Summary

The Alberta Kidney Days (AKD) Virtual Series brings together scientists from all across Canada, including nephrologists, trainees, internists, renal program administrators, nurses, allied health professionals, and others who have an interest in the prevention and management of kidney disease. Held weekly from January 8th to 29th, the series featured four engaging, half-day virtual programs. Originally planned for March 2020, a pivot to virtual was needed, so the four-part virtual webinar series was created.

The theme of the 2021 symposium was Wellness for All, and highlighted medical, academic, and patient speakers with unique presentations about working wellness, enhancing wellness, wellness across ages, and healthy living. From panels to lectures to keynotes, the Virtual Series was highly successful and informative.

Our Role

BUKSA provided full-service project management for the AKD Virtual Series. Our team provided platform selection, set-up, and execution; website design and development; program development; sponsorship and speaker management; registration management; dry-runs and rehearsals; marketing and communications; financial administration; event-day moderation and technical support; and on-demand content production for our client and event attendees.

Value Adds:

Moderation Services:

Because we’re proud of our public speaking skills, we were very excited to offer full series moderation services to the AKD Virtual Series. With our thorough event set-up, script, speakers, and technical development, moderation was the last piece needed to produce these seamless educational sessions. Through speaker rehearsals, fool-proof event script development, and integrated engagement tools and tactics, we designed, managed, and executed professional series moderation, keeping the event engaging, on-time, and informative.

Pivot to Virtual:

With the original series planned for March 2020, the event was cancelled with only one week’s notice due to COVID-19 - but that didn’t stop us from helping AKD plan an equally exciting virtual series.

Despite the many benefits of virtual events, it’s always difficult to navigate the pivot from the live to the virtual world; not only do you have to manage the added technical features of online platforms, you also have to effectively communicate the pivot while keeping your stakeholders engaged. However, the BUKSA team is always up for the challenge! For the AKD Virtual Series, we began by surveying participants and holding committee meetings to determine the best way to pivot the event. We provided platform and delivery options to our client, working hand-in-hand with them to pick the best format based on previous feedback, budget, and timelines. Ultimately, we decided to hold an educational virtual series with available on-demand content in order to reach a wide audience of healthcare providers. Unlike previous AKD series, which offered concurrent sessions through four to five breakout rooms, we suggested using a virtual webinar set-up, allowing us to offer four times the content over four weeks.

We successfully developed a thorough education series plan, including an event website, engaging pre-event email content, user-friendly event registration, and an easily accessible event set-up through Zoom. Of course, we trained and rehearsed with our speakers in order to give them the confidence needed to provide excellent presentations. Beyond the event set-up and communications, we provided engaging event moderation services, keeping attendees and speakers interested. We also provided Certificates of Completion to the series attendees!

On-Demand Content:

Taking into account our attendees’ varying demographics, we opted to provide on-demand content, recognizing their high demand as healthcare professionals during the pandemic. One of the many benefits with virtual events is the integration of recording services with the event platform, allowing for ease of on-demand content creation. Our team recorded each of the four Virtual Series sessions and edited the content into informative, accessible videos available on-demand to the event registrants. Of course, we offered Certificates of Completion to these registrants upon their completion of the on-demand content. This on-demand content was a new feature for AKD attendees, and it was received with lots of positive feedback from the client and the attendees.