Healthcare innovations on stage: KALCIO Healthcare organises major conference at Jaarbeurs

A huge truck was parked on the square at Jaarbeurs in early June. Not one for light and sound for a festival or event, but of a completely different calibre. Namely, it was a mobile MRI scanner. It was the eye-catcher of FMIR - The Future of Medical Imaging & Radiotherapy - a congress that helps transform healthcare by bringing innovations into practice faster.

Ellen van de Zande, Manager Communication & Events at Kalcio Healthcare, has to smile herself when she thinks back. Indeed, it reflects the creativity of the congress. "FMIR is our outgrown hobby. KALCIO Healthcare is a consultancy that first started small with some symposia spread throughout the year. And now we are five editions on and it has become a serious congress with eighty sessions, at least eighty speakers and more than 40 companies."

All disciplines together
KALCIO Healthcare helps healthcare organisations convert strategies to 'the floor'. FMIR is a great example of this. The congress brings together all disciplines working in medical imaging and radiotherapy: radiologists, oncologists, Nuclear Physicians, MBBs (Medical Imaging and Radiation Experts), clinical physicists, Technical Physicists, quality staff, managers and secretarial staff. "You need everyone to move healthcare forward," says Ellen. "A doctor can want something, but the MBB person has to create it and the manager has to facilitate it. By meeting each other, innovation accelerates."

Room to grow
That innovation came alive again in June, at the fifth edition of the congress. This time at Jaarbeurs, in congress centre Supernova. A conscious choice, says Ellen: "We grow by about 25 per cent every year and also attract visitors from Belgium. We were therefore looking for a location that could grow with us and is easily accessible. Jaarbeurs is centrally located, next to the railway station and is big enough to keep growing." She is also very pleased with Supernova. "Visitors called it more professional and businesslike. And the light wall in our own orange colour made it feel completely like our congress."

Working together and switching quickly
Ellen is also enthusiastic about the cooperation with Jaarbeurs . She describes it as "just top". She says: "With two organisations that have organising in their blood, things went very smoothly. Everything was ready on time. And if I had a question that our account manager Andrea couldn't solve directly, she knew someone who could. Organising something here feels 'all-in'. A concrete example was the MRI van parked outside. "You don't just set up a device like that: it needs power current and it should never fail. Otherwise it will break down. Jaarbeurs thought along, pulled a cable from a hall and arranged everything. Right down to the footsteps on the floor in our house style to show visitors the way."

Down to the details
For Ellen, the value of FMIR is not only in visitor numbers or rock-hard figures. It is also in the little signals during the day itself. "At an event like this, I am very much involved with fingerspitzengefühl: non-verbal communication, the emotion. Ultimately, an event is about experience. Of course you have to have a good educational programme, but the rest around it must also be good. And it was. Everything was right - from the content programme to a healthy catering offer. I saw a lot of enthusiasm."

Croquette sandwich
A congress on healthcare innovation naturally also calls for conscious choices in catering. This year, the emphasis was even more on healthy meals. This resulted in many compliments, but also one regret. "The croquette sandwich," laughs Ellen. "We deliberately chose not to do it for once this year. But it was missed. It may not be as healthy, but secretly very tasty. Next year, we will look at the balance again: healthy eating remains important, but maybe this classic will return to the menu after all."

At the fifth edition of FMIR, everything fell together: the celebration of the congress' anniversary, the choice of a central location and the focus on health that Jaarbeurs itself propagates. This made Utrecht, and specifically Jaarbeurs, the place to be for this anniversary edition.