Leave the classic meeting path

How out-of-the-box collaboration contributes to a successful conference

"Talent wins games, but teamwork wins championships" Michael Jordan once said. The quote by the best basketball player of all time remains burningly topical. Not only because the European football championship is underway, but also when organising your conference. Collaboration is crucial to achieve a successful edition. And just as in football a surprising tactical move can make all the difference, you can do the same with your conference by thinking out-of-the-box. Discover four valuable tips in this article, provided by the experts at VISITFLANDERS Convention Bureau.

"Involve your congress' target audience"
Sylvie Lejour, Team Coach VISITFLANDERS Convention Bureau

There are many stakeholders you can consult with to organise your conference. One group that is often overlooked in this process, and completely unfairly, are the ultimate beneficiaries of your conference. Who will reap the benefits of the impact you generate? Consult with this group, and try to involve them in both the organisation of your conference and its content.

That principle was nicely put into practice at the EACD 2024 congress in Bruges. EACD stands for "European Academy of Childhood Disability", and therefore people with neuromotor disabilities and their parents were closely involved. For example, they played a key role in working out additional activities specifically for people with neuromotor disabilities, notably a concert, sports festival and technology fair. In terms of content, the target group also played a key role. Papers where people with this disability were actively involved were given priority over equivalent papers where this was not the case.

“Think about unusual suspects”
Milo Vergucht, International Association Expert

VISITFLANDERS Convention Bureau's "impact methodology" contains an interesting tool, which we always use when we put our heads together with associations: stakeholder mapping. Together, we look for parties that score high on the "interest" and "impact" criteria. This way, you find parties you didn't think of at first, but which are very interesting to have working together for your conference.

For EACD, for example, we ended up with researchers who immediately bridged the gap to other areas where the conference wanted to create impact. If your objective is to give people with disabilities more access to sport, you couldn't wish for a better ambassador than a paediatric rehabilitation professor coaching a CP team within a football club.

"Always keep the win/win in mind"
Tuya Beyers, International Association Expert

When you consult with associations or PCOs, try to empathise with their situation. "What's in it for them" is the question that should guide you. What keeps your stakeholders awake at night, what do they dream about? How can you support them in this, in a way that also fulfils your own objectives? When you work together on this, you go for the win/win together: you both reap the benefits of the effort.

VISITFLANDERS Convention Bureau has such a partnership with XR Valley, an organisation that aims to position Flanders as a world leader in XR. This is in line with our mission to bring impactful conferences around innovation and technology to Flanders. That is why our convention bureau and XR Valley align marcom action plans, we screen interesting congresses together and Jelle Demanet - the standard-bearer of XR Valley - joined our partnership of Legacy Makers.

"Great teamwork wins awards"
Paul Swain, Association Relations Manager UK & Ireland

Working well together not only makes for a successful conference, it can also bring you awards. For example, the pioneering collaboration between VISITFLANDERS Convention Bureau, Abbey Conference & Events, International Foundation for Integrared Care (IFIC) and Department of Care won the IAPCO Collaboration Award 2023. This award recognizes the importance of successful collaboration between diverse organizations to achieve a common goal.

This quartet received the award for the organisation of the flagship conference of ICIC23 in Antwerp. VISITFLANDERS Convention Bureau applied our new impact methodology, closely involving all stakeholders. This resulted in one of the most successful IFIC conferences ever, creating positive long-term effects for society: a more holistic approach of health & wellbeing for all citizens.

Interested in learning more about this impact methodology, and how your conference, too, can create positive effects for society? The expert in your domain or in your region will be happy to help you.

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