Breaking down access to knowledge barriers through virtual conferences
LESLIE ROBERTSON , FOUNDER OF OPEN AUDIENCE , AN ENGAGEMENT CONSULTANCY THAT SPECIALISES IN LIFE SCIENCE EVENTS , DISCUSSES THE INCLUSIONARY BENEFITS OF VIRTUAL MEDICAL CONFERENCES AND THE NEED TO TAILOR CONTENT ACCORDINGLY
V irtual meetings are shaking up the status quo , bringing opportunities to tap into the latest research and connect with others in the same field to far more people than ever before . A recent paper - ‘ Conference demographics and footprint changed by virtual platforms ’ - published in Nature Sustainability found virtual conferences significantly improve access based on several key factors , including cost , gender , career stage and geographic location .
The paper argues : “ In the virtual formats , researchers are much more likely to be able to overcome economic and travel-related barriers that are intrinsic to in-person conferences and that ultimately discourage participation from institutions and countries with limited resources , women , disabled scientists and early career researchers and practitioners .”
What we ’ ve found is just how vast the reach can be when running a virtual conference . In the past 12 months , we ’ ve reached 149 countries in virtual meetings . Had those been in-person meetings it is unlikely you get that spread of attendance . What
Above : Leslie Robertson we ’ re seeing in many healthcare conferences and meetings is that you ’ re now getting aspiring specialists and generalists , not just leaders in a particular field , which means the sessions are now both more accessible and more equitable . It means people who would previously not have been able to attend are joining conferences and benefitting from the information shared .
Sometimes there will be groups of people gathered in the same location , all joining from a single registration for a specific topic . While theoretically this might not be considered done , it does mean health professionals who might previously have missed out are able to join . For example , you might have nurse specialists joining sessions that previously would only have physicians , allowing a wider cohort of people to hear from expert presenters .
Virtual conferences also make it easier for participants to join for certain sessions or learning streams rather than the whole conference . This is made easier still by video-on-demand , which not only
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