Hybrid Events with Aline Charpentier

Hello

and welcome to this podcast series brought to you by Connect Health Tech. Connect Health Tech is Cambridge University's Enterprise Zone, the gateway into the university's life sciences and health tech community, the collaborators, companies and investors. I'm Paula Rogers-Brown, Business Community Manager for Connect Health Tech, and in this episode, we explore the theme of hybrid events, which have become more critical to organisations and individuals worldwide since the early part of 2020.

One

Nucleus, like many businesses, has navigated the uncertainty the pandemic brought and pivoted its very successful genesis event from a physical to a hybrid format.

Joining

me today is Aileen Charpentier, Head of Innovation Support at One Nucleus, who joined the organisation in 2010.

Aileen

has covered various roles, including European projects and strategic partnerships development,

now

managing the Virtual Innovation Centre to support the network's biotech R&D in their growth activities.

Previous

roles have included working on technology transfer programmes for the scientific services of the French Embassy in the USA and tech scouting at a French government research organisation. Aileen holds an MSc in Biochemistry from the University of Toulouse and an MBA from Grenoble School of Management.

Hi,

Aileen, and thank you so much for joining me today. I really appreciate it. So let's start off with a little bit about you. So tell me more about yourself and how you started your career journey.

Hi,

Paula, and thank you for having me, and thank you for the really kind introduction. What can I say after that? I think you said it all, maybe just a

few

words on the interests.

So

obviously, training on the science side to start with, which has always been the passion. But I think realised, well, shortly after graduating my master's, that maybe being a scientist was not exactly for me. I think I have a great admiration for them. It requires so much dedication and patience that I probably didn't have, and therefore I felt that could be more useful than the business end of it. And I think by business, it's more this innovation switch spot. So it's how you convert technology into something that can become, you know, products or on the market, etc. So that's more or less what I did after that.

It's this support of innovation in one form or another, sometimes more on the technology side. So looking at the exciting new technologies and how we could

develop

them, sometimes enabling more collaboration for those who are developing and commercialising the technologies. So working with technology transfer offices, for example. And yes, now with One Nucleus being in back to the core biotech, which is, I think, the science close to my heart. And I think in the most vibrant European region in nice space. And I'm very, very proud to be there.

So

what takes an

average day? What does

that look like for you? Oh, there is no average day,

I have to

say. That's the easy, you know, way out. But yeah, well, you know, at

One

Nucleus, we are a small team and we are working on many activities at the same time. So I think, yes, that's a true answer. There is no average day. But to give you a flavour, I think a day is always involving a little bit of this, you know, more strategic thinking and involving external stakeholders. So they will be, I don't know, preparing a presentation about the Cambridge biotech ecosystem for French companies who are looking at visiting or could be writing a paper about, I don't know,

the

deal activity. So something that is reflecting on the region as a whole, there will be definitely things to discuss with colleagues and actually having a coffee with them is always really nice, especially now we're back a little bit more in the office. But just to catch up on what everyone is doing, because everyone is so busy that sometimes you don't necessarily do that. And that's important, I think, to take the time. There's lots of external implications and people contacting you for things.

So it's just, you know, this sort of answering back, which you tend to do a bit later during the day, catching up on these, like, you know, hundreds of emails that you've got and you have to answer to. But that's important because, you know, you're the anchorage point for, you know, this life science in Cambridge, and so that's important. And then working on, for example, our conferences. So we have two large conferences a year, and they take a lot of my time during the entire year shaping the program and engaging potential sponsors, et cetera. And then more on One Nucleus Network level. That's also talking with the strategic partners that we have.

Again, shaping the content, understanding the needs, what, what, you know, companies need to understand better who they need to meet,

et

cetera. So it's really an iterative process. So it's always to make sure that we are at the top.

Yeah. Yeah.

So meeting emails like everyone else, but on very different topics.

And

it sounds like with your role, it has a myriad of factors going on that you from, you know, event

program

design and relationship management, stakeholder management, and with that scientific background there, what's been the most important skill you think you've developed along the career pathway for yourself?

