VIRTUAL CONFERENCE DURING COVID-19 LOCKDOWN

The COVID-19 lockdown compelled the entire world to reconsider the conference format. The organization's most significant event, the annual conference, typically hosting over 20,000 attendees, had to be organized in a very short time to substitute for the in-person gathering. The transition from an in-person conference to a virtual one posed some challenges, requiring the organization to shift its approach to presenting everything through a user interface. This was a new challenge for the meeting team, which had extensive experience in organizing events with conference centers, auditoriums, meeting rooms, and exhibit halls, and not interactive websites and live remote meetings.

MY ROLE

• Information architecture
• Prototyping
• Graphic design (customizing and implementing branding)
• Marketing video for the home page
• Collaborating with development, marketing and the meeting team in providing the best possible UI design and attendee experience for the event.

FOLLOWING YEAR VIRTUAL CONFERENCE

In 2021, social distancing persisted, leading to the cancellation of the in-person conference once again. The insights gained from the previous year's challenges proved invaluable for the planning of this event. Opting for a more experienced vendor specializing in virtual conferences for similar organizations, we aimed to enhance the user experience.

I focused on optimizing the UI to prioritize educational content, aligning it with the organization's brand identity, and making it user-friendly. I created the information architecture and prototyped the entire application, providing stakeholders with a tangible and realistic preview of the conference before its official launch. This approach not only ensured a smoother user experience but also facilitated effective communication and collaboration among stakeholders during the planning process.

CHALLENGES AND WINS

• This was the first time the organization had to arrange a large-scale virtual conference, so there were some challenges. One of the biggest hurdles was that the entire world had suddenly moved into having their meetings and conferences virtually due to the lockdown; Virtual meeting platform providers encountered resource constraints, grappling with a sudden surge in demand.
• Limitations on platform customization presented some hurdles.
• The large volume of on-demand content was a challenge for one of the chosen platforms as they were more geared toward live events.
• For the meeting team, the concept of having a virtual meeting was new, so there were many challenges in the planning phase. Using the word "virtual" translated to using 3D, virtual technology to some stakeholders; Managing the expectations and making experience optimal from the users' perspective was a priority.

• Experience gained in understanding what it takes to arrange a successful virtual conference for tens of thousands of attendees.
• Main goal of providing quality education for doctors was achieved.
• The attendees were pleased to have access to the recorded sessions at their leisure.