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After a year and more where the major heart congresses were forced to re-adapt with online or innovative hybrid formats against the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic, Mark Nicholls examines in this ‘special report’ what the major societies have planned for 2022.
Within the space of 18 months, the coronavirus pandemic totally changed the way we lead our lives. It has impacted on health and well-being, social interaction, and daily, weekly, monthly, and annual routines and seen us socially distancing, mask-wearing, quarantining, and isolating.
In daily practice for cardiologists, those changes have been significant—and well-documented—but they have also impacted the annual cycle of cardiovascular conferences and congresses, training course, face-to-face discussion, debate, exchanging ideas, presenting research findings, socializing, and normal interaction.
A number of conferences were cancelled or postponed, but others responded, adapted, and pressed on with an online format, morphing into a hybrid event with some live sessions and audiences.
There is now the hope and ambition, albeit somewhat guarded, that 2022 will see the return of the face-to-face congress with a number of scientific programme chairs and organizers already planning for such an eventuality.
But what will the future cardiovascular conference look like? Will there ever be a return to fully face-to-face events or is the virtual component here to stay? What are the funding implications? What have been the lessons learned from adapting to the restraints imposed by COVID-19? What have been the challenges, the benefits, and the advantages and how will 2022 shape up?
These are key questions that are being addressed as we look to the future of the cardiovascular conference.
Positive view
With 2022 only a few months away, and planning already advanced for the next round of annual conferences, there is a positive view of the future. While cardiovascular congresses had adapted into an online or hybrid format, leading societies are actively planning the re-introduction of face-to-face formats for 2022.
One of the key learning points is that a virtual conference can still effectively deliver the landmark studies, fresh developments, and the latest innovations.
With face-to-face interaction temporarily off the agenda, the new approach also brought a broader audience reach with increased registrations, delegates from distant locations who would not normally attend conferences being able to participate, high levels of interaction and animated and uninhibited discussion in chat rooms.
As one programme chair commented: ‘people who may be hesitant or reluctant about standing up in a crowded auditorium, taking the microphone and asking a question, were more than happy to raise the subject in the chat room’.
Hybrid events
As the 2021 conference season wore on, but with little prospect of a return to normal, congress chair and programme chairs embraced technology and innovation to create the hybrid format with some delegates in an auditorium connected to a global online audience.
Leading the way was the Egyptian Society of Cardiology (EgSC) with Cardio Egypt 2021 in March, which had delegates in person in Cairo with links across the world. PCR took this to a new level with hubs and pods, connecting groups of people at various locations, while faculty discussed and debated topics and presentations in a central TV studio, or took questions from the online audience.
Other conferences adapted to continue the task of knowledge sharing, often scheduling—and re-running—virtual presentations for times that would most benefit a global audience. It is many of these innovations that, rather than being discarded on a technical scrapheap, will become part and parcel of cardiac conferences going forward.
Online challenge
With conferences moved online, there lingered a perception that going virtual would be cheaper. But it quickly emerged that this would not necessarily be the case if conference organizers were to continue to deliver a high-quality experience to delegates.
Of course, there is the environmental impact. With delegates not jetting across the world, there was a ‘win’ on reducing carbon emissions, though at the cost of losing critical face-to-face interactions. However, there was also the financial loss to cities, hotels, restaurants, and conference halls that were due to host events with several delegates no longer able to visit the destination.
Now, with the focus on 2022, the aim is to deliver a new-style conference, re-introducing in-person events, yet retaining elements and lessons learned from the virtual approach.
Virtual success
After ESC annual conferences in Amsterdam (2020) and London (2021) became digital, the plan for Barcelona 2022 is to move back to an in-person event, while retaining online elements.
‘While there is no doubt that an in-person congress will provide added value, we hope that we can further enhance the scientific and educational content using the opportunity of both on-site and online meeting platforms’, said ESC Congress Programme Chair Professor Stephan Windecker (Figure 1).
Top (from left): Nicolle Kränkel, Stephan Windecker, and Khaled A. Azim Shokry; bottom (from left): William Wijns, Isabelle van Gelder, and Andre Ng.
Organizers of ESC Preventive Cardiology 2021 were delighted with the success of the virtual congress, with enthusiastic participation from delegates across the globe. European Association of Preventive Cardiology (EAPC) Secretary and congress Co-chair Dr Nicolle Kränkel the digital format still carried “the spirit of EAPC.”
