{"id":3175,"date":"2020-07-23T14:53:04","date_gmt":"2020-07-23T13:53:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cercledesambassadeurs.com\/en\/?p=3175"},"modified":"2020-07-29T16:11:39","modified_gmt":"2020-07-29T15:11:39","slug":"successful-hybrid-event-quebec-city-iaps-2020-smashes-expectations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cercledesambassadeurs.com\/en\/convention\/successful-hybrid-event-quebec-city-iaps-2020-smashes-expectations\/","title":{"rendered":"A successful hybrid event in Qu\u00e9bec City: IAPS 2020 smashes expectations!"},"content":{"rendered":"

As the old adage goes: When life gives you lemons, make lemonade!<\/em><\/p>\n

And that is exactly what Carole Despr\u00e9s<\/a>, a Universit\u00e9 Laval architecture professor, co-founder of Groupe interdisciplinaire de recherche sur les banlieues (GIRBa), director of the Schola.ca project,\u00a0 and member of Qu\u00e9bec City\u2019s Ambassadors\u2019 Club did when the international event she was planning in Qu\u00e9bec City was impacted by the government closure of all venues in March 2020 due to the global pandemic.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Qu\u00e9bec City wins IAPS 2020, an international scientific event<\/h4>\n

Prior to the COVID-19 crisis, Ms. Despr\u00e9s was steadfastly working on organizing the 26th<\/sup> conference of the International Association of People-Environment Studies<\/a> (IAPS<\/a>), which was to be held for the first time in North America, right in the heart of Qu\u00e9bec City, from June 21 to 26, 2020. The conference was to welcome over 500 researchers in the fields of architecture, urban planning, psychology, geography, sociology, anthropology, and other disciplines that study people-environment relations. Under the theme, \u201cRunning out of time: Setting the pace for future generations,\u201d the event was to focus on how to build more sustainable societies.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were so proud to have won the bid for this event in Rome in 2018,\u201d explained Ms. Despr\u00e9s. \u201cThe previous 25 editions took place in Europe and Asia; the fact Qu\u00e9bec City won the 2020 event is a testament to the city\u2019s appeal\u2014and a lot of hard work on the part of Universit\u00e9 Laval and the Qu\u00e9bec City Convention Centre<\/a>. Qu\u00e9bec City was so popular that we received over 700 abstract submissions from around the globe!\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\"centre-des-congres-quebec\"<\/p>\n

Pivoting during a pandemic: Hosting a hybrid event<\/h4>\n

Then, the lockdown occurred. On March 15, the Government of Qu\u00e9bec officialized restrictions to hold any event to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile the organizing committee understood the gravity of the situation, we were all stunned. Everything was ready: all the venues were booked, the banquets and food were booked, the keynote speakers were booked, the sponsorships were booked. Since 2017, we had invested so much energy into this event, we couldn\u2019t believe that IAPS 2020, which was to celebrate 50 years of outstanding research, was not to take place,\u201d Ms. Despr\u00e9s remembered. \u201cWe just couldn\u2019t wait another two years to present vital research that could help people and the environment.\u201d<\/p>\n

True to her nature of always bringing a project to fruition and her solution-driven mindset, Ms. Despr\u00e9s and the other members of the IAPS 2020 event committee turned to their partner, Conf\u00e9rium, a renowned Qu\u00e9bec City professional conference organizer (PCO)<\/a> that specializes in scientific and academic conferences, to figure out how to hold the event virtually.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"evenement-hybride-IAPS\"<\/p>\n

Mr. Pierre Bolduc, Director at Conf\u00e9rium, was not about to let Ms Despr\u00e9s and the IAPS down. \u201cOur respective teams got cracking to figure out how we could pivot and hold the event that was less than three months away.\u201d First, the teams surveyed registrants as to their willingness to participate in a virtual event. \u201cWe sent a questionnaire to all potential attendees,\u201d said Ms. Despr\u00e9s. \u201cWe decided that if we could get at least 200 attendees, we would go for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The response was outstanding. Hundreds of delegates from more than 35 countries were eager to participate in a virtual event. Now, the race was on to pull off a virtual scientific event.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had to learn and adapt fast,\u201d added Mr. Bolduc. \u201cThere were so many challenges. Naturally, we had to ensure that all attendees were not dependent on technology\u2014meaning everyone had reliable access to Internet at home. We had to build the program across multiple time zones to ensure that attendees from Asia, Australia, Europe, Africa, the Middle East and North America could attend. It was pretty interesting puzzle to figure out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ms. Despr\u00e9s agreed. \u201cWe couldn\u2019t host an online event 7 hours a day. That would not have worked to keep participants engaged. We opted for 6 half-days, which was greatly appreciated by everyone!\u201d<\/p>\n