So

I think the most important one,

and

I'm serious here, that's really this ability to zoom in, zoom out all the time, which actually I really enjoy. So having at the time this more really top level strategic thinking about how we're going to develop things, what are the big questions, the big picture type thing, and then to get more into the delivery of them and to always go back and forth. So it's schizophrenic, but I

like it.

Yeah.

But

enjoyable as well. Enjoyable. So what sort of things or who inspires you?

I

think the type of people who inspire me are the ones who are passionate by what they do. So very often it could be entrepreneurs or that it could be someone who just have a new idea for setting up a charity, but all those who are just driven by passion and don't necessarily know how to do the things, but they just go for it and nothing can stop. And maybe even more because I wouldn't define myself like that. So I admire them even more, but I am, I'm the one who could help them. And so

that's why

it's great. I think we would do, we would do good teams. So that's why I admire them and I really want to, to help and support. So yeah, the ones who are, yeah, very, just a hundred percent patient driven and I think that's a really, really inspiring skills to have.

Fantastic. Lovely.

Well,

tell me a little bit more about, about the sector in a, in the recent One Nucleus annual report, you wrote that the biotech sector achieved a record 2.8 billion in investment in 2020. Wow. What can you tell me about the current trends for investment in the UK life science and health tech sectors and what are some of the key drivers you're seeing there from the One Nucleus perspective?

So

that's a really good timing because the other annual review will be issued in a couple of months.

of,

and I think what's going to be written is probably another record year. Hey. So these figures are based on the really good investment report at the BAHU every January

year,

I think. So to look at, well, private capital investment and public market, et cetera.

And

yes, we lost because we keep using record year every year. That's going to stop at some point, I suspect. So more of the same, more investment, more interest. I think the really good positive is that there is a very genuine, big interest into the UK life science space. It's always been really acknowledged and recognized for its excellency in academic research and also the capacity somehow to translate science. But it's even more so this year, yes, accelerated by the pandemic and the fact that the life science sector was put into the spotlight and perhaps there were less opportunities for other type of investment. But any opportunity is good to take.

So I think that trend of interest is definitely here to say, I think what it's bringing is is maybe larger rounds coming earlier, which is positive in the sense that it's going to help companies maybe to accelerate a little bit their development, accelerate the development of skills and managerial skills within organization. I guess what we will need to see is how that's delivered. So how much this very highly expected more distance are reached and I'm sure they will, but also to be able to cope with the operations side of that company growth is amazing. But it means that you need space, you need people, you need the right people.

And just to make sure that the sector, the region is coping with that. And we're trying to help, but we're not

a

magician. It's

a

difficult one, isn't it? That's the dilemma there is that you want you want high growth,

you

want real growth and traction with startups and scale ups. But that does put pressures on other areas such as skills, retention of talent, lab space, et cetera, and other facilities that are needed within life sciences, et cetera. So it's great, it's great, but it's managing, it's the region being able to, you're absolutely right. It's that region being regional perspective of being able to manage that throughput of growth there. And you touched upon the pandemic, which leads me to thinking,

how

has the pandemic affected the provision of innovation support? What adaptations have you made to continue with your high level of support to One Nucleus members?

Oh,

so yes, so from One Nucleus, yeah, well, like everyone else, we adapted. So I think to paint a very quick picture of what type of innovation support is provided within One Nucleus, some of them are very tangible and so very related. So it's the support with procurement, for example, the savings companies can make on their lab equipment and lab consumables, the help with facility and facility move. And it was indeed slightly affected, although I have to say maybe on the procurement side, Brexit was another component that affected it even more, but that's another topic. But I think it was at the very beginning of the pandemic, very quickly, the labs still needed to operate, and they were.

