What We’re Learning About Virtual Medical Conferences
To no one’s surprise, just about every conference, congress, and tradeshow has either been canceled or switched to a virtual platform this year. It seems that few of us – participants, presenters, or exhibitors – know exactly what to expect.
But we’re learning.
MedGyn is currently participating in Omnia Health Live Americas, going on through November 6th.
Here’s what we’ve learned so far.
Pros
- The conferences’ online platforms are well developed. Entering company, product, and contact information is straightforward, as is uploading and linking to additional media such as videos and catalogs.
- There is a wide variety of ways to connect with people. You can “show interest” with a click of a button, start a direct chat, or even schedule an online meeting.
- Intuitive algorithms suggest matches for you according to the profile information everyone initially submitted. This can help you develop a short-list of people and companies you’d like to learn more about, saving everyone time and effort.
Cons
- Personal connections (which are extremely important to small businesses like MedGyn) are difficult to make on a virtual platform.
- Spam, spam, spam. You may be looking for real connections and partners, but not everyone who is registered is as discerning. Now armed with a well-functioning platform, spammers can relentlessly dump their unsolicited products and services into your message box.
- No demonstrations. Purchasing time for webinars and product demonstrations are often cost-prohibitive, especially for family-owned business like MedGyn. In the past, attendees could freely handle our products, letting them experience for themselves the high quality and focus on women’s health that are MedGyn’s foundation.
All-in-all, the virtual experience has been a positive one. We’re looking forward to future events to see how this new way of connecting the medical community will continue to evolve.
Some of our upcoming virtual events:
December 14-16, 2020: National Children’s Alliance Virtual Leadership Conference
January 23-29, 2021: San Diego International Conference on Child and family Maltreatment
