Online events with Mazurkas Congress Management

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,

As you probably know, Mazurkas is a company with long experience. This year we celebrate  our 30 years. 2020 looked very promising. Already at the end of 2019, on the occasion  of this celebration, we took patronage of the Leonardiana exhibition in the Wilanów Palace.

Unfortunately, the beginning of the year brought an unexpected course of events. We met with the threat of the new virus directly in March this year, during the Congress of Historical Cities 3.0. The conference, originally was planned for two days. On the first day of the event, a ban on meetings, conferences and events was introduced in the whole country. It resulted in shortening the event by one day. A quick modification of the program made it possible to extend the proceedings of the first day and make most of the speeches. We also introduced previously unforeseen solutions for the hybrid conference. We connected remotely with some participants and speakers who could no longer come to Poland personally. Thanks to the quick reaction and the experience of our team, the substantive program of the conference was carried out without  detriment .

Subsequent congresses planned for the summer and autumn began to be carried over from day to day. We absolutely understand the concerns of the organizers, the events are planned long before, they are often the culmination of scientists’ careers. It is expected that the event will be exceptional, gather as many participants as possible, abound in interesting lectures and a rich accompanying program. However, it turns out that it is also possible in the virtual or hybrid world, as we could see in October by organizing 2 productions: NUTECH 2020 (International Conference on Development and Applications of Nuclear Technologies) and MRW 2020 (Microwave and Radar Week) consisting of 4 separate conferences: MICON, URSI, IRS, SWP. Both events are presented in more detail in our case studies.

What I would particularly like to draw your attention to is the selection of the right platform to organize the conference. The cost of implementing such a tool is much higher than the cost of organizing on the Zoom platform, but it ensures peace of mind for the organizers and security of transmission. Each of the participants receives a link with a unique password, so that we can be sure that only those who paid for the conference are participating. We also have the possibility to record the lecture in advance to eliminate possible problems with live calls.

It is crucial to properly prepare the speakers, conduct a sufficient number of rehearsals, record key speeches in advance and keep in touch with participants. Often this is the first such experience for the speakers.

Both of these realizations took place in the hybrid option, it was important to apply the sanitary regime guidelines, develop procedures, collect relevant statements signed by participants, provide contactless registration and safe catering.

We strongly encourage you to change the format of planned conferences, general assemblies, meetings from traditional to hybrid or virtual form. We know that many of these events have to take place within the time frame and these new forms are the solution. After several months of experience, we know that there are functional systems on the market that certainly meet your expectations. Virtual trends will stay with us forever. Online participation will become a permanent position in the registration fees table, as a cheaper alternative.

All the more we encourage you to enter the virtual world of conference organization and get to know with our offer.