EAACI Annual Congress still at the forefront of innovation and progression

Published on October 12, 2022

In recent years, there are only a few organisations that have successfully overcome the challenges that the COVID-19 pandemic has presented to the world. Congress and Event professionals worldwide had the critical task to adapt in these unprecedented times and, in some cases, had to reinvent themselves entirely.  

Some might argue that the progression of the MICE industry has never been as fast as it has been over the past few years, with technology thrusting us forward into the hemisphere of evolution. Online meeting service providers popping up overnight, IT developers and professionals creating virtual meeting spaces, hall and exhibition areas, all created on the trending demands of millions of us staying at home under lockdown and uncertainty. The simple premise of face-to-face meetings burned to the ground; the social fabrics of our society shaken to the core. However, from the ashes a new type of congress/event appeared:  the Hybrid meeting. A compilation of all things old and new, traditional vs progressive, face-to-face vs virtual, technology was there to optimise and keep our industries functioning.  

In 2020, EAACI embraced the changes early on by taking charge of one of the first digital only congresses of its kind, and certainly the first in the field of Allergy and Immunology worldwide. Taking the reins and leading the charge from the very beginning of the pandemic, the 8,000 plus strong congress was successfully implemented and held completely digitally, with much praise from physicians and Industry alike.  

A year later, EAACI continued its pioneering journey by effectively holding one of the first large hybrid scientific congresses in Europe marking another noteworthy milestone on the pathway back to the new normality, uncertain of what it would to look like in post-pandemic times. Two years later, EAACI has progressed further by increasing its delegate capacity at the last annual congress in Prague (1-3, July 2022) as over 5,000 delegates attended onsite with a further 2,500 joining digitally. After this experience, we could corroborate that most of our onsite delegates also enjoyed experiencing the digital content and appreciated our efforts to make this accessible to them. The digital content proved to be an overall bonus. 

However, now the entire MICE industry faces a new challenge: how to embrace the new digital era by complimenting the old traditional ways of a face-to-face meeting?  

EAACI will aim again to set the benchmark with its next annual congress returning to a purposely built large congress facility at the Congress Center Hamburg (CCH) on 9-11 June 2023. The newly– renovated congress centre has state-of-the-art exhibition halls, rooms and technology to match. In the next Hybrid Congress, delegates and sponsors will get a taste of how EAACI continues to develop and set standards in the MICE industry and beyond.  

In this new chapter, we are confident that we will be able to apply all lessons gathered during these last years, embrace the countless possibilities of the hybrid format  and bring the best of these two formats to our next Annual Congress. 

For more information on the opportunities for Industry, please contact sponsors@eaaci.org or visit https://www.eaaci.org/sponsorship/ to setup a free / no-obligation user account on the EAACI Sponsor Online Platform (ESOP). The user account provides access to all the current available options. 

 

+ Find out more about our EAACI Hybrid Congress 2023 

 

For more information on the opportunities for Industry, please contact sponsors@eaaci.org