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guest contribution

The Fair of the Future – One more Dimension

BY DANIEL M. METZLER,
CEO wikonect GmbH, Wiesbaden, Germany

The Fair of the Future – online, or open communication areas within the industry
One more Dimension exhibition with entertaining keynote speeches on a wide
range of topics. Some areas, such as the poster presenta-
Fairs, conferences, and congresses are essen- tions, are perfectly suited to be held purely online in Zoom
tial for scientific exchange even in vascular me- meetings. For once, Covid has helped us in this respect:
dicine. Following the current state of research, Many new ideas and formats were created to transport
lively discussions and getting to know the la- content in an attractive way for the online world.
test medical technology innovations ‒ all this
makes the appeal of such an event. However, in Since 2020, many events could not take place in
2020 only very few fairs and congresses could person. What challenges did you have to overcome
take place in person, and in 2021 not all events when switching to „virtual“?
could take place either. At the very beginning of the pandemic, it was already a
substantial adjustment to have to deal with the nume-
We talked to Managing Director Daniel M. Metzler of rous cancellations or conversion from face-to-face events
wikonect GmbH. His company has been organizing events to digital formats. We had to look for quick and practical
for the annual conference of the German Society for Phle- solutions to enable our congresses to be held digitally as
bology for years, as well as for the Bonn Vein Days, and well. We had a bit of a head start thanks to our well-wor-
the German Society for Surgery. wikonect has also been king „meducating!“ network, through which we had alrea-
responsible for organizing the annual conference of the dy designed and implemented online formats before the
German Society for Vascular Surgery. pandemic. In addition to the mere technical challenges
and questions, some of which were legal due to pande-
Mr. Metzler, what is your recipe for a successful mic-related cancellations, it was primarily important to
medical conference or fair? „bring along“ all participants. Whether participants, spea-
Professional organization and logistics build our founda- kers, service providers or, in particular, the partners from
tion to constantly work together with the congress hosts industry who are so important for the financing of cong-
on improving event concepts again and again. Today‘s resses: Everyone had to adjust to the digital formats. This
participants want to be very flexible and want to gain a lot required very intensive communication on our part. Many
of knowledge and input in a shorter time than in the past, things were rethought, redeveloped, and tested.
and they want to be able to obtain information before and
after the congress. Many want to be much more active- What was the response from physicians to the
ly involved themselves and also have the opportunity to announcement of virtual or hybrid fairs and what
exchange experiences and to network. was the feedback afterwards?
We are therefore challenged to rethink congresses ‒ The responses varied. They ranged from pure enthusi-
also under the idea of „infotainment“ aspects: away from asm, wanting to train only online from now on, to total re-
pure knowledge transfer with face-to-face lectures and jection, not wanting to take part in any more digital event
classic industry exhibitions to interactive, hybrid and dy- ‒ too impersonal, too demanding.
namic formats to meet the needs of all congress stakehol- I think the first lesson we learned for the future is this:
ders. These can be interactive workshops in which partici- Face-to-face events will be enriched more and more by
pants and speakers can actively contribute by connecting digital formats. The best of both worlds, so to speak!

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