The 11th European Society for Swallowing Disorders (ESSD) Congress ran virtually from the 4th to the 6th November 2021. The decision was made to host the event online, both to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and to encourage a large cohort of attendees.

The first ESSD congress was held in 2011 in Leiden, Netherlands, with experts in dysphagia (swallowing difficulties) invited to discuss medical advances in the field within a multidisciplinary setting. The 11th Congress shared this goal whilst looking to promote the dissemination of new research. The state-of-the-art forum would therefore require a web platform which could be easily navigated and host a wealth of content, including live broadcasts, a meeting booking system and messaging platform.

ESSD was keen to run e-poster rating sessions, where authors of papers related to swallowing and dysphagia would present their findings with the aid of a poster, then a number of industry experts would critique and score them. All of this would need to be broadcast live so attendees could ask their own questions and have them answered in real time.

To achieve this, All In The Loop created two distinct e-poster tabs on the event platform. The first, an “E-Poster Rating Sessions” tab, hosted sessions which could be viewed and interacted with live and were then stored for post-event viewing. The second, an “E-Posters Area” tab, could be accessed before, during and after the event so attendees could access the posters without commentary. This made sure content could still be accessed when live broadcast ended, without sacrificing the interactivity ESSD requested.

To ensure satisfaction, the event’s sponsors, Nestlé Health Science, Phagenesis and Xion Medical, had the opportunity to present industry symposiums as part of the congress. Nestle Health and Science held a discussion on the links between diet, muscle loss and swallowing disorders, whilst Phagenesis and Xion Medical held a joint symposium on the diagnosis and treatment of dysphagia. By facilitating these sponsored discussions, All In The Loop was able to clearly demonstrate the value of sponsoring the event with extended, high-quality brand exposure whilst still informing attendees.

A twitter-style social wall was also created, which allowed attendees and exhibitors to interact outside of live sessions and encouraged networking through the online platform. This feature was a great success, with attendees discussing research, proposing collaborations and voicing their approval of the event.