CONVIN delivers award-winning creative excellence at WTC2023

CONVIN S.A. is a leading European Professional Congress Organizer (PCO), with strong expertise in planning and delivering a wide range of events. The CONVIN team always maintains a strong focus on creating a seamless and memorable experience for both attendees and organizers.

CONVIN was hailed as the winner of the Best Virtual Event Portal Award at EventsAir’s Innovation Awards, which were announced at AirTime 2023 in London. The team were recognized for their innovative event portal at the World Tunnel Congress 2023 (WTC2023).

As the premier annual event of the International Tunneling Association, WTC2023 is considered to be the leading tunneling conference in the world. The event was held at Greece’s Megaron Athens International Conference Center in May 2023 – one of the most technologically advanced conference venues in Europe.

According to Alkis Polyrakis, Technical Director at CONVIN: “WTC2023 is a unique congress with unique challenges, due to the nature and scale of the event.  The team at CONVIN had to be proactive, leverage our expertise, showcase creative problem-solving and attention-to-detail to deliver a successful event. We are incredibly proud of the result.”

Key results

• 2000 attendees from 66 countries
• 89% of attendees rated WTC 2023 as a 4 or 5 (out of 5)
• 78% of participants used mobile event app
• 61% logged into OnAIR virtual event platform

Organizing Greece’s largest ever technical conference

With more than 2000 professionals from the tunneling industry attending, WTC2023 is the largest technical conference that has been organized in Greece to-date. The conference also included a significant technical exhibition, which brought together many of the world’s leading companies involved in the design, construction, operation and maintenance of tunnels and underground projects.

“Events of this size have their own set of challenges for organizers,” said Alkis. “We needed to find the right venue with the right infrastructure and technical requirements for both in-person and virtual delivery, as well as considering the availability of nearby hotel rooms during the requested period.

“Furthermore, we also needed to prioritize budget and time management, which can easily run over with large events.”

WTC2023 also presented a creative challenge to the CONVIN team, with the client looking to maintain participant engagement over the course of the event. They created interactive and immersive experiences and themed activities, such as technical visits to the current underground projects in Athens and a symbolic marathon in the Panathenaic Stadium.

Creating an award-winning event portal, inspired by Athens

The CONVIN team selected EventsAir as its technology partner for WTC2023, having been a regular user of the software platform since 2016.

“We used EventsAir for practically every aspect of the event organization, including registration, managing abstracts and full papers, accommodation, sponsorships, website, our mobile app and more,” shared Alkis.

“The experience was enhanced by the design of our award-winning virtual platform, which was inspired by the host city, Athens, as well as the venue. All the graphics were branded after the conference and we ensured that sponsors, exhibitors, and media partners were properly referenced.”

An all-in-one platform for success

“WTC2023 was a very demanding event, and yet a glorious success,” said Alkis. “EventsAir provided a single platform for everything, which was incredibly convenient for our team, as well as our client and the attendees. The EventsAir team provided comprehensive support and training so everything went very smoothly.

“EventsAir is an all-in-one platform, which eliminates the need for data transfer between different programs, which takes time and can result in errors. We could also collect, analyze, and leverage data to provide valuable insights and customized quick reports.”

With recent concerns around data breaches and protecting private data, the CONVIN team was also reassured by EventsAir’s security-first design, incorporating robust security measures to protect data and ensure the safety of the attendees.

Finally, according to Alkis the flexibility and scalability of the EventsAir platform was a particularly noteworthy benefit.

“We appreciated the ability to tailor the technology to the specific need and requirements of WTC2023, particularly regarding processes, such as abstract management, registration, onsite check-in and attendee engagement,” he said.  “We could easily accommodate both small and large virtual gatherings and handle sudden changes in attendee numbers.

“Overall, EventsAir was the ideal technology partner for WTC2023 as it offered vital features and capabilities that adapted to our creative vision.

“We have one word for our experience with the team at EventsAir – flawless,” Alkis concluded.

About EventsAir

EventsAir has been bringing people together for more than 30 years. We’re proud of how we’ve helped thousands of event planners connect millions of attendees, speakers, exhibitors and sponsors around the globe using our live, virtual and hybrid technologies.

We have one simple mission: to help event planners deliver the WOW in their events with the world’s most powerful event management technology. We’ve delivered some of the world’s biggest events, and we’d love to help you too.

About CONVIN

CONVIN S.A. is a highly reputable PCO with a strong track record of excellence in the congress management industry. The team has a deep understanding of what it takes to deliver successful congresses, and their commitment to excellence and attention to detail makes them a reliable congress partner.

CONVIN provides tailored solutions to meet the requirements of each project, and end-to-end Services from initial planning and budgeting to on-site execution and post-event evaluation.

With a team of experienced professionals and exceeding client expectations, CONVIN has earned a stellar reputation in the professional congress management industry.