Hybrid medical conferences are losing momentum

Shortly after COVID, interest in the hybrid ­format at conferences cooled down considerably. Combining live and online seems like a logical option, especially in our inclusive and sustainable world. However, it is not picking up any speed.

Adding a live digital platform to a conference allows more people to access the event’s content and community without having any additional travel and paper. Participating in an international conference online is particularly worthwhile for medical professionals from remote areas or countries with limited resources. It also makes the conference more accessible to students and young professionals.

It seemed obvious that after the pandemic, conferences would at least include a live online programme, since associations were forced to switch to an entirely digital structure.

A typical example

Anouk Derks of Derks Events has experienced it before, both during and after COVID. Her agency organises medical conferences, training courses, refresher courses, and symposia for clients, both hybrid (live) and online.

As a typical example, she uses a regional symposium. Prior to COVID, the entire meeting took place in person, but during COVID, we had to broadcast it entirely via livestream from a ­studio. After COVID, we opted for the hybrid variant, which proved to be a success, resulting in additional participants from other regions. However, some of the local participants also opted for the online variant because it was easier to combine with staying home. We decided to hold the next conference entirely in person again. We’re ­considering holding a hybrid event for the upcoming edition.

The added value of meeting in person

“Certainly at the national level, people want to meet each other physically,” says Derks. “This way, participants meet with colleagues from other regions, and it offers the opportunity to seecolleagues from other clinics again. The younger generation hears more quickly from the network about career opportunities.”

She also mentions the high costs of live streaming, which means that the hybrid variant is almost non-existent at national events. There are no fully online events anymore. “There’s an increase in accredited webinars, with tests before and after attending and interim attendance checks.”

Sponsors generally also have difficulty with the online variant, says Derks. “Pharmaceutical companies mainly want to physically meet medical specialists. And online exposure is complex given the laws and regulations regarding pharma­c  eutical advertising. It’s difficult to see who’s ­watching the screen.”

 

“What has really changed is that speakers are no longer flown in from the other side of the ocean for a presen­tation of half an hour or a whole hour,” says Pepijn Klerkx of Congress Care.
“They give their presentation online, often live, with a recorded version as a backup. We used to think it was normal for someone to travel to the congress for such a short contribution.”

 

All but disappeared

According to medical meeting specialist Pepijn Klerkx, co-owner of PCO Congress Care, the hybrid format all but disappeared after COVID. “These days, national meetings rarely have anything hybrid. Participants only choose to attend smaller symposia lasting two or four hours online.”

He points out that there were far fewer hybrid variants at European conferences than right after COVID. Networking at a live event was ­crucial for participants. Sitting in front of a screen for several days, hours on end, at a multi-day conference is impossible.

“When considering a hybrid congress, there is often a tendency to immediately develop a state-of-the-art high-tech platform,” says Klerkx. “My advice is to first open the registration and see how many people will register for the online version. With 30 registrations, there’s no point in investing tens of thousands of euros in a full-fledged platform. It’s better to offer a ­discount on the registration fee and a basic ­version of the online programme.”

Pricing doesn’t change much

His experience is that pricing has little influence on the number of registrations. At a European medical congress in 2022, there were 18 online participants out of a total of about 980 participants, at a rate of €500. For the 2023 edition, the registration fee for the online variant was €150 for four days of live streams of the plenary sessions and online poster presentations. Again, 36 participants was seen as marginal.

“We’ve based our approach on full-fledged ­pricing for online participants because they already save on travel and accommodation costs. In that case, you have to offer value for money with interactive elements such as Q&As with speakers and participation in discussion groups.”

Overseas conferences

For now, the hybrid variant only seems to be a serious option for global conferences, espe­cially when many participants come from another ­continent.

“It’s still a topic at international conferences, especially from a sustainability perspective,” says Derks. “The majority of conferences in the sector focus on sustainability issues, which often involves travelling around the world for a two- or three-day conference.”

Klerkx shares that experience. The only two truly hybrid congresses Congress Care has planned are two global congresses in 2026. “Overseas trips are the first to get cancelled. Within Europe, people still consider it responsible to travel for a multi-day congress, with Amsterdam, Paris and Berlin being easily accessible by train. A flight to Barcelona is also still possible, but flying across the ocean for a conference is less common now.”

 

A best-of-both-worlds solution could be to hold satellite events

 

Satellite events

A best-of-both-worlds solution could be to hold satellite events at the same time as the main conference, where local participants could watch and discuss online and have their in-person ­networking moments.

Klerkx experienced this situation for the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) in Chicago. “About 50 to 60 people travelled to Schiermonnikoog and ­watched the livestream of the conference together. A local programme committee decided which sessions people could watch. In between, they could discuss among themselves.”

“A professor who had travelled to Chicago also shared his experiences live from the conference. Nowadays, it’s easy to do using Zoom and a mobile phone, creating a lovely dynamic and resulting in a lively discussion.

Participants told me that this setup gave them even more net hours of continuing education than if they had travelled to the United States.”

 

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The European Society of Cardiology Congress had to switch from a planned physical event in RAI Amsterdam to a fully digital alternative in a short period of time in 2020. For ‘The Digital Experience’, the programme had to be complete­ly revised and adapted for an online format.

The ESC Congress returned to RAI Amsterdam in 2023 with an expanded hybrid format. The Congress offered over 800 scientific sessions, plenary lectures and seminars open to in-person and online attendees. The Congress attracted approximately 23,500 attendees on-site and 5,000 attendees online.

The organisation reported similar results for the 2024 edition in London. More than 26,000 participants travelled to Excel London, while some 5,000 attendees joined online.

In collaboration with the World Congress of Cardiology, the ESC Congress 2025 in Madrid will be presented in a hybrid format. There will be different price categories for in-person participation in Madrid (standard fee €940-€1,240, depending on when someone books) and for online participation only (€245).