Fitz Events was delighted to host the 9th Biennial Meeting of the Association for European Cardiovascular Pathology (AECVP), led by local organisers from Royal Papworth Hospital in Cambridge, in September 2021. Postponed from September 2020, the conference was originally planned to be in person only and attract international delegates, which lead the organisers to take the hybrid route in 2021. The event initially reached us via the local venue-finding company, Meet Cambridge, who supported the organisation in the early stages.

This was one of our first hybrid events and therefore we worked closely with a local external AV supplier, taking guidance from them, and discussing the logistics of hosting a hybrid conference with remote and in-person speakers, as well as delegates, whilst aiming to retain interactive elements.

We arranged several online meetings between the organisers and the AV company to ensure that the event ran smoothly, incorporated the requirements of the conference, and to take advice on the best use of equipment and software.

The Event Organiser, speaking to Meet Cambridge following the event, said “Using a venue which could offer professional technical support was essential as it’s much more complicated to hold a hybrid meeting than a purely online event.  The AV team at Fitzwilliam and their partner company, JMPS, did an outstanding job of the technical aspects of the meeting, tailoring a solution to our needs and ensuring that everything ran well on the day". 

The conference retained most of the originally planned ‘in-person’ programme, including lectures, presentations and poster rounds.  The event had 15 in-person attendees and 81 joined online.

In line with our covid-19 safety measures, we continued with the use of the Auditorium despite the lower in person numbers, as it offered flexible social distancing and an effective ventilation system. Face coverings were encouraged whilst in the Auditorium; we also ensured that hand sanitiser was available within the venue and that refreshment and break-times could be spent outside.

The organiser noted positive feedback from their in-person delegates who were pleased to be able to meet up again and to benefit from the person-to-person interaction that is lacking in the virtual world. Remote attendees were pleased that they could participate in a meeting they otherwise wouldn’t have been able to attend.

We are on hand to support you with your physical or hybrid events and would be happy to talk through your requirements. Please Contact Us to discuss your event.

January 2022