Reorganized at Short Notice - the 2020 Nursing Congress Completely Virtual!
The German Nursing Congress "German Care Day" (German name: Deutscher Pflegetag) took place for the first time in 2014 and is the only national event organized directly by health care professionals for health care professionals. In the six years of its existence, the German Nursing Congress has grown into the central event for health care professionals in Germany with great media and political attention.
In March 2020, the 7th German Care Day was supposed to take place as usual as a regular event at the STATION Berlin (Gleisdreieck) and was already fully planned at the beginning of the year. More than 2,000 participants were already registered.
In view of the growing tension in the wake of the global corona pandemic and the looming lockdown in Germany, it was decided to postpone the German Nursing Congress to November 2020 and organize it as a hybrid event.
In October, the accommodation ban was executed, followed by another lockdown starting at the beginning of November, which meant that the German Nursing Congress had to be reorganized again, this time as an online event with speakers and chairs on site - almost four weeks before the planned congress date.
All those involved were now faced with the great challenge of converting the German Care Day into a purely online event. What had to be done in the short remaining time?
The German Care Day and the Challenge
Short-term Organization of the Lectures of all Speakers
As many speakers were unable to travel to the congress location due to the lockdown and the accommodation ban, these speakers were connected live from their place of residence. In order to ensure a smooth livestream, the speakers were instructed in advance about the technical requirements and received tips and tricks on how they could optimize the quality of their presentation.
Support Chatbot as a Supplementary Communication Tool
A chatbot was placed clearly visible within the virtual congress lobbies and in the virtual exhibitor area. The participants received quick and uncomplicated support if they had any questions about using the user interface or if they had technical problems.
Planning a Virtual Exhibition for 60 Exhibitors
We designed the virtual booths for the exhibiting companies. The implementation of live chat modules (text or video chat), their own online seminars and interactive video presentations gave the exhibitors the opportunity to come into direct contact with the participants and to present their content.
How do You Create a Sense of Community?
Even if the personal encounters on the digital care day had to be canceled for the time being, the aim was to create a community feeling with various activities, such as an animated photo mosaic. All participants could upload a photo of themselves during the congress. The many individual parts were then put together to form an overall picture to give health care a personal touch.
Result
Finally, the German Care Day started on November 11, 2020 with the more than 2,000 registered participants in a purely digital format, with the STATION Berlin temporarily being converted into Berlin's largest film studio. Speakers and invited guests came to the event location at their specified time slots or were virtually part of their session.
There was great public interest in the freely accessible opening session with a statement by Chancellor Angela Merkel, moderated by Eckart von Hirschhausen. This exceeded all estimated expectations in terms of page views and server capacity. Other prominent guests during the congress were Franziska Giffey - Federal Minister for Family, Seniors, Women and Youth, Hubertus Heil - Federal Minister for Labor and Social Affairs, and Jens Spahn - Federal Minister for Health.
A top-class scientific program in the form of interactive live sessions awaited the participants in front of the screens. The Q&A discussion tool enabled the participants to address their questions to the speakers parallel to the live stream. Moderators led through the scientific program and ensured that the participants' questions were discussed.
The virtual exhibitor area was always well attended and communication with the exhibitors was uncomplicated via live chat. The social wall and the animated photo mosaic successfully invited the participants to engage interactively.
Conclusion and Outlook
That was the first fully digital care day! Our warmest thanks go to the participants, speakers, partners, and sponsors who took on the challenge with us - without all of you, the German Care Day 2020 would not have been able to take place.
We are also relieved. Organizing a completely digital event was a novelty for us. Together we quickly had to work out a lot of new things and learn a lot - and yet: The lightning-fast changes from a regular to a digital congress was a complete success.
We are already planning for 2021, this time hopefully as a hybrid event that should combine the advantages of both formats - present and digital. Personal encounters with one another cannot be replaced. Thus, we need to combine all aspects of both formats.
Be part of the German Care Day 2021!
Participant Feedback ...
"Many thanks to EVERYONE who organized and moderated for this event. It was different but informative. I hope that everything will go back to NORMAL again next year. Because the personal vibe is missing. Best regards Sabine Grund."
"... no, we have to thank you for the virtual organization in these exciting, yet difficult times! Thanks for the German Care Day 2020. My wife and I are already looking forward to 2021, then hopefully again as a face-to-face! Andreas Ellmaier, Head of the Bavarian State Ministry for Health and Care (StMGP)."
"… Thank you very much for the very good organization !!!!! For me, in my slot, everything went really well and everyone was very helpful and supportive (including the technicians!). Thank you! Relax a little and greetings to Berlin. Hildegard Vornweg-Hiemenz."
"Overall, I enjoyed the care day. It is very practical for me that all the program sessions are available on-demand. I could not sit in front of the screen all day. However, later on I was able to catch up on the topics that were interesting for me. I also liked the inclusion of the comments and questions in the discussions, as it wasn't just for individual events, but for all of them. Overall, it was a successful event with interesting topics, even if I missed meeting colleagues and the typical congress atmosphere on site ... Best regards, Corrie Willig Gouveia."