The Importance of People

Benchmark January 2022

The 18th NAFEMS World Congress was held in October 2021, and like many events that have been run in the past year, it was a little different to previous versions. Plans had been in place to produce a one-of-a-kind “hybrid” Congress that would combine in-person attendance in Salzburg, Austria, with online access. However, despite our best efforts and work until the last possible minute, we were forced to transition to a purely online event due to the uncertain situation around travel restrictions.

Not to be deterred, we set about building a unique online environment – different from any other online conference platform – and pulled together some 300 presenters to produce what turned out to be an outstanding online conference.

We discovered that the method of delivery is the least important aspect of a conference. The most important? The people. And that theme of people being more important than technology was evident throughout the four-day Congress.