Respected event organisers from associations and agencies looked to the European Congress of Radiology (ECR) for inspiring examples of how to bring industry and science together. Hosted at the Austria Centre in Vienna, the ECR showcased some of these latest trends for the first time and provided a glimpse of what's around the corner for congresses.
Rather than exclusively taking place indoors, events are increasingly incorporating outdoor elements, too. The pandemic gave the idea of “outside is the new inside” a turbo boost, as more and more congresses are now being held during the warmer summer season. The Austria Center Vienna and the ECR are also making every effort to live up to the needs of participants in this regard, and are together setting new standards with a fresh configuration for Hall X5 which combines both indoor and outdoor elements. “We reconfigured the flexible exhibition on the square outside the main entrance, repurposing it as a cool and appealing registration, bar and networking area. People arrive and immediately feel at home. The direct line of sight to the entrance hall aids orientation, too,” Baierl confirmed. Participants can either network on the main square in semi-outdoor zones or fully outdoors in the fresh air. The green terraces and exterior spaces that the Austria Center Vienna has set up over the past two years are great for evening events and sundowner parties against the impressive backdrop of the Donaucity skyline.
Approaching the vision of the “congress of the future“ from the broadest possible angle, discussions with congress organisers also gave rise to the notion of looking beyond their own congresses with a view to identifying ways of sharing infrastructure. The ECR has been a certified green event for years – in line with strict sustainability criteria it goes without single use items such as rugs, posters and give aways. The Austria Center Vienna – the nation’s first Green Conference Centre – is ideal for green events, including in terms of regional catering, digital branding and getting to and from the venue by public transport. In future, these synergies could be taken a step further while new ones are unlocked between different congress organisers. “We have committed ourselves to the goal of bringing about a marked increase in the number of green events over the coming years. As part of this, we would like to act as an interface between congresses that take place one after the other. Ideally, certain congress furnishings and exhibitions set-ups could be used for multiple congresses in succession. This helps cut time-consuming build-ups and breakdowns while reducing power consumption, waste and costs,” Baumann-SoĢllner concluded.
About IAKW-AG and the ECR
Internationales Amtssitz- und Konferenzzentrum Wien, Aktiengesellschaft (IAKW-AG) is responsible for maintaining the Vienna International Centre (VIC) and operating the Austria Center Vienna (ACV). The Austria Center Vienna is Austria’s largest conference centre, with 19 halls, 180 meeting rooms, and some 26,000m2 of exhibition space, and is one of the top players on the international conference circuit. The venue has hosted the annual European Congress of Radiology (ECR) since 1991. In 2022, its 26th year, the ECR took place at the Austria Center Vienna as a hybrid event due to the pandemic. The event is Europe’s largest and the world’s second largest radiology sector get-together.
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