A brief desciption of how
technical events have evolved
during the past 10 years
We can safely say that until November 2011 all events of the sector were completely analogue. Below we will explain the reason for this specific date.
Until then, events used to pursue the following three objectives:
The main objective of each technical event is to design an attractive and technically interesting programme to achieve high rate of attendance and provide relevant conclusions to the scientific community. The Technical Committee of the Congress is in charge of this stage
For traditional congresses, a high attendance rate is synonymous with major interest and often good financial results of the Congress. A high attendance rate will encourage the interest of possible sponsors
Congresses and technical seminars are not always organised in search of positive financial results, sometimes simply a balance is sought. However, for the organisers the benefits are usually an important fact to take into account
During the closing day of the XVI CILA of Rio de Janeiro, the conference of Juan José Potti dealt with the need to introduce major changes in the way of communication
“The world has changed considerably during the past 30 years. Still, our sector continues communicating just like 30 years ago”
In November 2011, during the closing day of the sixteenth edition of the Ibero Latin American Congress on Asphalt, three decades after the very first edition, critical review was performed of the major social changes occurred during the 30 previous years, and the little or no changes whatsoever in technical communication. The following 3 initiatives were proposed:
About 10 years ago, some of the most important social media, such as Twitter, made their appearance. For this reason, it seemed a revolutionary initiative to propose for each technical event a specific hashtag and to optimally utilize social media to increase the digital influence of events
This has been, without any doubt, one of the major changes proposed. No other similar references existed by that time, not even in other industries. The objective was to achieve that any event, physically attended in a specific venue, could have digital impact anywhere in the world
The objective was to broaden physical boundaries and broadcast events at any place worldwide. This idea tackled one of the current problems of analogue events: “address the usual audience” and put an end to endogamy
The III Jornada de Ensayos (seminar on tests on bituminous mixtures) of Asefma, February 2012, was the first analogue event of the sector that was broadcast in HD streaming with a specific hashtag #IIIJornadaEnsayos
During this first event just one camera with a single fixed shot was operated. No mixer table was used to insert slides. Although it seems rudimentary now, some technical events are still being broadcast with this streaming format: low quality SD single fixed shot
Since this very first broadcast in February 2012, a number of key aspects started improving steadily; we will highlight the following three scopes
The first events had very low impact data, compared to the current information. However, since the very first event, there were more online attendees than persons on site and, little by little, year after year, both the number of active accounts and the number of followers increased
Each event requires a tool to obtain the impact metrics. In the beginnings (2012) the reach of over half a million impressions was already considered a complete success. We have witnessed an exponential growth ever since
In 2012 hardly 5% of the asphalt industry’s professionals had a digital identity. Nowadays in Spain, over 75% of the current lecturers have their own digital identity, and influencers in the industry have over 2000 followers
That very same year, 2012, the VII National Congress of Asefma evidenced that the broadcast quality has undergone significant changes.
3 HD cameras and a mixer table were operated to combine different planes and show the slides in a different plane. Furthermore, the speakers’ names were exhibited and the option to display some of the tweets on screen was added
From 2012 on, there have been many changes in our way of broadcasting events, but we will highlight below 3 quantified arguments that itafec has achieved since then
Over the years, the itafec community has kept on growing. At this moment there are over 18,000 registered users at the website itafec.com Without any doubt, this is one of the main reasons to choose itafec. Currently it is the website of the most influencing industry, and the only one able to convert a local event into global, with full guarantees
The @itafec account has over 12,000 followers; moreover, the @itafec_mx account, created in April 2017, has over 1,600 followers, and the @itafec_CA account, created in October 2019, has already more than 400 followers. A policy of coordinated digital communication is key to success
The digital impact of events has grown year after year. The NEWS section of itafec is a testimony of the our expansión ever since the III Jornada de Ensayos (2012) until its ninth edition (2019), or in the series of national congresses of Asefma from its seventh (2012) to the fourteenth edition (2019)
2020 will be remembered as the year of the digital boost as a result of the forced lockdown in many countries all over the world.
Itafec has added 2 new proposals to continue developing technical events, even when mobility and massive meetings suffer reductions
Following we shall list the 3 most important arguments for the first new proposal of itafec: the Digital Seminar
The Digital Seminar is based on the idea of dissociating the celebration of a technical event in a specific venue. It is no longer about the extra that digital impact adds to in-person events, but it is about organising a 100% digital event that can be combined with any kind of on-site activity
Each and every stage in the preparation of in-person technical events is managed by itafec it the digital #StayHome format: programme design, contact with speakers, recording, subtitling, live broadcast, call, digital follow-up, etc.
The first Digital Seminar took place on April 2nd 2020, on the occasion of IRMD 2020 (International Road Maintenance Day) with an absolute reach in a great number of categories. Suffice it to say that #IRMD202 was TT in 3 countries: Spain, Mexico and Guatemala
The latest proposal developed by itafec for 2020 is the creation of technical events in a completely virtual environment supported by Virtual Reality (VR) technology applied to 3D environments.
“We will include the concept “gamification” (like the game playing of our kids on video game consoles) applied to technical congresses and seminars”
This kind of virtual VR/3D events offer the possibility of networking activities and the design of completely customised and interactive booths with a detailed summary of activities and visits
Itafec has taken a further step forward in the organisation of technical events, by adding to the previous options the possibility of creating a virtual world based on VR/3D for any event. This option is available in combination with other options, as shown during the Digital seminar
The virtual VR/3D environment offers both the possibility of a real and live personal approach, and of interaction in booths, parallel meeting rooms, zones for presenting posters or papers, private meeting rooms, places to relax, etc. There is no limitation whatsoever, everything is customizable with the availability of real impact metrics
Until now, any digital event was synonymous with huge impact, although the online interaction and personal connections or networking were lost. Today, not only up to 2000 people can attend an event at the same time, but we can also establish live connections with each one of them, exchange business cards or documentation, or just chat
Itafec vitual meeting offers the possibility of connection with any attendee of an event, start a conversation just as we are used to do traditionally and share our contact details by virtual business cards.
Exhibitors can receive visits in their customizable booths where they can show their latest developments in a virtual world.
The benefits of in-person events without the need to leave our office
