16th International Congress of Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders

The International Congress of Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders is one of the largest events held at The CCD to date, attracting guests from over 80 countries around the world and providing outstanding feedback.

Delegates: 5,100
Client: The Movement Disorder Society
Event: 16th International Congress of Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders
Type: Conference
Date: June 2012
Days: 5

Brief

The Movement Disorder Society (MDS) holds its Congress annually and attracts attendees from over 80 countries around the world. Part of the MDS leadership team’s remit is to ensure that the event is held in a variety of different destinations that are both appealing and accessible.

The Congress is large in size, typically with around 5,000 delegates and a requirement for main plenary auditorium, extensive meeting space, breakout rooms, exhibition space and an additional large space for poster tour sessions.

As with many large congress events, the sheer volume of different meetings held over the five days meant that the client was looking for peace of mind by working with an extremely professional, well trained and customer-focused venue team.

Solution

The MDS leaders participated in a site visit of The CCD when it was being built and received the ‘hard hat’ tour of the venue. From this they decided that for the very first time, Dublin was a great fit for the event because prior to The CCD being built, there had been no ideal venue for a large congress.

The client was impressed by the stunning architecture and advanced technology available at The CCD, commenting that is was the most impressive venue yet for the MDS Congress, and that the building itself would make this a most memorable experience.

During the planning meetings, a strong partnership was established between the client and the venue.  The CCD team were well placed to handle any potential challenges that arose with ease.

Audio Visual was underlined as being the key area for the client and essential to the overall success of the meeting. The Technical team understood this and ensured that they were always one step ahead of where they needed to be. They worked with the speakers extremely closely to ensure their presentations were flawless, which was essential to the success of the Congress.

The Congress involves many types of sessions including plenaries, parallels, skills and video workshops, controversies and teaching courses. There were also 16 Guided Poster Tours and over 1,500 posters in 37 different topic areas related to Movement disorders presented throughout the week.

The CCD Hosts were in place to manage the flow of the 5,100 delegates – a tall order at our largest event to-date by delegate numbers - and to provide friendly assistance in any way possible.

Results

The client commented that the saying ‘Cead Mile Failte’ (one hundred thousand welcomes) is truly appropriate for Dublin and that attendees felt very welcome during their stay and enjoyed exploring the city and embracing all that Dublin has to offer.

A highlight of the MDS Congress was the honour of having An Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, speak at the Opening Ceremony, which was extremely well received by the delegates and got the event off to an excellent start.

The feedback for the event has been outstanding – from the venue itself to the hosts and event management staff - and the MDS leadership team were delighted that their vision for the Congress was realised.

“The Convention Centre Dublin is a remarkable venue. The stunning architecture, breath taking views, state-of-the -art technology, and the most importantly the knowledgeable and dedicated staff, make this centre truly one of a kind." Jenny Quebbeman, Director of Meetings, Movement Disorder Society