A Congress Rescue

The Event

• A global healthcare company hosted various meetings throughout the week at the annual European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress in Paris, France.

The Challenge

• Within an expedited timeframe, our customer needed assistance with strategic congress management and logistics support, specifically planning multiple meetings/meeting types during the ESMO Congress. That which typically requires 6-8 months planning lead time, our team had 8 weeks to accomplish given the condensed timeline. Adding to the challenge, Paris shut down for holidays for 2 weeks during our 6-week planning phase.

The Results

• Pre Event
  • Managing all of the pre-event planning including:
    • Managing attendee registration
    • Securing hotel room blocks
    • Managing speakers for each symposium
    • Arranging speakers’ transportation
    • Submitting requests for approval of auxiliary meetings
    • Sourcing meeting locations
    • Coordinating all onsite staffing
• Our Paris-based, French-speaking associate working in-person with restaurant vendors to ensure the venues selected were optimal for each dinner and meeting.
• Utilizing our in-house compliance team to ensure all events were within the Congress and country guidelines.
• Event Management
  • Providing on-site staff for the 5-day Congress and all ancillary meetings
  • Managing a total of 28 events, both prior to and during ESMO, among which were:
    • A pre-conference social gathering for 200 attendees in Paris
    • 16 total ongoing events including networking dinners and business meetings
    • Business meeting management for 10 events hosted in business meeting rooms; our team managed nine room transitions throughout the day
  • Our on-site team directing the minute-by-minute oversight
  • Contingency planning for AV emergencies
  • Transportation throughout the day for our team dispersed in multiple locations
• With foresight, ingenuity, contingency planning, and MTA expertise, our Global Experiences Team worked steadily and purposely to successfully manage a total of 28 programs related to this Congress event within less than 8 weeks of planning.