So it was just to adapt to that. And my colleague who looks after that, he started to be as busy as usual, even not more, very quickly after. I guess the other side is more the soft aspect. So it's supporting companies on their skills development, supporting companies on this recruitment question, nurturing their employees, supporting on giving them opportunities to be visible. So that's another element of being part of the network is to to make sure that the companies are showcased as they wish, so then they can make the right connection. And

I

have to say that that's probably the point that changed the most, because suddenly you're completely

not

able to have any face to face ever. So it's how you make this networking, you know, and connections face to face and have the coffee with the right person. So yes, that was, I think that the biggest transition to it is how we enabled that. So very quickly, we tried to really push more in having more visibility online. So having more social media, more communication, making sure we were communicating what our members were doing as well, because they were an amazing response, you know, in this first lockdown, for example, in terms of supporting testing capacity and enabling, you know, staff back to work. So just to make sure that I was there. So they were still

shown

as doing as doing the right thing. And then it was the adapting the efforts, which I have to say, resulting in probably doing many more of them. Yeah, they

had

more time. Even scientists were a

bit

more home. And so they had time to train in some aspects or to have more educational sessions, which was great. It was just making sure we were making all the most of the time. So, yes, a lot was about converting online and converting online evidence.

Yeah,

everybody's been in the same boat with converting what their existing activities into online features. Did this lead to the virtual innovation centre? You know, I saw that on the website. So tell me a little bit more about that and what it's set up to do and who it's for.

Yes,

sure. I'm not sure that led to it, although maybe virtual was an opportunistic. But yeah, the driver for putting this virtual innovation centre together is really first an observation of what OneNucleus was already delivering before. Yes. Which was actually support to innovation to companies because that was really enabling these companies to grow to, again, supporting them on their operational development, supporting

them

on the network development and skill development, etc. But then we matched that with another observation, which was that there was more and more support provided for the very early stage companies, which is great because that was needed. So all these really good accelerator programs like Start Coden, Accelerate at Babram or the Illumina one that sort of started at the same time, they were suddenly bringing more visibility to these early stage companies, supporting them as well, very tangibly with funding, with mentoring, etc.

And I think that was really good for them to reach a stage that was sort of raising a bit of seed funding and going as far as that, making good connections within the region.

So

we felt one not trying to match what we're doing with these companies who are nurtured and really well supported and then suddenly need to become more companies, more than entrepreneurs, if

that

makes sense. So you become an organization, so you're not a two man band anymore, you need to recruit your scientific team, you need to find

your

lab space. Yeah. So you need all this operational growth that honestly is a bit less sexy than, you know, doing the whole technology, fundraising, etc. But still, you need to do it to be successful. Of

course.

And we thought, why not bringing the one nucleus expertise to that? And also, you suddenly become more active deal maker, if that makes sense. So it's not just about developing the network and making these initial connections. It's finding your next technology development partner, it's to find your CROs if you're in the drug discovery space.

So

it's to find all this relationship and making sure you are setting them up right, you need the

right

contracts in place, etc. So again, that's probably the less sexy part of making the deals, but still that has to happen. And we had that within the network and we felt that would be a really good, really good use. So that was the initial idea. We didn't want to make it very heavy, bootcamp type program, because again, the companies are at the stage where they know what they're doing. They don't need the, you know, fundraising one on one, etc. They had that before. They just need a more bespoke support. So that's what we do with these companies.

It's just talking to them, bringing the expertise that's within the network and they need and putting some, I would say, more mature educational sessions together for them. So we run them about once a month on this topic and they can join as they wish.

Yeah,

yeah. But it's a really necessary part in putting the team together, the right team and making sure, making sure you have that level of business support to help you move on the growth phase of your company. So do you have a particular story or innovation or growth success story for one nucleus that you can share with the audience?

Yeah,

well, we have

many.

Yeah.

