Love Ophthall Conferences? Like organizing things? Then why not consider hosting your very own Ophthall event?
Ophthall is a Practice Development movement devoted to spreading ideas that any Ophthalmologist can get involved with. You could organize a full day Practice development conference, a workshop or even an Ophthall Training programme in your city or town.
With everyone giving their time, it’s a great way for individual Doctors interested in becoming event organizers to further their experience. Meanwhile, you can bring together and inspire your Ophthalmic community.
Of course, working with such a prestigious brand as Ophthall requires that you adhere to some strict guidelines, but the organization also offers plenty of support.
Here we run through the steps you need to take to organize an Ophthall event
Step 1. Choose an Event Format
Ophthall offers a variety of event formats for you to choose from. Which you choose will depend on the type of organization you represent (if any) and your ability and appetite for organizing.
1) Ophthall Practice Development Meet.
This event type is organized in the city or town in which you practice and showcases a diverse array of talks on Practice Development. The event is named after the location-based community it serves
Example – Ophthall Mumbai, Ophthall Jodhpur
2) Ophthall Workshops
This event type is organized in the city or town in which you practice, and would be full day workshops focussing on Particular topics example
- Digital Marketing
- Investment Opportunities.
- Innovations
- Private Equity
…………………. or any other related topics
The event is named after the location-based community it serves plus the name of the workshop
Example – Ophthall Chennai- Digital Marketing Workshop
3) Ophthall Training
This event type is organized in the city or town in which you practice, and would be full day training programmes for Ophthalmologists/ Eye Hospital Staff on topics such as
- Counselling.
- Soft Skills.
- Optical Sales.
- Patient Experience
…………………. or any other related topics
The event is named after the location-based community it serves plus the name of the workshop
Example – Ophthall Kolkata- Counselling Training
4) Ophthall Buyer Meets:
This event type is organized in the city or town in which you practice and would be full day programmes for Ophthalmologists who are interested in buying Ophthalmic Equipment’s. Users will provide their experiences and vendors will demonstrate and talk about their technology.
Example
-OCT, Fields Buyers Meet
-Lasik Buyers Meet.
-Basic OPD Instruments Buyers meet.
The event is named after the location-based community it serves plus the name of the workshop
Example – Ophthall Kolkata- OCT Buyers Meet
5) Ophthall Job Fairs:
This event type is organized in the city or town in which you practice and would be full day programmes for Ophthalmologists/ Allied Healthcare Professionals who are interested in working in Ophthalmic Industry.
The event is named after the location-based community it serves plus Job Fair
Example – Ophthall Delhi- Job Fair
Step 2. Devise an Event Programme
Before you approach us , you’ll need to come up with a hypothetical programme for your event. Look for research, discoveries, insights, theories, issues, and solutions coming out of your Ophthalmic community, which has not yet been addressed in regular meetings.
Step 3. Apply for Approval
You can only apply for organizing the event in your location. Ophthall also stipulates that you must live in the city for which you are applying to conduct the programme. Support from local Ophthalmic Associations would be an added advantage.
Ophthall advises that you need at least three months to organize an event but starting earlier is recommended.
Step 4. Recruit a Team
Put out the word to your colleagues that you’re organizing an Ophthall event and see who wants to get involved. In addition, you can also look for support from Local Associations and trade.
Every person on your team should be designated a role that fits their specific skill set. Often, team members take on more than one role, depending on the size of your event – just make sure that they have the capacity to get those jobs done!
Step 5. Select a Venue and Design Your Event
According to Ophthall, the best venues for Ophthall events with 100 guests or fewer are cozy and simple, such as small auditoriums, hotel conference rooms, theatres, Eye Hospital Auditoriums, and Association conference rooms.
It will need to have:
· An ability to project and watch videos
· A stage for the host and live speakers
· A location for food and beverage setup
· Conveniently located bathrooms
· Exhibit space for sponsor materials, speakers, a bloggers’ lounge, etc.
· Party space for sponsored lunches and other events
In terms of design, every stage is required to include your official Ophthall logo with your full event name. You should use props and visual elements to showcase your region, city, or local culture, and you’ll need to light the stage for video production. Ophthall also stipulates that the event should be as environmentally friendly as possible.
Step 6. Confirm Your Speakers
Your speakers can only talk for a maximum of 60 minutes (you’ll have a timer on stage), but talks can be as short as 10 minutes. The talks can focus on the theme of the event.
Ophthall speakers cannot be paid and cannot promote themselves or their products on stage (except where that is what they have been specifically asked to speak about i.e. tech demo or ideas in their book).
Ophthall would also provide support in designing the programme agenda and suggest speakers.
Speakers and Ophthall Organizers have to be provided travel and accommodation and all local expenses to be covered by the Local Organizers
Step 7. Create A Budget
An Ophthall event organization costs money. While you may charge for Registration ( Upto Rs 4000 per participant), this can only be used to cover costs and all excess funds should be given to Ophthall for organizing future events. All organizers are expected to create surplus funds through their events which can help in growth of the Ophthall movement.
You may seek sponsorship from trade to help pay for things you need such as the venue, food and beverage, and audiovisual equipment.
Sponsors should be viewed as partners who want to have an authentic dialogue with the Ophthall community. These partners should be encouraged to be as creative as possible in order to devise value-adding activations.
Ophthall will not provide any seed money or compensate in case of a loss, it’s the responsibility of the organizers to make the event financially viable.
Transparent accounting process must be followed by the Organizers.
Step 8. Promote Your Event
To promote your Ophthall event you can have a page on ophthall.in and promote in Ophthall social media pages and what’s app / telegram groups. You should also set up an official website for your event and its own social media pages.
In the run-up to your event, Ophthall advises keeping a blog, emailing regular updates to guests, sending press releases and creating a teaser video. Aim to build a community around your event before it takes place.
Step 9. Photograph, Video and Webcast Your Event
The whole purpose of your event is to spread the word, so it’s essential to capture the action on the day and share it. Webcasting is a great way to amplify the reach of your event and you can use Facebook Live, YouTube Live etc.
Once the videos of your speakers’ talks are edited, you should upload your talks to the Ophthall YouTube channel. You should also work out a marketing plan for promoting your videos post-event.
Step 10. Send out a Post-Event Survey
Ophthall stipulates that you must send out the Ophthall attendee survey within 48 hours after your event has completed; results will be emailed to you in a PDF four weeks after your survey is sent.
When it’s all over, you can apply to organize another event and Ophthall will review your performance when considering whether to grant you another event.
Conclusion
By organizing a Ophthall event you can benefit from the use of a highly regarded brand to help you attract exciting speakers, an engaged audience and enthusiastic sponsors.
It’s not a money-making exercise but you can gain skills and recognition (not to mention inspiration) through this exciting opportunity.
For more information and to organise a Ophthall event in your city
write to [email protected]
