2020: Events
In 2020, we changed our events provision and provided more online than we ever have done before. This helped us to continue to meet the needs of our members and provide excellent learning and networking opportunities.
Our response to COVID-19 was swift, and we quickly converted our in-person lectures into webinars. During the year we provided the same number of events as we have in previous years.
We saw more members attend a greater number of events. 46% of our members registered for five or more of our events, compared with 23% in 2019. A greater provision of webinars is a significant factor in this, as physical location no longer impacted delegates’ abilities to attend.
Going online
Our Events Committee supported us in pivoting our programme of in-person events to ten webinars, three online seminars and one avatar-based virtual conference from March onwards. By converting our events programme to being completely online, our members were able to easily access knowledge and equip themselves with the tools to continue being competitive and successful, all from the comfort and safety of their home.
In total, our 22 webinars had 5,230 registered delegates.
In late September, we welcomed over 100 delegates to a two-hour live streamed mock case management conference (CMC) and hearing with questions from the UK IPO acting in the role of a Hearing Officer.
We worked closely with top barristers, Chartered Trade Mark Attorneys, the UK IPO and Nottingham Law School to create a case, skeleton arguments and a live experience to give our members an opportunity to better understand both how CMCs are conducted and how to represent their clients at a CMC and hearing.
The increase in our members registering for five or more of our events also lead to 10% of our members gaining at least 13 hours’ CPD from CITMA events.
Coffee mornings
Although we were separated by distance, our members members took the opportunity to socialise and network in our regular coffee morning sessions that we started running from April.
Members had dedicated coffee mornings where they could connect with their peers, whether you were a student, a paralegal, a sole practitioner, or in-house counsel.
186 members signed up for over 20 coffee mornings that we held throughout the year.
Not just another Zoom meeting
With the end of the transition period looming over the horizon, our Autumn Conference focused on the challenges facing UK practitioners and their international compatriots at our first ever virtual conference.
To create a memorable virtual conference experience, we used the latest digital technology to replicate the in-person atmosphere in our strictly no-Zoom zone avatar-based event.
Over 200 virtual avatars heard from the UK’s best speakers in the trade mark community in a truly virtual experience where they could walk, converse through microphones or even play four in a row with fellow attendees.
Not all our events were able to go ahead. Our Spring Conference, Summer Reception and Christmas lunches were all postponed with the hope to begin offering in-person events at some point in 2021, when it is safe to do so.
