MedTech Europe – Demonstrating the Value of Europe’s Medical Technology Through Events

MedTech Europe is the European trade association representing the medical technology industries from diagnosis to cure, connecting the diagnostics and medical devices manufacturers operating in Europe. Through their economic research and data, communications, industry events and training sessions, they promote to its members and the wider industry value-based innovations that support more sustainable healthcare systems and stakeholder relations. Laurence Couturier and Christopher Breyel from MedTech’s events team share with us about their annual conferences where they bring stakeholders together to discuss trends, issues and opportunities.

How many conference and business event do you organise every year? What is the scale of these events, how many delegates attend them?

MedTech Europe organises three main conferences per year. The MedTech Forum is one of the largest health and medical technology industry conferences in Europe and a key event for the sector since its inception in 2007. The conference aims to provide participants with the chance to gather insights on the latest healthcare trends, as well as to build networking opportunities with other business leaders, leading innovators and investors.

This annual conference brings together 750+ participants from across the world. And as from 2019, we will be collaborating with our colleagues from various European national associations. In 2019, we will collaborate with SNITEM, the French MedTech Association, who will organise their annual SME day in conjunction with the MedTech Forum.

We also organise the Global MedTech Compliance conference for the past 11 years. The event aims to bring together the healthcare compliance community to share ideas and experiences in ways that inspire new partnerships and innovative solutions to the MedTech industry’s critical compliance challenges. The event used to be a standalone event but as from 2019, this will be integrated into the MedTech Forum.

The third main event is the MedTech Europe annual CEO Summit. The event brings together European CEOs, Presidents and Vice Presidents of global leading medical technology companies operating in Europe. This event offers an opportunity for business leaders to come together and build a stronger network in our industry.

Do you work with a PCO or in-house organising committee, and why?

For the MedTech Forum, we collaborate with a PCO on all aspects of the event (sponsorship, logistics, registrations, communications…). This allows the internal team to focus on building a formidable programme content and to drive a strategy that ensures that the programme is relevant to the needs and opportunities within the sector.

For the CEO Summit, we work with a PCO in some aspects of communication including the creation of a dedicated micro-website and a registration platform. They also handle the printing of the badges and the registration of the participants. Our collaboration with them allows us to streamline the administration work.

Where (city) have they been hosted? Were they being hosted in conference hotels or congress centre?

Both the MedTech Forum and the CEO Summit have been regularly hosted in Brussels, Belgium. The CEO Summit has always been organised in a hotel and several editions of the MedTech Forum have been held in a congress centre.

What are the other destinations in consideration, and what were the deciding factors for the destination to be chosen in the end?

The next MedTech Forum will be held in Paris, France on 14-16 May. The primary deciding factor of choosing a destination is on finding opportunities to build synergies between the event organised by the national associations and the MedTech Forum. Together with logistical conveniences, we want to ensure that the program and experience from the events provide the best value for the participants attending.

How sustainable are your events?

Each year, we encourage steps in bringing sustainability into our events. In this year’s MedTech Forum, for example, we encouraged the use of digital versions of our reading materials (post-event brochure, sponsorship brochure) instead of printing. At the same time, we also arrange buses to bring participants across different venues instead of arranging multiple taxis.

We also ensure that we minimise waste at our events. At this year’s MedTech Forum, our left-over conference bags were donated to a charity in India who then gave them to people and gave these bags a new use.

Can you tell us about the cultural, social activities, and unique experiences from the congresses?

The MedTech Forum provides the participants with an experience to learn about the latest technological and scientific innovation in healthcare. Last year, the MedTech Forum initiated an exhibition area where conference attendees are given the opportunity to interact with innovators and learn about new and innovative device and diagnostic technologies.

At the same time, we also consider the importance of finding the right venue that fits our sector’s innovative vision. Next year, for example, the MedTech Forum will be held at the Cité des Sciences in Paris- an establishment that specializes in fostering scientific and technical culture. The participants are given the opportunity to visit the venue’s museum famous for exhibiting the Solar Impulse plane (the first solar-powered plane to circumnavigate the earth).

For more information about MedTech Europe, please visit: www.medtecheurope.org