Getting to know... Symporg SA

GETTING TO KNOW – AN IAPCO MEMBER

GETTING TO KNOW... SYMPORG SA, SWITZERLAND

IAPCO chats to Bertrand Joehr, Managing Director

Tell us some background about the company Symporg was founded in 1983 by Primola Nicole who retired in 2011 since when I have been totally involved.

We have developed a strong relationship with the Geneva University, the Geneva University Hospital and the CERN. We are very lucky to have these three strong institutions in our city, helping us not only to attract association congresses to Switzerland but also to create new projects and conferences attracting attendees from all around the world.

We have one office in Geneva, Switzerland, where we organise most of our events but of course we work all over the country as well as overseas, following our clients or projects.

Do you specialise in particular events or services which make Symporg unique? We don’t have any specialisation per se, although we have decided to focus on congresses and conferences only and not corporate or public events. What makes Symporg unique is the fact that our core employees have been with us for more than five years, and that we have really close relationships with our clients. Their project is our project and we make anything possible to make it a success!

With COVID as a current challenge, how do you see 2021 evolving? COVID has of course had a very negative impact on our day-to-day business but, projecting into the future, it might turn out to be a very good opportunity. We have been pushing our clients for years to implement hybrid solutions to their congresses, but the fear of the technology related to it as well as the fear of reducing the number of attendees was too strong in their minds to enable a change of direction. I really hope that the past months have shown them that we have the technical capacities to deliver quality content; and thanks to the statistics we now have from all the digital events recently organised we can prove that a virtual event can attract many additional participants who would not otherwise have attended an in-person meeting.

Every day we think about the next few months and what will/ can happen. What the past year has shown us is that uncertainty is the master word. We still have to be very flexible and, although we are pretty sure that in-person congresses will be possible this autumn, we are now preparing for whatever outcome might materialise (in-person, hybrid, virtual) for all of our events, having to set a deadline for the decision about the final format.

Why do you value being an IAPCO member? The accreditation is pretty important, not only for our clients, but also for us: it is like a reward for a job well executed!

But what I value most is the networking and the shared experience between members. Being a congress organiser is tough… meeting with other people in the same position always reminds you that you are not alone; and that you have colleagues who can help you to find solutions to problems that other companies might have encountered.

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