Conf\u00e9rium\u2019s turnkey services included a platform to submit scientific abstracts, the management of all new online registrations, the development of 7 virtual conference rooms, and training speakers who had to record their talks in advance. \u201cOur mission control centre was at Universit\u00e9 Laval and all hands were on deck to ensure the utmost presentation quality,\u201d Mr. Bolduc said.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

<\/h3>\n

How to keep attendees engaged during a virtual event<\/h4>\n

The IAPS 2020 team hired professional facilitators, hosts and masters of ceremonies to ensure attendee engagement was high. Karina Lehoux, President of Eklosion<\/a>, a firm that specializes in strategic event facilitation, worked in a small mobile studio located at Universit\u00e9 Laval. She worked with Ms. Despr\u00e9s and the Conf\u00e9rium team to create the scenarios and coordinate the technical logistics.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor an event facilitator like me, it was definitely a new opportunity to learn new skills,\u201d Ms. Lehoux said. \u201cHosting a physical event and a virtual event is not the same thing. With the latter, it felt more like producing a live TV show, with the green screens, lighting, sound, etc.\u201d Ms. Lehoux also contributed to coaching the speakers as they recorded their presentations.<\/p>\n

Rather than simply display a static picture of Qu\u00e9bec City in each virtual room, the team actually recorded videos in Qu\u00e9bec City based on each room\u2019s theme. Each room was \u201cdecorated\u201d so that attendees could easily identify and distinguish them. \u201cFor example, the room dedicated to topics on aging populations, we had a video of older people enjoying moments in Qu\u00e9bec City,\u201d Ms. Despr\u00e9s enthused. \u201cThat really helped to immerse participants in the theme.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"IAPS-evenement-hybride-equipe\"<\/p>\n

But the innovation and creativity didn\u2019t stop there. \u201cWe made sure delegates could feel they were actually visiting Qu\u00e9bec City.\u201d How? IAPS 2020 held themed \u201ccultural\u201d breaks to introduce event attendees to winter in Qu\u00e9bec, listen to Qu\u00e9bec music, discover the Inuit\u2019s way of living, etc. \u201cWe also commissioned a local Qu\u00e9bec artist to produce a work of art, entitled Running out of time, as tribute to our event. We sent the work of art virtually to all participants so that they could print it out locally.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other virtual breaks included yoga and stretching exercises, online contests in which participants had to answer questions about the history of their field of expertise, and virtual banquets. \u201cWe hosted a virtual gala and invited participants to dress up and share a drink together. We even had a live band of singers to keep everyone entertained,\u201d Ms. Despr\u00e9s added.<\/p>\n

IAPS 2020 also organized round table discussions and networking sessions early in the morning and at noon. \u201cThis made up for the lack of in-person discussions,\u201d Mr. Bolduc said.<\/p>\n

The team\u2019s commitment to reinvention\u2014and lack of sleep\u2014certainly paid off. Ms. Despr\u00e9s mentioned that that post-event survey results and direct feedback from event attendees were overwhelmingly positive.\u201cWe even have delegations from other countries that are seeking our expertise to hold hybrid events in the future! That is a phenomenal proof of Qu\u00e9bec City\u2019s ahead-of-the-curve way of organizing events regardless of the circumstances.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As the old adage goes: When life gives you lemons, make lemonade! And that is exactly what Carole Despr\u00e9s, a Universit\u00e9 Laval architecture professor, co-founder of Groupe interdisciplinaire de recherche sur les banlieues (GIRBa), director of the Schola.ca project,\u00a0 and member of Qu\u00e9bec City\u2019s Ambassadors\u2019 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,47],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3175","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-convention","category-nouvelle-en"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nIAPS: A successful hybrid event | Qu\u00e9bec City\u2019s Ambassadors\u2019 Club<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Discover how the event, which was supposed to take place at the Qu\u00e9bec City Convention Centre, was transformed to a hybrid event in just a few weeks!\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, 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