And I think. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. But also when we prepare is, it's just to put the carrot of, of course, we're supporting them. But ultimately, that's the companies who are, you know, the owner of their own success, if that makes sense. But yes, we have we've worked with a

few

companies in the past and that's completely public, like, for example,

the

Sanger Spinout Microbiotica, who were originally on the Wellcome Genome campus and working on this space and raised a significant amount of money and so needed a new lab space. And so, as I said, I have a colleague in my team in One Nucleus who really helps these companies at this stage to put their facility together. So to find the space to then work with all the specifications that they need and then to put everything in place. So

when

they are ready, they just need to bring the scientists and start to get science to go. That one is particularly important because everything happened during lockdown. So that was an additional layer of challenge. But now they're all up and running and looking shiny and they have really good collaboration going on with existing with some pharma companies, again, of which we are absolutely not claiming, you know, the win on that. But we know that having this local connectivity really helped them to do that. And yes, and they're looking for successful development. So that's one of the many great stories that we have.

That's

fantastic. Thank you. Thank you so much there, Aileen. Let's get into talking about hybrid events. And that's the focus of this particular podcast. And I know that One Nucleus runs a number of events throughout the year. They have the One Helix and Genesis, which we will talk about.

And

they're very successful. Genesis being an annual flagship that focuses on investment technology development and sector deal trends. And if we look at the past couple of years in 2019, Genesis was held as a face to face in London. Fast forward to 2020. It moved to a digital only format. And then in December 2021,

we

switched to a hybrid model. So you've quickly pivoted from full physical to online only. And now we're pivoting again. Talk me through the key considerations back in 2020, 2021. So we're right in the heat of the pandemic.

When

having run the event successfully as a fully digital one, the decision was made,

we're

going hybrid. Talk me through those key considerations there.

There's

a rather easy one.

I

think these events work much better face to face in general. So the reason for moving to digital, it was forced in a way. It's because nothing else was available. But still, we really wanted to have, as I said earlier, something to offer members or anyone within the One Nucleus Network to do. So whether that was to share knowledge, make contact, having these partnering elements. So it was a no brainer. Yes, we had to deliver digital conference at this stage because we wanted them to do something. And that was just the best option available. So when things we open a little bit more, we think the face to face one is probably good.

However, because we did digital, we felt, well, there may be some elements that actually are interesting to retain within a digital format. And that's where the decision for going for a hybrid model. And so just to, to, to, to

specify,

it's not a hybrid audience. It's really a model where we mix some elements of face to face and some elements of digital was making perfectly sense. So our rational, and I'm not saying that should be everyone's, it's just because that was the one we felt was working better for that format and for our audience, was to think that the networking elements. So the impromptu meeting, the serendipity of who have you met such and such and, you know, just grabbing a coffee with someone that's, I think impossible to reproduce perfectly online. We all tried and I've never been to an event that did it as well as face to face.

I think in terms of discussions, having this panels where you have more top level insights and, and less technical ones, it also works better live. So that's why we felt, okay, that we have a day that is focused and dedicated to in person, and we have top level discussions and networking only. However, the one to one meetings where you are doing your homework, you're selecting the people you really want to organize a meeting with, because you have something to pitch very, you know, precise. It's actually working well online. I've done that in some big partnering conference, it's, you know, you send message in advance, you do a bit of preparation, and then it's making it very efficient.

So we found that that component of partnering was actually better online. So we kept that, but not on the face to face day, face to face was just to reconnect. In person

and

having people back in the room. And the virtual meetings, they happened on the days around and people were very happy with that. That also enabled to have a wider audience. So Genesis tends to attract some international delegates,

which

back in 2021 was still difficult to arrange. So that was a way of compensating that and still having them and enriching a bit the audience. So for our network to also meet with the internationals. And similarly with the sessions, we kept some sessions on the days around H2D. But again, the ones that we felt were working well online, and they tend to be the ones that are more technical insights. Typically this workshop that is about, I don't know, the specific drug delivery mechanism or drug conjugation. It's a lot of data presented. This work well online. So we kept that and we had a good sign up for the online sessions.

The

benefits is also they are recorded so people can get back to it later on. And you realize that you probably have more people watching them afterwards than live. But still, it's just good content that is generating.

So

that answers the question.

