendars, and search, filter and download content from across the entire conference.
- Facilitate introductions, nurture future collaborations
Isn’t that what conferences are essentially about? In the absence of all important face-to-face meetings, the VC Suite offers a range of networking features. From commenting on submissions and sessions, to chat features, delegates can discover and engage with collaborators and contacts. Administrators stay in control with full moderation and can enable, disable and delete comments and in-session chat, if necessary.
With fully integrated abstract management and delegate registration, the VC Suite offers a one-stop-shop platform for any size of academic conference. Oxford Abstracts delivers a clean and easy to navigate, highly cost-effective virtual conference solution, where neither performance nor features are sacrificed for its matchless value.
Oxford Abstracts Virtual Conference Suite starts at £800 per event.
Get in touch with Oxford Abstracts to arrange a demo.
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