ICC Belfast hosts first fully hybrid, large-scale event - European Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Therapies (EABCT)

The Annual Congress of the European Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Therapies (EABCT) took place in ICC Belfast from 08 - 11 September 2021, and was the venue's first fully hybrid large-scale event.

The Irish Association of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (IABCP) -Cumann Síciteiripí Iompraíochta agus Cognaíocha na hÉireann - in association with The British Association of Cognitive and Behaviour Therapies (BABCP) came together to host this event, which marked EABCT’s 50th anniversary.

ICC Belfast was delighted to welcome EABCT back to the venue, especially as it was the first fully hybrid, multi-day event to be held in the convention centre.

Partnership working is by no means a new phenomenon at ICC Belfast. As soon as the decision was made for EABCT to follow a hybrid format, a dedicated hybrid event team was assembled, shared KPIs were agreed and a dual event management plan rolled out. This kind of planning is crucial for a hybrid format as it helps to ensure both audiences receive effective communication simultaneously, enabling emotional connections and sensory motivators to deliver impact.

To achieve high-quality live streaming, the organising committee was able to take advantage of ICC Belfast’s newly installed BirdDog cameras and NDI technology. These streams were viewed by almost 1,500 remote delegates who were able to engage with the event the same way as those on-site using hybrid delegate platform, Glisser.

150 remote presenters were able to share their research and insights in addition to those on-site, with simultaneous live sessions streamed from multiple spaces throughout the venue over the four event days.

Delegates were delighted to be able to connect face-to-face with their peers safely once again and the hybrid approach offered greater flexibility on how they spent their time at the conference as sessions were recorded and available to watch on-demand.

Comprehensive health and safety planning was crucial to the successful delivery of this event. ICC Belfast's flexible event spaces were dynamically tailored to allow for social distancing. As a COVID-Secure venue, platinum standards are maintained across the convention centre.

EABCT 2021 congress kick-starts a range of events and conferences that will deliver economic impact right into the future, which is absolutely crucial as we rebuild the tourism offering of our vibrant and flourishing city. An exciting few months lie ahead at ICC Belfast with the return of full capacity live events.

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