Yeah,

it's interesting. It's it's something I'm hearing more and more about them because the pandemic made it massively challenging for anyone running an event programme. But what I'm hearing more and more is that needing to switch to an online format has had many benefits and it's been one of them key and has been to open up their research work and their projects and their networks and communities to this wider audience because attendees didn't need to be in a physical location. And that's what I'm hearing from you there, that digital element has enhanced the genesis event. And in terms of thinking about that, that hybrid model,

did

those elements in planning influence going to the hybrid model? You know, well, you

know, well,

this works better face to face and this works better as it is online, you know, with those some of the factors of influence there.

Yes,

they were because I think before going for that we had our own evidence, but also we attended others event and again, different style, different size. So we had our own,

I

would say delegate experience as well to fit into. And I think we came with this. I don't know if that's true or not, but I still think it is that there are some elements that can be maintained digitally and they work and others that actually more related to the human nature of wanting to do business, you know, are better in person. So that's sort of how we separated the two thinking, okay, there is this part in person, this part digital. It was also the context. I'm not saying that's going to remain the same for years and years to come. We'll see.

I

think at the moment, it's more or less where we're heading to. But you're right, this conference and again, we'll see. I don't think we've seen a large conference in the sector. So for example, I'm thinking the, you know, bio JP Morgan, even the bio Europe conferences. Yeah, they haven't come back face to face completely. And everyone is really curious to see how that's going to play because, yeah, yeah, you have. And some people are schizophrenic with that. Oh, yeah, I really want to go. But then actually, it's that, you know, many days out of the office and the carbon footprint of that. So you've got all the elements that are starting to to play into it. And

it's a learning journey, isn't it? You know, nobody expected to to have to to do and adapt their events in the way that they have in a very short space of time. So everyone is on that learning journey and looking to say, oh, OK, I wonder what bits they did and how did it all work out? So, you know, all advice you can give Aileen is is fantastic for our audience.

Yeah, yeah. And again, as you said, it's really related to your audience. And I think for us, we're lucky in the sense that our audience is mostly our network audience. So we're not conference organisers, that's not our, you know, brand and butter, but we do conferences because they are important for the network. Therefore, we know that it's a more local, even if it could be wide national, but still local audience. So we have less of this big travelling considerations.

But

yeah, it's true.

Were

there any major concerns leading up to the hybrid event last year? And how did they how did they work out?

I

think because we we kind of kept the two sort of separated. So the in person element versus the digital one, that's what made it easier to manage the in person.

That

sort of went back to a 2019, you know, conference where you have people coming, you have to think about ordering your catering. Although that's not it.

And

that's that's that note. Sorry. It's funny because my colleague who organized that and deal with all the logistics say it's funny how you forget. It's been two years doing digital conference and suddenly I realized I have to order coffee from you. But yeah, I don't think they were major fear.

I

think that the biggest question mark was around the spread of delegates. So to know how many will sign up online, how many will sign up face to face, especially because end of last year, there was still a bit of uncertainties. So I think it was just to deal with that. So, for example, we enable people to sign up for digital and then to upgrade if they wanted to. So we were flexible on this to to enable uncertainty that we were sharing, to be honest. So I think I think you have to

I think that's that's great in being able to incorporate that flexibility there and possibly something that others can think about as well. Now, one of the things I'd like to

talk

about is

the

adaptation in particular. as you said, you've incorporated flexible elements.

But

as we know, in anyone running an event, large or small.

And

even greater to do.

In

a digital format is recreating that networking atmosphere.

What

measures did you incorporate during the Genesis event last year to achieve a positive and full delegate experience? For the online attendees

and

then also the in person attendees.

In person again, it was easy. They were so happy. I

think action. Yeah,

it's

that

connection

again,

isn't it?

Yes, I think that was the easiest to please audience I've ever seen,

including

me. I was so happy to be there. No, but seriously, I think in person again, that comes back to what we were doing before. So it's just, you know, to have the right length of breaks and the right areas so they can have this networking. I think the content of event is also important because that's creating opportunities for discussions afterwards. That's creating a framework for that. So that's very important. The 2021 element was obviously to make sure everyone was comfortable. So there were, you know, all the measures in place that are, you know, related to the venue, etc.

