Symposia with a difference: Don’t overlook these 5 areas

As symposia season begins, here are 5 areas that are often overlooked and may be holding your symposium back from achieving its full potential.

So, you obviously need a well-known and respected speaker, yes? Someone to lend credibility to the symposium, to draw in the crowd. All your competitors are doing this, so it must be the right approach.

Except, sometimes it’s not. Not least because often your competitors aren’t just using the same approach, they're using the same speaker!

Take a step back. Start with what you're trying to achieve - your strategy, your messaging, what change you're trying to bring about - and then see whether contracting one of the usual suspects really is the way to go. Maybe you need someone at the frontline of healthcare provision, someone who understands the challenges that you’re addressing on a practical level, who can make the data relevant. Or perhaps engaging early with a rising star better suits your long-term strategy.

 "We want something different – innovative, never been done before… proven to work…" OK. Different can be good, but it can also be a distraction and a money pit. The right format needs to factor in what you're trying to communicate, your chosen faculty, and what you want people to leave with.

A townhall format with several KOLs may suit a new brand finding its place in the treatment algorithm; incorporating case studies can shift the focus to clinical practice challenges; using an experienced chair can help bring out the best in an up-and-coming KOL; while a TED-style talk plays into the hands of a seasoned pro.

Then there’s interactivity. Interactivity is the new baseline - everything needs to be 'interactive'. But if the interactivity doesn't engage, doesn't help achieve your objectives, then it really is just a gimmick and a waste of money. Where many symposia are often let down is when the technology doesn’t integrate easily, disrupting the flow or not allowing enough time to review the results for interpretation to be useful. Interactivity should add value, be guided by adult learning principles, support your strategy, and reinforce outcomes. And importantly, the results should be measurable.

Be wary of the KOL who says “I’ve done hundreds of these things. I don’t need a rehearsal.” Aside from the fact that that doesn't instil confidence about your speaker's engagement, planning and preparation is everything for a symposium. Good preparation can ensure speakers are comfortable with their slides and the key messages to get across, the technological setup, and the interactivity. Good preparation can help drive meaningful Q&A with pre-prepared questions between the chair and the speaker that further builds on the presentation and enhances learning.

What is often overlooked by clients is that their audience will likely include competitor companies, who will not only be looking at the content presented, but also the way the data are presented, the audience number, and the level of engagement. Make sure the content looks good, can be substantiated, and any image permissions have been obtained.

4. Get creative with your materials

An easy way to stand out from the crowd is to engage with an agency backed by a strong creative team. They can help develop eye-catching materials that spark initial engagement and pique interest, and even produce artwork that lives on after the symposium has finished.

Sponsored symposia can be difficult to attract audience numbers, with companies often pairing a presentation with a breakfast or lunch as a way of enticement. Our creative team once designed such an enticing program handout for a sponsored ECTRIMS symposium that we quickly ran out of copies, with many doctors taking multiple flyers for their colleagues. The result was a packed-out symposium with standing-room only.

Engaging with social media can help to expand your digital reach. Social media campaigns can drive interest and registrations to your symposium, while engaging with digital opinion leaders (DOLs) offers additional channels for your data and has the potential to continue the conversation after the symposium has finished.

In a healthcare environment, industry regulators are working to provide clear guidance around the use of social media. While the recent PMPCA Social Media Guidance has provided some structure, social media engagement requires careful navigation and working with an experienced agency can help ensure a successful and compliant campaign.

Discover how we can help your symposium stand out from the crowd. If you’re thinking of running a symposium for your brand, we’d love to hear from you. Our Account Management Team are seasoned pros in planning and execution, our content team have the knowledge and expertise to get to the heart of your data, and we’re backed by an in-house creative and production team who will ensure that your symposium is unforgettable.