The Challenge: How can an association enhance its annual congress so every element stays fresh and interesting and encourages delegates to return year after year?
The Solution: Working with trusted partner Reed & Mackay meant both the delegate experience and client objectives were always at the forefront of planning, leading to another successful congress for Sweden’s dental hygienist association.
Nearly 1,000 dental hygienists from Sweden congregate every year for the industry association’s Sveriges Tandhygienistförening congress, TandhygienistDagarna.
To successfully balance this large number of delegates with a packed programme of conference sessions, networking experiences, an exhibition and social activities, the association needed to work with congress-organising experts it could rely on.
The association had successfully worked with Reed & Mackay for almost 10 years. And, once again, it turned to the agency to deliver ways to enhance its annual congress.
Yet while both teams know each other and work together well, as many attendees are repeat delegates, themes and experiences need to be updated annually, to keep the congress fresh and to cater for delegates of all age groups.
“Education is the congress’ principal objective. So we have find a venue that can hold parallel sessions with all the technical equipment and support. Plus it needs to offer ample exhibition space and be easily accessible for delegates who are travelling from all over Sweden,” Reed & Mackay Senior Congress Manager Ulla Conti says.
This year’s congress – which ran between 7 – 9 April – was held in Gothenburg, Sweden’s second biggest city after Stockholm. Its destination changes every year and extensive forward planning is critical for producing congresses, Conti adds. Next year’s congress is already booked in the city of Malmo. And, after this summer, Reed & Mackay will meet with Sveriges Tandhygienistförening to finalise plans for April 2026’s congress.
SOURCING THE RIGHT VENUES
“The choice of destination for this congress depends a lot on the type of venues that destination has to offer. We frequently come back to Gothenburg where the Swedish Exhibition and Congress Center – Svenska Mässan has great facilities,” Conti says. “It’s one of Scandinavia’s largest congress facilities, able to comfortably accommodate the conference sessions and the exhibition space required.
“As we know the venue well and how we wanted to work with it, we presented a project plan,” Conti adds. “Then we worked closely with its team to plan the congress.”
Furthermore, the congress centre offers plenty of accommodation options to host such a large number of delegates. And Gothenburg also has plenty of other hotel choices.
“While we organise the travel for the association’s organising committee and its board, and invited speakers, the delegates book their own travel. So it’s helpful when the city has both the facilities and great connections from the rest of Sweden,” Conti says.
“We ensure we choose to work with a range of hotels in different price categories and negotiate rates with them. More importantly, we negotiate the terms of cancellation, which is crucial for a meeting of this size. We need to make block bookings for the accommodation before the registration process is open, as there’s a long lead time from the planning stages to the opening day. Inevitably, there will be some cancellations after a set deadline. So it’s essential you work with hotel partners that provide good terms.”
CATERING TO DELEGATES’ NEEDS
An important part of this particular congress is the exhibition. It’s here that delegates can experience products and demonstrations relevant to their field.
“We know from previous years this is a popular part. Delegates want enough time to meet the exhibitors,” Conti explains. “Therefore, as one of the ways to enhance this annual congress, we ensured coffee and lunch breaks were long enough. That meant half the delegates could meet the exhibitors then switch later on. We also introduced a quiz throughout the exhibition, which would encourage delegates to meet with all 40 exhibitors.”
DELIVERING SOCIAL EVENTS WITH STYLE
As well as building the congress webpage, creating and running the registration process, Reed & Mackay organises the congress’ social events.
Before a banquet at the congress centre on the final evening, the programme kicked off with a fun, relaxed reception.
Conti and her team sourced Kajskjul8 as the venue for the opening evening, which offered delegates the chance to enjoy its veranda with harbour and waterfront views. Conti adds that, for a welcome reception, it’s important to find a venue with adaptable space that makes mingling between delegates easy. “The congress attendees aren’t colleagues that see each other all the time, they come together just once a year, so the social events are also as important a part as the congress itself,” Conti says.
Sveriges Tandhygienistförening Project Manager Lena Munck agrees. “One of the highlights was the Get Together Party held in a vintage warehouse on the harbour, which served great food and music. The atmosphere was buzzing and people loved it,” Munck says.
WHY A STRONG PARTNERSHIP WORKS
A robust working relationship with a client means an agency can offer advice on how to address any external factors that may affect the congress.
Conti points to the rise in the cost of running meetings and congresses in particular. “Budgets remain the same as before. So it’s our job to be extremely detailed when it comes to guidance on what is affordable,” she says. “We highlight areas that can be pared back but still deliver the great experience the delegates expect.”
A solid partnership also means understanding how every minute counts when running a congress of this size.
“A week before the delegates arrive an app is ready for them to download, that hosts all the congress’ details. We prepare a detailed day-by-day schedule. My team and I are on site during the congress to make sure everything runs like clockwork,” Conti says.
Munck adds that one of the crucial ways to enhance an annual congress is keeping an oversight of everything. “In that aspect, the Reed & Mackay team members are such professionals,” Munck says. “They always have the big picture in mind. And they always see what would be best for the participants while still being cautious with costs.
“From our perspective, and from our delegates perspective, this year’s Gothenburg congress was very good,” Munck adds. “We value the enormous knowledge and experience Reed & Mackay has when it comes to producing large-scale meetings and it makes us feel safe knowing we’re in good hands. We have become friends along the way and our collaboration runs very smoothly.”