So that just eased it because once it was stated and everyone was happy with that, you know, you were not thinking about it all the time. And then for the digital ones. So as I said, the digital part was separated. So for example, on the day, the sessions were not live stream. We decided that that was not really working well. If people wanted to watch the session, they could watch them afterwards. But creating an interaction with a

digital

audience when you're live, I think is really hard. So yeah, that wasn't for us, but I know some people do and they make it work, but that requires a lot of, I think, technology and lots of people behind it for making sure that works. I think the interaction for the digital audience that was more within the app. So we have an app. So this is where people can, you know, post messages, quests that they have, start to interact with people. There is a sort of networking corridor on this app. So if you are online and you're not sure what to do, you can, you know, see a bubble of someone floating like, oh, I don't know this person. I'm going to click on them and say hi.

So all this, you know, digital interactions that are made possible with the app. But yeah, it's relying on the technology a lot.

Yeah, just while we're on that, because that's something that

doesn't

always go the way you expect. And technology is playing an even more critical role when developing a digital or hybrid event. What's been your experience of finding the right technology fit

and

those supplies that go alongside that? Because it's not all platforms are the same and that can influence your decision whether to live stream or or do it on demand. You know, how easy or difficult has this been in the technology element?

So we were lucky in the sense that we started to use Evans app before pandemic. So yes, so

we

thought, oh, let's go green and stop, you know, printing the shiny programs and, you know, have everything on an app. Also because the app enables you to do this partnering thing even when they were still face to face. So we had that thing two or three years even before COVID. I have to admit that this is when we had all the technical finding the right app thing. So that's good. And you're right. It's really hard because until you tried them, you can't really know. So,

you know,

all the demo in the world and, you know, all the

great

presentations. But yeah, until you do it with your own system, you're not sure what's right for you. So we had enough that was we like to use and we just carried on with them.

We've

been approached by others, obviously. I saw some platforms that are really good. I think the other consideration is to make sure to not go for something too sophisticated for the needs. Yeah, I've seen some platforms that look really, really good. And honestly, that was not the cost that was an issue. It was more the, do we need all this functionality? They look cool on the paper, but it's just more functionalities to deal with. And it's more functionality to explain to your audience. So I think we always kept it on a simple but yet very efficient app. And we're very happy with the needs of we keeping. And also that's coming back to the audience. You sort of educate your audience to that.

I'm not saying Genesis delegates are the same, you know, one after the other, but you always have this percentage of people because they are from the network. They've used it before, so it's much easier for them to go on it and engage quicker and earlier. So yeah, on technology, I don't have a magic thing. I think recommendations definitely is to ask, you know, people that I'm happy to share ours. And, and yeah, and then to, to, to, yeah, to,

to

make sure you don't go for something too sophisticated. Yeah. So many are too complicated things going on that are great for thousands and thousands delegates, you know, conferences. But, you know, we're talking at 300 delegates here. So

that's

the thing.

I think

that's really great advice. I think using an event app. I've used it in, in events. Yes. Like five years or more ago. And it's been a real, it's been a good way to support the connecting and networking elements. And of course, in during a pandemic, bringing that to the fore. And I think really great advice there, Aileen. Keep it simple, not too much sophistication functionalities that people are more worried about which buttons to press when, you know, they should be actually getting into the network and or meeting that person that stood by the water mission, water cooler, you know, that type of thing.

I think it's really, really great advice that you've given, particularly around that technology side, because it can be a minefield in, in, in trying to navigate your way through to what will work for your event.

Oh, yeah, definitely. And, and, and the other thing we did that I would do again is, so for smaller events, you don't need, you just get everyone to log in on their zoom or whatever. But that's fine. For the conferences, we used a video digital content company that, again, we worked with before, but they shifted everything into digital. And actually, that was, that was good to rely on them for doing the live, you know, broadcasts. Because suddenly you have maybe a panel of people from everywhere in the world and, you know, hundreds of people connecting on it.

