It was such a wonderful experience, bringing together over 110+ students, advisors and partners from Ethiopia, Sudan and the UK for the Annual Meeting for the NIHR Global Health NTD Projects at Brighton & Sussex Medical School, 29th September – 1st October 2020.
The virtual conference platform, the use of different technology (Zoom, Polls and Virtual Whiteboards) and our dedicated programme support facilitated discussions exploring the theme of “Rethinking Capacity Building in Global Health” and the sharing of experiences and collaboration across projects to build on their common vision.
In late September the use of virtual whiteboards and break-out rooms were still unfamiliar technology to many and it was really important to take time to rehearse and talk through the meeting objectives to ensure the delivery was seamless and we could engage all attendees quickly with clear housekeeping and break-out instructions. We also took care to ensure our speakers, break-out facilitators and attendees joined rehearsals and onboarding to really get the most of their time together.
I loved working closely with their core team to bring this event together, working through their ideas to meet their aims – it was a very positive and engaging 3 day meeting that really showed how effective virtual conferences can be in connecting us to feel part of something in these challenging Covid times.
To find out more read the article “Fruitful NIHR Global Health NTD projects virtual meeting” in the Brighton & Sussex Medical School News.
