26 Oct Back to in-person conferences: Eurospine 2021 in Review

For many attendees and exhibitors, Eurospine 2021 was the first face-to-face congress since before the coronavirus pandemic struck in March 2020.

It was fantastic to meet up with friends and colleagues after a year-and-a-half of Teams and Zoom calls, as well as foster new relationships after an extended period of social distancing.

Ortho Consulting Group’s Matt Woods, Gavin Crowther, Andrew Sangster and Suzanna Everard headed out to at Messe Wien in Vienna for three days of meetings, demonstrations and discussions on key topics across the spine, orthopaedic and medtech landscape.

We caught up with the team on their return to find out what their key takeaways were from the event.

Business confidence is high going into 2022

The last 18 months have presented many different challenges with companies having to pivot in their strategy to meet new and unexpected pressures and retool their plans accordingly. 

But there was excitement among attendees in the main exhibition centre that not only were businesses bouncing back, but that 2022 was going to exceed expectations. 

“We were thrilled to speak to such a diverse group of attendees, with very strong international representation particularly from the US and Mexico,” said OCG director Gavin Crowther. 

“Not only was it great to reconnect with existing clients and partners from across a wide range of companies, but we have started building some excellent new relationships with businesses from across Europe and beyond.

“Collectively there was a real feeling that the next 12 months will see the industry continue to grow and thrive as we continue to adapt to new ways of working.”

In-person product demonstrations trump virtual meetings

Eurospine 2021 was a hybrid event with a digital audience, however the benefits of a simple but effective production demonstration to showcase a core concept was evident in the exhibition hall.

OCG product manager Andrew Sangster said: “The human aspect is very valuable. Being able to give someone a visual demonstration is incredibly valuable, and that’s particularity true if it’s a tactile experience with a product they can touch and examine themselves.

“While virtual meetings over Teams or other platforms will continue to be important, we were able to answer questions and demonstrate product capabilities in a much more detailed and satisfying way. This is much more efficient way of gauging whether a product is a good fit for a business.” 

Coronavirus preventative measures are working 

In order to ensure a safe environment for attendees, congress organisers implemented a number of COVID-19 prevention measures. 

These included pre-registration self-print badge stations, mandatory mouth nose protection, chessboard pattern setting measures for meeting rooms and proof of vaccination or recovery for attendees.

“This was a great event and the COVID-19 measures were well executed,” said OCG founder Matt Woods. “This was our first major congress in 2021 and not only was there a fantastic international audience, but the organisers delivered an outstanding experience. 

“We have all become used to meeting virtually and conducting business online, but it is impossible to underestimate the power of in-person events, conducted safely.”