The 7th E&E Congress is now being organised as an online format for June 2021 due to the COVID-19 crisis. The 7th EAPA & Eurobitume was previously organised in the conventional format for May 2020. However, it was then postponed and will now be run from 15th – 17th June 2021 as a virtual event.
The online format is due to the exceptional circumstances facing the world due to the pandemic. The plan is to continue to offer a face-to-face congress in future for typical congress content, such as the latest and best technical papers based on an independent review and an accompanying exhibition.
When organising the conference, the Organising Committee tried to maintain the structure of the congress as expected from the participants under normal circumstances. On three afternoons in two parallel virtual rooms, the lecture programme is offered, accompanied by a trade exhibition, also in a virtual room. An extra session for poster presentations by the authors, who cannot offer a presentation, are included in the schedule. In these sessions, in the exhibition, in the general conference building and in the networking room, attendees can chat or video chat with authors and other participants. This comes close to a face-to-face event and offers many opportunities for interaction. In the technical sessions there is sufficient time for questions and answers to the authors, live facilitated by the session chair, whereby the presentations themselves are pre-recorded for time management and quality reasons. Before and after the technical programme there is still room for a personal exchange, to visit the exhibition and to attend commercial sessions of the sponsors.
There are advantages to a virtual event as there is no need or a costly, time-consuming journey and no costs for a hotel. Attendees can still contact others safely from home. Participants can switch themselves on and off during the congress opening times whenever they want or watch the full content from the next day on for up to three months afterwards. Attendees can chat or video chat with authors and other participants and do not have to search for contacts in the conference centre without success.
A virtual visit to the exhibition booths is possible, including chat, video chat, taking over documents from the exhibitor, viewing videos or handing over digital business cards.
This 7th E&E Congress will be a special and the first big online event for the bitumen and asphalt industry on a European level. The organisers EAPA and Eurobitume invite all experts to be there and contribute their part to a successful 7th E&E Congress. More information about the virtual format can be found on the website of the congress, there is also a short explanatory video about the congress (www.eecongress2021.org). A cost overview for participants and information about the program and for exhibitors and sponsors can also be found on the website.
Registration:www.eecongress2021.org
