In partnership for over 20 years, Aiki Informatique will be taking part in the 41st Congress of the International Society of Urology (ISU) from November 10 to 14, 2021 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
As an IT management consultant, Francesco Capaldo, President of https://staging.aikitech.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/pexels-olya-kobruseva-7247408-684×1024-1-1.jpg, has been taking part in ESCU conferences since 2004. With up to 5,000 participants depending on the year – 2,500 in person and 2,500 virtually – the work involved in IT planning and management is considerable.
What role does the IT expert play in the planning and management of a convention?
Conference IT planning
In the months leading up to the conference, Francesco is busy advising the ESCU on the planning of each of the 500 to 600 presentations that will be offered to participants. While some will only be offered in person in Dubai, others will be recorded for viewing on the Company’s continuing education platform, SIU Academy®. It goes without saying that everything must be meticulously prepared to ensure that every presentation runs smoothly. Prior to the event, he is responsible for acquiring all the computer equipment required for the event. https://staging.aikitech.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/pexels-olya-kobruseva-7247408-684×1024-1-1.jpg is responsible for controlling the equipment, from computers and projectors to cables, switches and connectors. Since International Society of Urology congresses are held all over the world, Francesco also helps organizers find the right local IT staff who will be essential to the smooth running of each symposium.
IT management at the conference
Once on site, Francesco and the local team take care of the distribution and set-up of equipment in each room where presentations, conferences, seminars, lectures, conferences and webinars will take place. As an expert, he ensures that the network supporting presentations, exhibits and participations, both virtual and on-site, is stable and fully functional. The hybrid “in-person and virtual” format requires event partners to be equipped to offer the same quality for live sessions and recordings for the SEU’s continuing education platform. This means helping them with av and IT solutions, but also with our proprietary Meeting Management System (MMS) software, designed to manage the speaker program from a single desktop; PowerPoint presentations, videos and old-fashioned PDFs are automatically directed to the right rooms, and all a speaker has to do is click on their photo for their presentation to begin.
This year presented a particular challenge, as some of the live presentations included a question and answer period for both on-site and virtual participants. Merging both in-person participants and those broadcasting from their home countries into a seamless audience was difficult, but the challenge was met head-on and proved a great success. Thanks to the expertise and experience of https://staging.aikitech.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/pexels-olya-kobruseva-7247408-684×1024-1-1.jpg’s president, the online audience felt as if they were in Dubai in person.
After several months of planning and just a few days of preparation, the five days of the 41st Congress of the International Society of Urology were a great success in terms of IT management. Over the coming months, a review of the successes and challenges encountered and overcome in Dubai will be carried out, and planning for the 42nd ESCU Congress, to be held from November 9 to 13, 2022 at the Palais des congrès de Montréal, the host city, can then begin.
“This year presented a particular challenge, as some of the live presentations included a question-and-answer period for both on-site and virtual participants.”
Francesco Capaldo
For more information on the International Society of Urology and its mission: siu-urology.org
