Summary

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Alberta Society of Gastroenterology (ASG) had to cancel their annual conference and their in-person annual general meeting (AGM). The ASG is required to host an AGM once per year, so the plan was made to transition to a virtual AGM. With all physicians being even busier during COVID-19, BUKSA’s role to manage the AGM and pivot it to virtual successfully was vital.

Our Role

With the transition from in-person to virtual, BUKSA quickly determined the right platform, registration requirements, and necessary member communications. Preparation of AGM packages included a bylaw review, agenda, President’s report, audit and financial report, and board slate.

BUKSA moderated the AGM, provided speaker training and coaching, hosted rehearsals, and provided a technical team to ensure a smooth virtual event. When asked how likely attendees would use BUKSA to organize or host an event, the average response was 9/10!  

Value Add

Transition to Virtual: PIVOT!
BUKSA managed selecting the right platform for their AGM to ensure their bylaws were followed and voting was done properly and efficiently.

Our team provided technical development of the platform, hosted IT and AV testing, rehearsals, and provided constant on-site technical support. This gave the Executive confidence in providing members a positive and more efficient AGM experience than typical in-person events. After analyzing the post-event surveys, most respondents preferred a virtual AGM!

Moderation: Thank You, Next
One of the most challenging roles of any event is moderating the sessions and keeping things moving. Having the comfort and knowledge of when to stop speakers, move on to the next subject, and moving the meeting forward in a confident manner are all pressures that the Executive did not want in a virtual environment. With our team providing the AGM moderation, board members were able to focus solely on their reports and the meeting was concise and efficient that members rated at 9/10!

Practice Makes Perfect
Presenter coaching is one aspect of a virtual event that many don’t realize is a vital component that happens before presenters go live. In advance of the AGM, all presenters had a private 1:1 coaching session alongside the technical event host to ensure comfort with the platform, their roles and provided time to work through any potential glitches. We held a rehearsal to ensure smooth transitions, event flow, and to reinforce presenter platform comfort. With the experience these presenters had on the platform there were zero speaker, IT, or AV glitches throughout the entire AGM.

All in
Physicians have some of the busiest schedules and the ASG board members decided it was best to have our support through the entire AGM process allowing them to rehearse once and “only need to show up” the day of the event.

Our team provided full confidence to both the Executive and association members that all bylaws were being met throughout the AGM. Communications in advance including the AGM package were created with final input coming from the board members before being shared externally to the attending association members. During the AGM, the audience remained engaged during voting with over 70% response rate.