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Today, we welcome Manuela Lang from MAVI Pharmaceutical Institute AG to our blog. MAVI AG regularly organizes both smaller and larger events based on a variety of healthcare topics around pharmacies. At one of the more significant events, the BVDAK Corporation Summit, LineUpr was used.
Manuela will soon reveal to you why they have decided to use an event app and how surveys can direct the participants’ attention back to the stage.
LineUpr: Hello Manuela. Thank you for taking the time to do this interview. Please introduce yourself and the MAVI AG.
Manuela: MAVI Pharmaceutical Institute AG is a small, energetic team of experienced pharmacists and committed employees. We organize congresses and seminar series in the healthcare sector and also offer consultancy in this area for key market participants. I’m part of the organizing team for the events.
LineUpr: You used LineUpr for your BVDAK Corporation Summit. What is this event about?
Manuela: The BVDAK e.V. is the Federal Association of German Pharmaceutical Corporations. The MAVI AG organizes the Corporation Summit for the BVDAK e.V. once a year. This year, it was held for the 10th time and is considered the industrial meeting place of the German pharmaceutical market. This is where pharmaceutical corporations, merchandise management companies, industries, wholesalers and selected service providers meet for two days to be informed about the current developments in the German pharmaceutical market on the basis of interesting presentations and to discuss them afterward. The two days are used for extensive networking since many decision makers meet here in the same place.
LineUpr: You have used LineUpr for the first time. What was the decisive argument for you to use an event app?
Manuela: The increasing digitalization hits everyone; nobody can hide from it anymore. For this reason, we did this step for the first time on our 10th anniversary. Everyone today usually has a smartphone and uses it accordingly. Therefore, it is easy to inspire participants and to provide them with the necessary information quickly.
The increasing digitalization hits everyone; no one can hide from it anymore.
LineUpr: Have you used event apps in the past?
Manuela: So far we have not used apps at our events. Our primary target group is not digital natives, so we have been careful so far. We went this year double-tracked with printed materials as well as the app and we will keep it that way for the time being.
LineUpr: How did you use the app before, during and after the Corporation Summit?
Manuela: Before the event, we actually only used the app to familiarise ourselves with it. During the congress, we did, among others, a live survey with all participants and projected them on our screens. Fortunately, no speakers dropped out and we did not have to change rooms so we were not able to use the push message feature, but we were spared organizational troubles.
LineUpr: How did your participants react to the app?
Manuela: Our participants always receive a questionnaire at the end and yes, we actively asked about using the app. In principle, all the participants welcomed the event app. Unfortunately, at the time of our event, no networking through the app itself was possible. The participants had to network through their personal profiles in the social media channels and that was too complicated for many. If there is a sensible alternative to this, then LineUpr will certainly be a massive upgrade.
LineUpr: You also used the survey function. Why did you decide to do this and how was your experience with it?
Manuela: Interaction with the participants is becoming more and more important at major events simply as a way to bring the audience back to the action on stage. Our survey worked well and was simultaneously projected onto the screen so that everyone on site had the same level of knowledge about the progress. We set the whole thing to a very short time and with it, we could reach many participants.
Interaction with the participants is becoming more and more important at major events.
LineUpr: What are currently the three biggest challenges you face in the planning, marketing, and execution of events?
Manuela: When you’re planning events, you’re always surrounded by challenges, so it’s hard to name the three biggest ones. Actually, I would say it’s the fast-paced time. Today, a computer programme, app or something similar is still cutting-edge and meets all requirements and tomorrow, the entire thing is outdated. An event is usually not planned within just one month, so even the topic selection is always a risk because the topics that are current today can be outdated within a few days. But there is no solution for this, it will always be that way and that makes the work exciting and demanding.
LineUpr: As an event app Rookie, which three top tips for using LineUpr would you like to give to other organizers?
Manuela: I think that’s hard to say because everyone sets other priorities for his event app. Our aim was first to test how it works. For this reason, we created the “savings version”, where we omitted photos of participants and have only the speakers and moderators with photos. Here we had the permission for the publication. Since we decided quite late for an event app, we could no longer obtain the permission for the photo publication in the app and retroactively it would have been very expensive. So in advance “think it over”. Due to the newly entered DSGVO, it is even more important than before to seek permission for all data uses.
As a second point, you should think of a nice icon for the app, if you do not have your own. Of course, the corporate identity should be reflected here.
And as a 3rd point: Always have the phone number or email address of LineUpr handy; there is always support and always very fast.
LineUpr: Thank you Manuela, for the great interview. It was always very interesting and of course, we were very happy to help you with the creation of the app.
We look forward to your next events and how we can support them with LineUpr.
