16 Case Study 3
June 2018
BSI Congress in Brighton
Association technology experts Shocklogic helped power a meeting of immunologists at their big Brighton congress
The British Society for Immunology( BSI) is one of the oldest, largest and most active immunology societies in the world. Founded in 1956, it recently celebrated its 60-year anniversary and has over 3,000 members.
The BSI’ s main objective is to promote and support excellence in scientific research, scholarship and clinical practice in immunology for the benefit of human and animal health and welfare.
The BSI ' s flagship event is its Annual Congress, the largest national Immunology congress in Europe.
The congress has been going since 1993, and is a fantastic opportunity for immunologists from the UK and around the world to come together. Attendees are drawn from all sectors of the immunological community, from researchers to clinical immunologists.
The 2017 Congress took place on 4-7 December, at the Brighton Centre in Brighton, UK.
Event technology and association event management specialists Shocklogic supported the congress with various services and technology solutions. This included the complete online and onsite registration management and logistics, with 1,237 registrations from 36 countries, and printed badges. This was a new record for the congress as a stand-alone event.
Self registration meant delegates could bring along their eTicket either as a print-out or on their mobile device, scan themselves, and print their own badge. Shocklogic also provided real-time lead retrieval scanners for exhibitors.
Shocklogic has been involved with the congress since 2012, and in 2017 provided two new services.
Firstly, Shocklogic built the official congress website, which was macro-responsive and integrated with all the other systems. This included the official mobile app, with a 74 % download rate.
The congress app allowed delegates to view the full programme, create a personal agenda, view exhibitor / sponsor stand location and information, access a real-time Twitter feed, explore sessions‘ Happening Now’, view venue floor plans and more.
A special session at the BSI Congress is‘ Bright Sparks in Immunology’. This aims to showcase the research of early-career researchers as well as providing them with the experience of giving talks about their work to a large audience. It is unique because it combines competition with science and networking.
Bright Sparks is open to all PhD students and postdocs who are submitting an abstract for presentation at the congress. The top three presenters in each session receive a certificate and prize money, with the overall winners given the opportunity to deliver their presentation in one of the congress’ s plenary sessions. In total, the congress had 470 submitted abstracts( 90 oral and 380 posters) and 131 invited speakers.
There is no British Society for Immunology Congress in 2018, instead the BSI will be attending the European Congress of Immunology, taking place on 2-5 September 2018 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
The national BSI Congress then returns in 2019 to Liverpool on 2-5 December 2019, where organisers expect more great developments and interesting surprises.