Benchmarking Your Life Sciences Congress Program
Every pharmaceutical, medical device, and animal health company participates in congresses, however, unlike Strategic Meetings Management (SMM), every company’s approach to managing congress is unique.
We are often asked for insight on innovative approaches and industry standards. With over 15 years in the congress space, BCD M&E has insight into different ways of working. We have built two tools to help our customers identify areas of advancement opportunity in their congress programs.
Process benchmarking:
Are you curious how other companies manage invitations and congress attendance? What kind of technology they use in planning and onsite? And whether they source housing at the local, regional, or global level? Our process benchmarking allows you to understand how your congress processes compare to your peers, and their drivers for advancement.
For example…
Registration technology:
Most companies use their Cvent instance to manage registration for congresses. But only a few have built templates and processes that attempt to globalize Cvent usage in the congress space. What benefits are they gaining from establishing these ways of working?
Ancillary meetings:
A variety of meeting types are held in conjunction with congresses, with meeting sponsors within one company originating from different business units and parts of the world. Some companies have established process to track all ancillary activity happening at a single congress. What benefits have they seen from connecting this activity?
Maturity model:
Like our SMM maturity model, our congress maturity model allows you to evaluate your congress program’s maturity across a variety of areas, and compare to your peers in the industry. From this evaluation, your account director will partner with you to identify areas you would like to advance, and then build specific plans to achieve this advancement.
For example: Do you have a strategy in place for all lines of business and all regions of the globe? Being a leader means having aligned congress tier definitions, management thresholds, and a clear ancillary activity strategy in all markets.
Do you have a clear policy for managing congresses in each region? If your company is not ready for a global policy, start with a regional one and consider aspects like reporting, payment, and processes.
Are stakeholders from across the organization actively involved? Do they give feedback for improving the congress program? Consider setting up a steering committee to advise on long-term congress strategy.
By understanding and comparing your processes and program’s maturity levels with others in the industry, you can identify areas and opportunities to grow. Whether you’re just starting to refine your congress strategy or looking to elevate an already mature program, continuous improvement and stakeholder engagement are key to success.
Originally published July 26, 2024 7:00:00 AM
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