‘You could feel the enthusiasm as people used chat forums to engage with speakers and discuss important aspects in parallel to ongoing broadcasts or live sessions’, added Dr Kränkel.
The hope is that the 2022 congress in Prague (April 7–9) will be a hybrid event and programme chairs are currently canvassing delegates for their input into the congress design.
Learning point
British Cardiovascular Society (BCS) conference Programme Committee chair Prof. Andre Ng said the virtual approach, with a panel of chairs and presenters assembled at the Manchester Central venue to discuss and deliver talks with the combination of speakers joining virtually, was well received.
‘There was a higher level of engagement and more real-time interaction compared to a pure virtual environment’, he said. ‘This is perhaps the major learning point we have taken away in informing us on the planning for future conferences’.
The 2022 event on June 6–8, which is the BCS centenary year, is likely to be a hybrid event. Meanwhile, the EuroCMR2021 congress, staged by the European Association of Cardiovascular Imaging, attracted a record 1240 participants from 80 counties, with programme chair Professor Robert Manka observing that the virtual format ‘added a new dimension to discussion and debate’.
Social interaction
EHRA 2021 congress scientific programme chair Prof. Isabelle van Gelder said that while face-to-face interaction was noticeably missing, the online annual congress of the European Heart Rhythm Association, achieved ‘connections between young and older electrophysiologists all over the world’ where the chat box facility allowed for effective communication. EHRA 2022 in Copenhagen is set to have face-to-face and online sessions.
EgSC President’s, Prof. Khaled A. Azim Shokry, early planning was key in the success of Cardio Egypt 2021, an early mover towards a hybrid event, with physical attendance of Egyptian physicians and virtual participation of international faculty.
Meanwhile, organizers of Heart Failure 2021 said that the reach achieved was ‘a strong indicator of the potential of online events’, but the hope for 2022 in Madrid next May is for an ‘in-person’ conference as organizers feel the digital format ‘cannot truly replace the experience’ offered in an onsite event.
Financial implications
Faced with social-distancing and travel restrictions, organizers of PCR courses blended innovation and technical expertise for EuroPCR 2021, leading to a new model for the future. With Paris the traditional core, 10 hubs and 13 local pods were established across the globe to retain live face-to-face interaction and questions with central studio panels. The structure will form the blueprint for Euro2022 (May 17–20).
However, conference organizer Romain Despax from The Europa Group believes the future cardiovascular conference landscape may be different going forward.
Having organized around 50 conferences in different medical specialties, including with the PCR community, he said a misconception was that ‘going virtual will be cheaper’.
‘But I think everyone now realizes that a digital meet, if you really want it to be impactful, has a cost’, he said. ‘It is not the same budget, but it is a different budget’.
There is significant expense in delivering high-quality sound and experience to retain online delegate interest, as well as reduced delegate contributions and sponsorship falling by two-third.
Economic impact
EuroPCR co-chair William Wijns said that digital is ‘unforgiving’ when it comes to quality, meaning that preparation and planning are crucial.
‘I would say preparation time is—without exaggerating - 10 times more to go virtual to deliver something that has the quality we want, and addresses the needs of participants’, he said.
Digital extends the reach to people who cannot attend the in-person congress but cannot replace training, networking, or industry meetings and he noted that many important trials were ‘invented during dinner between colleagues’.
There economic impact for cities, with thousands of delegates no longer staying in hotels or frequenting restaurants, is significant.
‘We should not underestimate the impact that conferences have on the overall economy of a city like Paris or Singapore’, added Mr Despax. ‘It was not easy just to move to digital, but going back to in-person meetings will be equally demanding. I would say we are never going back; we are going to something that is different’.
Different physical
The new physical, says Prof. Wijns, will be ‘a different physical’ which will need different skills to deliver a programme in a model that is ‘compatible with digital and has the feel and emotion of the physical on-site’.
As for the term ‘hybrid’, he has previously stated his unease at term to describe the new format of virtual and in-person and noted: ‘In biology, hybrid organisms usually do not survive’.
While there is a desire to return to physical meetings, congresses have a new digital audience that they must nurture, respect and retain. These are the many who cannot attend but still wish to participate in the educational opportunities, having had the door unexpectedly opened to them by the coronavirus pandemic.
