With Millennials soon to make up the majority of the medical laboratory workforce, it’s only natural that digital networking is gaining momentum at events like the Executive War College
Attendees at last week’s Executive War College Conference on Laboratory and Pathology Management in New Orleans will tell you that the mobile app used by participants was on fire.
At any hour during the in-person event in New Orleans, attendees scheduled meetups, participants asked questions to conference organizers, and users discussed important clinical laboratory and anatomic pathology topics. All of those interactions occurred within the Whova meeting application, which served as the Executive War College’s virtual guide.
In many ways, widespread use of the meeting app reflects a younger crowd that lives life on mobile phones. It’s not all that different than the changing face of the clinical lab industry as laboratory veterans retire and new faces come in, said Robert Michel, Founder of the Executive War College (EWC) and Editor-in-Chief of Dark Daily’s sister publication The Dark Report.
“It’s clear from the soaring use of our conference’s meeting app at the Executive War College that a younger generation is changing how business is conducted during and after a lab industry conference,” he observed. “Generation X and Millennials are steadily influencing how people network at live events.”
Michel noted during his keynote at the conference that Millennials will make up 75% of the hospital lab and pathology workforce by 2025, so their digital habits will become the norm at in-person events.
88% of Attendees at Executive War College Used the Event App
Usage numbers aggregated during the EWC conference of people who downloaded and used the meeting app speak for themselves:
- A large majority of attendees (88%) downloaded the app.
- Users sent 11,398 messages in the app.
- There were 136 community board discussions posted.
- Users created 80 meetups, with 677 people attending those gatherings.
- There were 764,745 sponsor impressions in the app (in other words, clicks on a sponsor link or attendees navigating to sponsor material).
What the numbers don’t convey is that the conference’s meeting app was also fun to use!
“We love the app,” said Melissa Butterworth, co-founder, Managing Director and President of Advanced Strategic Partners, in a Whova discussion group.
Butterworth spoke during a special session at the Executive War College. She also took the No. 1 spot on the meeting app’s leaderboard for the event, collecting an impressive 225,900 points. Users gained points for the leaderboard based on activities they completed in the app.
Spirited competition ensued among the leaderboard’s top users, who jockeyed for position as the conference progressed. Plenty of off-topic conversations took place in the app as well, as attendees helped each other navigate New Orleans with tips about restaurants, local cemetery tours, or where to work out.
Clinical Laboratory Sponsors Reached Out to Attendees in New Ways
For sponsors and other vendors visiting the conference, the meeting app provided a different avenue to approach attendees beyond the typical networking that takes place during breaks, cocktail receptions, luncheons, and off-site parties.
For example, some sponsors shared white papers or YouTube videos via the app’s community boards or asked questions about topics of interest. Additionally, sponsors could respond directly to queries from attendees.
“At the Executive War College, there was clearly a sustained exchange between vendors looking to engage business development opportunities and participants who have pain points that need to be addressed and are looking for solutions,” Michel said.
The next Executive War College will return to New Orleans on April 25-26, 2023. Click on this link to access early registration discounts.
—Scott Wallask
Related Information:
Artificial Intelligence in Digital Pathology Developments Lean Toward Practical Tools