Solid and strategic

The bid is an essential first step of hosting a conference. We have years of experience in supporting our clients in the bidding process. We act as the liaison between the congress bureau, host city, and professional local community. In close cooperation with all parties involved, we will work towards winning the bid to host your next conference in The Netherlands or abroad. As an experienced professional conference organiser, we also support our clients with bids for international congresses abroad.

Our desire is for our clients to achieve their goals by organizing innovative and effective meetings. With the help of meeting design, we will not only be able to attract delegates to the (online) location, but we will also contribute to create a meaningful meeting. This involves developing a general conference idea that offers a scope for goal setting, content creation and experience. Every meeting design is unique and offers alignment for all parties involved.

Congress by design will set up a project team dedicated to your conference, supervised by one of its senior project managers, supported by a project manager, registration manager and project coordinator. They all go the extra mile to ensure a flawless execution of a conference. First we take care of the basis: we advise on establishing a conference foundation as the legal entity of the conference, we arrange for insurances, and we offer assistance in setting up a detailed plan and planning of the congress. Basically, we take you by the hand to guide you through the entire process.

We understand the significance of budgets and the financial control for both the conference as well as the management of the association. Next to the preparation of budgets and pre-financing we also offer advice on VAT, subvention and financial guarantees. Most importantly, we take a strong stand when it comes to financial transparency in congress organisation. We achieve it by carefully monitoring budgets and continuously communicating with clients to ensure the financial success of the conference. Your project manager will keep you updated on initial and revised budget forecasts and actual expenditures on a regular basis so that you are well aware of the financial situation at all times. After the conference we will take care of the final financial report.

Since the pandemic the conference industry has changed. Online and hybrid meetings have made their way into the industry and are here to stay, and we are fully embracing it. By organising these events we are continuously learning about the latest developments in the field. Congress by design offers support in platform set up and at your online or hybrid event.

Conference logistics and onsite management encompasses all activities and logistic arrangements during the preparation and execution phase required for the smooth conduct of the congress. We will take care of the coordination of vendors and suppliers, such as venue, caterer, AV company, marketing, online presence and others. The project manager will prepare a detailed meeting script and brief all relevant parties. During the conference our project team will be present at the venue throughout the conference to take care of overall coordination and trouble-shooting.

The acquisition of sponsors is an important process that can give a conference financial stability. This process should start early on. We support our clients in the process of securing creative sponsorship packages that are compliant to required conference sponsorship regulations. Sponsoring and exhibition activities will be developed in close cooperation with you.

Communication is essential, prior to a congress, to keep your delegates informed and interested in the event. There are many tools and channels that can be used to achieve efficient event communication. In close consultation with you, our project team will set up a promotion plan and planning. We can assist in developing the conference branding, setting up and managing the conference website and all other publicity activities. We also offer additional support in marketing, social media, and the event promotion.

Developing a dedicated conference app will definitely benefit the congress. To name a few advantages: it is more sustainable, it ascertains delegate interaction, because of cut down on paper and print resulting in cost savings. We usually work with the congress app via our EventsAIR conference management system, as this communicates with the abstract management and registration tool. However we have experience with other apps as well, depending on your preference.

Simple and fast registration is key to the happiness of congress delegates as well as associations. We offer support in the set-up and implementation of the online registration of delegates with the goal to process all registrations efficiently and transparently, enhancing the ROI of the meeting.

Our abstract management services involve the preparation and collection of the abstracts as well as running the review process of the submissions in close collaboration with our clients and the assigned faculty. Moreover, we inform authors about the status of their submission and take care of the publishing process. All abstract management is done online to ensure the process goes smoothly and accurately for our clients and their delegates.

We are highly experienced in the organisation of academic and scientific meetings with complex programs. Accreditation and compliance have no secrets for us. Moreover, the scientific secretariat service of Congress by design supports the scientific staff with contacts, registrations, guidelines, speakers or presenters guidelines, and provide all necessary technical support.

Hosting a conference with international delegates often requires support when it comes to booking hotels. At Congress by design, we support our clients with the reservation of hotel rooms. Our short line of communication to service partners and hotels in the Netherlands ensures a cost and time efficient handling of hotel reservations.

Although knowledge sharing is key during conferences, networking during social functions such as a welcome reception, conference dinner or excursions is important too. Not only for delegates, but also for sponsors and exhibitors. Cbd offers venue selection as well as site inspections. We have the local contacts, so we are able to negotiate agreements with relevant venues and organise memorable social events.