Carend organizes a palliative care conference at Royal Jaarbeurs that's different than usual

“When we decided to organize a conference about palliative care, you start with exploring the how, what and where,”, Inge explains. 'At Carend we like to think outside the box. Our approach is different from that of regular caregivers. We develop content on topics that people really ask for and we give them something to work with. We want to get people to listen to each other and to change the health care industry together. Merely a standard venue won't help to achieve that goal. So we searched for an event venue that was centrally located, with great accessibility. And above all, it had to inspire people. This was our first major conference on palliative care, so we really wanted to set the right tone. In light of all of this, we therefore chose the Beatrix Theatre of Royal Jaarbeurs.'

The conference was a great success, especially for the first time: it exceeded all expectations of the organization. Inge: 'I told Sander: if we reach 500 participants, then I will be satisfied. But in the end, we far exceeded that with a total of 900 participants!'

Inge and Sander organized the conference almost entirely by themselves. But, by having Royal Jaarbeurs as their venue, they got the enthusiastic help of account manager Corry Neggers to lighten the load. Inge: 'Corry really wanted us and our guests to have an amazing day. She knew and unterstood what I was looking for in terms of ideas and quality level. And so she gave me tips on how we could approach things. She also reminded me to enjoy the day myself and not just continue to slave away.

I really got the feeling that the Jaarbeurs team were working at accellerated speed, just because I was alone. It was fantastic! People don't actually realize what it entails to organize a conference. It's really not a matter of just snapping your fingers. So it was really nice to receive that help from Corry and the team.'

Inge looks back on a wonderful conference. The reactions they received from the participants made her proud: 'It's really fantastic when someone comes up to you and says: “How nice that you did this, what a valuable addition this day was.” The reviews of the participants was very positive, both about our contents as well as the location, the food and the Jaarbeurs team. And I agree. We had such a good experience with Corry and the technicial team. Of course it's still a business contact, and yet I've experienced it as a very personal approach as well. Sander was also very satisfied. He said: “This leaves you wanting more.” I think he is already talking to the speakers for the next conference.”