ePoster Precision: The 7-Minute Surgical Snapshot Series
The European Association for Endoscopic Surgery (EAES) is dedicated to advancing endoscopic surgery and related techniques. Recently, the EAES has initiated a project focused on enhancing the educational value and engagement of surgical training videos featured at their annual congresses. This innovative approach has received recognition from the European Association Awards, where they were chosen as finalists in the Event Transformation category.
Increasing Engagement with Educational Content
The education of our members is paramount for us as an organisation. With greater knowledge and skill levels, doctors are empowered to improve the treatment of patients and thus, their quality of life and survival rates.
As a surgery-focused association, videos of surgical techniques are a core part of our skills training. We found, however, that as the videos can be long, engagement with them was often low. We needed to find a way to pique people's interest and bring them to centre-stage, in a format that fits with modern viewing habits.
We identified the following objectives:
Attract a wider audience to their surgical videos.
Introduce new experiences at the EAES Annual Congress.
Boost participation and interest in ePoster sessions.
Using ePosters to Share Videos
The first stage was to change the format of the videos. Research shows that the average adult’s attention starts to wane after seven minutes, so we chose this as our limit. To make it inclusive, we allowed all members to submit a 7-minute video via our online education platform. Each video was then peer-reviewed and selected for publication.
Stage two was to find a way to bring these short videos to a higher level of visibility, to reach a new audience and to boost engagement. We needed to find a space where our members could congregate en masse, interact with new material and engage informally with colleagues.
It was quickly obvious to us that the ePoster area at our Annual Congress was exactly that space!
ePoster sessions are informal, highly interactive and attract high numbers. When put near the exhibition hall, the opportunities are even greater. We created the concept of a combined ePoster-Surgical Video zone, where delegates could find exciting new content in both poster and video format while engaging with colleagues.
We chose to place this zone inside the exhibition area, to create extra visibility and attraction for both participants and industry partners. The set-up was simple but eye-catching, allowing us to reach a new audience.
The Surgical Videos were presented on touch screens in the same way as our ePosters. Delegates could browse and search for videos of most interest to them, as well as engage with the ePoster authors. When not being used, the screens showed looped videos and rotating ePosters. Digital and physical signage helped attract delegates throughout the whole Congress.
Having a flexible, centralised education platform, like the EAES Academy, made it easy for us to launch this initiative. As well as our online education activities, the same supplier offered an end-to-end solution for our ePosters and Surgical Videos without extra development costs.
The service covered the submission of files, peer review, and selection and presentation on touch screens on-site. This meant lower costs, no new suppliers and no extra processes. In addition, we could offer our members a deep, searchable resource containing multimedia educational materials and courses, together with certification and attendance-tracking capability.
Putting it all together, this project has helped us reach our educational goals on a year-round basis.
Synergic Traffic & Buzz at the Annual Congress
The innovative format and strategic placement of the ePoster-Surgical Video zone significantly enhanced delegate engagement. The new ePoster - Surgical Video zone created synergic traffic and a buzz in the Congress which we had not seen before. It has quickly become a must-have for our Congresses!
The reaction was extremely positive from our delegates, as the metrics and survey results show.
ePosters
Each poster was viewed several times during the Congress.
500 posters were viewed on Screen #3
1 single poster received 136 visits on demand after the Congress
Videos
3017 total minutes were spent viewing the videos
50% usage. The screens were in use for >50% of the Congress
Overall stats to the EAES Academy (online education portal)
129 visits from our top member in 2023, or 11 visits per month
>40% of our members have accessed the portal over the last 2 years
What's next?
There are some other ePoster features which we may use in the future, such as advanced digital signage, locked screens to a specific session, audio narration on each section, embedded videos, animations and even video posters.
We find that this new approach is transforming the flow of our Congress, encouraging livelier engagement and heavier traffic to key areas. It even helps fill our exhibit hall.
Keeping the budget low was a priority. With the flexibility of our current solution, and by using remote instead
of on-site support, we are able to benefit from this synergy and keep costs to a minimum.
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