Idea Generation | Event Planning | Social Media Campaigns | Newsletters | Brand Identity
Market leader in Healthcare Informatics working with over 80% of Ireland’s GP and Primary Care market.
Healthcare
The brief was simple – plan and organise Ireland’s largest Healthcare Conference that would attract over 500 medical professionals from across the country. IMS was involved right from the get go, at idea generation phase of this project and our role was to plan, implement and manage every aspect of the event from beginning to end.
The key challenge in this project was the sheer volume of attendees required to make the conference a success. We needed to get 80% of the countries GP’s and Primary Care personnel in a single venue and from a commercial perspective make the event break even with regard to cost and expenditure. All of this had to be complete within a 6-month time frame.
We began by first defining the conference theme as this would guide the entire direction of the event. Once finalised we defined the event value proposition for the various key audiences we wanted to attract.
As the event was to break even, financial planning was vital. We ensured a full event plan with true costed projections to guarantee nothing was left to chance. We finalised the event plan with the client and then set about bringing it to reality.
We began by identifying potential event sponsors and exhibitors, developing tiered sponsorship packages to suit the various targets we wanted to approach. The selling then commenced, including full exhibitor floor planning and positioning. Within an eight-week window we sold all available exhibition space and generated the required finances to back the event.
Attendee communication, noted as a significant challenge to get over 500 GP’s and Primary Care professionals to attended was an ongoing process that again required substantial planning and ongoing implementation.
A complete conference brand was developed including, logo, promotional material, on-site event branding, marketing collateral and so on to ensure the event was closely associated with our client company, yet its own entity to attract a wider audience.
We defined a 5-month communications plan that was designed to excite and develop the conference into a must attend event for the target audience. This included digital communications including the use of weekly email newsletters and a full social media campaign. Offline, direct mail campaigns and national targeted PR ensured practices across the country were aware and drawn to the event.
Through in-depth research, in line with the conference theme, we identified over 20 significant industry figures that would appeal to the target audience. This list was refined to 5 and approaches made to request collaboration. From speaker line up to hospitality to AV management, we ensured nothing was left uncovered for this very important aspect of the event.
While high level guest speakers were an important element of the event we did not believe this approach would completely satisfy our attendees. To this end, we developed a series of workshops designed to educate and inform the attendees. IMS managed the entire conference and workshop running order. This required much planning with regard to precise communications, timetabling and signage to ensure all in attendance knew where they needed to be, how to get there and when they should be there.
This national event exceeded even our own expectations. Through ongoing and targeted promotion, our final number of attendees exceeded over 700, 200 more GP’s and Primary Care professionals than anticipated. More favourably, the event broke even as expected.
Feedback from the client was outstanding and the event is now largely renowned as Irelands largest Primary Care Conference.
IMS can help you create a well thought out event management plan that will allow your business gain qualified leads
