Lively and IOR join forces for the sake of the environment
The 61st Scientific Session of the Institute of Plant Protection took place on 10-12 February 2021. It was an online conference, organised by Lively, that was attended by representatives of research centres from all around the world. We were responsible for the technical side of the event, as well as the selection and operation of the conference platform. The event comprised a total of 142 presentations over the three days, and 275 speakers.
But first, let's go back in time a little...
We started working on the project in November 2020. It was an ambitious task due to the hybrid nature of the event, the large number of participants and the strict technical requirements for the online platform that the conference was to take place on. Part of the event was to be available to the public, including the streaming on the institute’s social media channels, while the rest would be accessible only to registered participants.
"This year's 61st scientific session of the IOR was directly related to the 70th anniversary of our institute," said Professor Natasza Borodynko.
Online scientific conference
During the conference "Lively and IOR join forces for the sake of the environment", 25 speakers appeared in front of the cameras, with the remaining vast majority connected remotely. In addition to the speakers, 70 remote panellists also took part. There were two parallel stages operating during the event, and we prepared two sets of equipment to enable the on-site speakers' presentations, as well as the ones given by those who connected remotely from their homes and offices. Session moderators were on hand to talk and put questions to the participants, and the whole event was broadcast on two virtual stages on the event platform.
There were discussion panels held simultaneously on both stages, with panellists both on-site, in various conference rooms, and connected remotely. We provided a common environment for the debates and technical support for the speakers connecting remotely.
Simultaneous interpreting was provided during the inaugural session of the conference and the lectures were translated from Polish into English during the course of the event. We provided the necessary equipment for the interpreting and also created another virtual stage with the interpreted speeches.
The conference was also an opportunity for participants and panellists to interact. For this purpose, we prepared individual chat rooms on the event platform. Each virtual stage, sponsorship stand and individual poster had an individual chat room. In addition, there was a general platform-wide chat and technical support chat.
Additionally, each conference participant could send a request for an individual meeting with another participant, speaker or exhibitor. They could also send private text messages to other participants, all within the same platform.
Another element of the event was the Expo stands divided into different groups. Depending on the rank of the exhibitor or the sponsorship package purchased, dedicated Expo stands were prepared, and we also provided support for the exhibitors in designing them and supplementing their content. We also checked that the materials were displayed correctly.
Each participant also had the opportunity to complete their profile in the form of a business card with the option of adding graphics, links and information.
Good organisation is essential
At Lively, we like ambitious projects and challenges. Our offer turned out to be the best match for the brief and the client's needs, so we got to work. We started with efficient organisation, and proposed transferring the entire work for the project to Microsoft Teams. A project team comprising people from Lively and IOR was therefore set up.
Work on such a large conference goes far beyond standard project management. It’s vital to continually check the initial assumptions and create flexible solutions as you go along.
The most important thing is cooperation
Two production teams worked in parallel for three days. And how does the organisation of an event like this look from the technical side? Filip from Lively talks about the numerous elements that have to work together like parts of an orchestra for the whole event to run smoothly:
And what were the experiences of the speakers themselves during their participation in the 61st IOR Scientific Session? We asked Professor Paweł Bereś for his insights:
Statistics
Online event statistics:
- Participants: 550
- Speakers: 65
- Panellists: 60
- Poster sessions: 80
- Lectures: 75
- 100% online/hybrid
- Duration: 3 days