So, yeah, just to release a bit the pressure on that and to make it look more professional as well, because they can bring in, you know, the, the subtitles at the bottom and they can, you know, press, put someone forward, et cetera. So, so I think, yeah, for, for a larger conference, maybe having someone helping me with that is something.

Yeah, it takes the pressure off yourself as, you know, as the organizer and many within Connect Health Tech don't like yourselves, not even organizers, but as part of your, your, your strategy, your public engagement, events do form part of that. So, you know, it, it does fall into an organization or a department or school that, yes, you have to run some events. So for the right event, I think you're absolutely right of bringing in a professional team that can support you in delivering the online technology elements is a really, a really good thing to do. So in just looking at this overall,

what

would you say are the three or five things that you think are really important to know that you could share right now to our audience in creating effective hybrid events? What would that be those top three or five things from you, Aileen?

Stating the obvious, but knowing the audience, who are you doing that for and what they're expecting out of it, because that relates to all these questions about what you will deliver. They may just be interested in the content, so you don't need to bring, you know, a networking or partnering element. So it's just yet to make sure you understand really well who they are and what they're expecting. Again, I reinforce not making it too complicated and try to other thing the platform and having something too shiny and sophisticated. I think, yes, at the end of the day, people want to watch something, to make contact and to ask questions eventually. So, yes, that's very schematic with that.

Yeah, and to don't need to say to take and seek help outside. I think it's to acknowledge and especially more with hybrids. It requires a bit more of this evidence or technology side of it type skills. For example, if you're looking at broadcasting or live casting, suddenly you fall into all these nearly TV terms of, you know, oh, so you need to deal with your transition. Then you have someone

who needs to do

the introduction. You know, when I was doing live events, it's easy. I'm just coming, inviting people to join and they talk and that's it. Exactly.

You have to

formalise that. It's like, that's not my job. I have no idea how to do that.

So,

yeah, to not hesitate to seek for help, I think. But yeah, the key, key one is just figuring out what you want to do and why you want to do that. Yeah.

What

elements would you not repeat? Being in lockdown for two years. I don't think I have much control on that. No, I think if there's one element that I think we did for Genesis 2020, that was to retain the parallel streams. So, you know, conferences, sometimes you

have

parallel streams. That's good because you're putting much more content together. If you're in a live streaming context or hybrid or other. I think there was just adding complexity and work for, yeah, for not huge benefits, especially now because you could,

for

example, for the for the new Genesis, even in live in person, we just have one stream where we keep the really top level discussions. And if we want to have other panels, then we can just record them. So we call them in advance and we put them as video watch on demand on the app. So I think we are getting rid of the parallel sessions for a long time in general. And also that's focusing your audience at the same place and having the same conversation, which I think is interesting again for that size of events.

So that's

an interesting perspective. Yeah.

From

this whole experience, what lessons have you learnt that you would be happy to share?

To

rely on the team, basically. So to work on everyone's strengths, especially when you're evolving a bit to model, maybe you realise that, I don't know, that the person who knows more about broadcasting is not necessarily sitting in marketing. Maybe they're somewhere else. So to leverage that and to make sure communication within the team who is organising the events is always spot on and to make it as live as possible. I think that that's another element is because that was not just about delivering digital events, for example, was also to deliver them digitally. So all from home. So yeah, so I think the team element here is very important.

So just to make sure you know each other well and you communicate well all together. And sometimes you just step up or step down from what you're supposed to do because, well, you're the best or the worst place to do that thing.

And

I think that you touched upon it earlier in talking about the planning side of things is drawing on the strengths of the team. We haven't really touched upon that, but it's it's a really key factor in developing an existing and successful event and really drawing on those skills because you said

they

might not be in the room with you right now. If somebody's got IT skills that you need to bring in because you're going to be doing some more digital stuff, then, you know, they're not already within the core team that's organising this event. And then, yeah, they will need to be drafted in and and then also knowing when to. OK, I probably need to take a step back here because there's no more than me. And it's just as you said, once you have a good, effective, communicative team working together, you can really maximise the potential then of your your event and what you're trying to achieve. I think that's a really some sage advice there. So thank you for that.

