About the Client
EACTS (The European Association for Cardiothoracic Surgery) was founded in 1986 as an organisation devoted to the practice of cardiothoracic surgery. It has members worldwide, including surgeons, perfusionists, and allied health professionals.
The association’s mission is to advance education in its highly specialised field and promote research into related physiology, pathology, and therapy, with the aim of correlating and disseminating the results for the public benefit.
The association has an academy that offers high-quality educational programmes to suit a range of levels, from trainees to experienced surgeons. It publishes three journals and maintains a quality improvement programme to facilitate continuing professional education.
A summary of the opportunity and problem solved
The association hosts the largest annual conference for surgeons, perfusionists and allied health professionals, focussing on scientific developments and research. 2017 was the 31st event. The association also hosts smaller events and educational/training programs yearly. Non-members can attend all events.
The association initially used a third-party event management system to organise its programme. The system was complex to use, and the association, its members and the participants all experienced difficulties. Modifications and customizations specific to the association’s needs were difficult, and the licensing and subscription costs were high.
These difficulties were compounded by the major pharmaceutical sponsors’ growing unwillingness to support the conference and events, mainly due to the increasingly stringent disclosure norms adopted by the EFPIA (a body of industry associations and pharmaceutical companies in Europe).
The association, therefore, decided to conceptualise, design and develop a bespoke event management system that catered for its requirements and those of similar associations. Once created and in use, other associations could also use the system, thus introducing a new revenue stream.
Gislen Software has collaborated with the association for the new system’s requirements, design, development and launch. An 18-month partnership has been established and is continuing.
A summary of the solution
The new event management system was conceptualised in close consultation with the association’s business and technical stakeholders. The requirements were discussed, iterated and re-iterated. The user experience was prototyped and designed. Over a series of sprints, the new system incorporates an impressive feature list including, but not limited to, the following:
- Manage members and memberships.
The Association can manage members, create and assign membership types, assign privileges and create and assign fee structures. Members can manage their membership, pay fees through various payment mechanisms, and keep up-to-date with events and conferences. Members can manage their profile and data through the “My profile” feature.
Conferences and events
The association can schedule and publish conferences and events. The conference and events calendars can also be published. Members and non-members can be invited to view these and encouraged to register. - Conference and event registration
Members and non-members can register and pay the registration fees (depending on member/non-member category) through various payment mechanisms. A designated group representative can register groups through a group registration feature. The Association can also register members and non-members to its conferences and events. Exhibitors can register for the conferences and events, understand terms and conditions and register their participants. - Fee structures and taxation
The fee structure and fees can vary based on member category. Early registration discounts can be promoted. Fee units for sessions that can be attended can be assigned. Fees are considered taxation inputs based on the registrant’s country of domicile and the hosting country of the conference/event. Registration fees can be transferred to another registrant if the initial registrant cannot attend. Registrants can view and print invoices. - Dashboards
Different system users have a bird’s eye view through a customized dashboard. - Advanced search
The system admin can define the search criteria and select/de-select various parameters to refine the search results. Association users can carry out advanced searches and save and export the search results. - Print badges
Badges can be printed for the registrants based on a barcode and/or identification. - Reporting and Intelligence
The system includes a comprehensive reporting module to benefit the Association and its members. Data can be collated, and reports can be presented for various business use cases.
The new conference, meeting and event management system was developed using an agile model at Gislen Chennai. The team was multi-skilled, with an average team size of five.
Confexa Product Launch
In January 2024, Gislen Software launched the solution as a generic product named Confexa. In April 2024, the conference and event modules were launched separately and, for the first time, used for a corporate event in Sweden. For more info, check Confexa’s website.
Benefits gained and business value delivered.
The new conference, meeting and event management system was launched in June 2017 and was in active use for the 31st edition of the annual conference, which was held in October 2017. Over 28,000 users (members and non-members) have been migrated from the old system, and enhancements to the new system are ongoing.