Now, looking forward to this year's Genesis event, which will be on the 7th of December 2022.

Are

you able to share some of the highlights that attendees can expect to see or is it still top secret?

It's never top secret. So, yes, we have a date, which is amazing. I'm not sure we even have a

date at

this stage last year. So we're getting back to more normal processes. So, yes, so 2022, we'll have our two conferences on the helix on the 7th of July in Cambridge, Bayram Research Campus and Genesis 7th of December. Same venue, 1 Wimple Street. And we're going for similar formats. So we're keeping the one day of in person reconnecting plenty of time for networking, really top level discussions with really good speakers and retaining the digital elements on the side of the conferences. So that will be on the ring. There will be some online sessions. I guess what we may see evolving a little bit is some to both conferences. We're taking one day and then the whole week becomes the fringe.

So it's on the helix fringe or Genesis fringe, and that includes the digital sessions, but also some other face to face sessions. So sometimes there's someone who would like to host a networking lunch or so we include that. And I think last year we only had digital maybe in one face to face, but we're probably going to evolve back to having a bit more of this in person things happening on the week. Maybe slightly less of the digital, but we'll see. And in terms of big topics, so very quickly on helix, that's about bio innovation. It's how all these great technologies are enabling companies to do this great work of developing new therapeutics, new diagnostics, etc.

And the big enablers to that collaboration pieces and how to make that happen. Genesis, still focusing a bit more on the big industry picture. So deal flow, that's always one. And well, given how the previous years has been, and I suspect 2022 will be full of surprise again. So there will be discussions around that and what that means for the sector at more larger company level. So how pharma collaborating maybe more with tech companies, how that's impacting patients. So all these big discussions that I think are important to reflect on at the end of the year.

Yeah,

sounds exciting. Thank you so much, Aileen. I'm just going to wrap things up here with some quick fire questions, which I asked to all of our guests. So just straight off the top of your head, don't think about them too much.

So

quick fire number one. If you could have one superpower, what would it be? Read people's mind.

If

you could time travel, where would you

go and

when?

Maybe the sort of, you know, 20s, 1920s. This, you know, in between wars where people were just, you know, healing, but at the same time being super creative and lots of things happening. I always wanted to see that.

Yeah. An exciting time. Yeah. And picture the scene.

You've

been stranded on a desert island, Aileen.

What

would be your three must have items?

Oh, a

bottle of water. Otherwise you just die. No, I'm kidding. I'll need a book to just keep your mind occupied. And then, yeah, very pragmatic. My bottle of water and some sun cream because otherwise I'll burn.

Practical. Useful. I like it. That's

great.

What's your favourite movie and why?

I always really liked, and it's probably the only one I can watch several times without problem. The Big Lebowski of the Coen Brothers, just because it's my type of humour. It makes

me

smile.

Right.

Have

you had any music discovery or rediscovery since the pandemic began?

Yes. I re-listened to probably all the Beatles albums and they are now in the car as well, because I don't think I've listened to them properly before.

Brilliant.

That's fantastic. So you've really taken that on board and thought, right, I'm going to go start to finish here on the Beatles.

Yes,

exactly. Well, you know, you needed something to keep you occupied.

Yes. What's

the longest discography here?

Great.

That's brilliant. Thank you so much, Aileen. Thank you for answering those questions.

I

think that was an absolutely fascinating journey of discovery. And thank you so much for being a part of this podcast and sharing your knowledge experience of adapting a successful event like Genesis into a hybrid model. And I'm sure our listeners will gain very much from hearing your story and journey. So thank you for your time. I appreciate it. Thank you for joining the Joining the Dots podcast.

Thank

you for that.

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