It’s not just Germany’s inventors who register exciting inventions at the German Patent and Trade Mark Office based in Munich. The office itself also organises innovative events. In March, for example, we were a livestream service provider for the third time and streamed the DPMAnutzerforum as a hybrid format.
Artificial intelligence as a focus topic
Every year, the DPMAnutzerforum deals with the main topics from the industry. This year, the focus will be on artificial intelligence. However, a current analysis of patent applications, the promotion of industrial property rights and an initial assessment of the European unitary patent were also on the agenda.
Parallel stream on YouTube and LinkedIn
The DPMAnutzerforum will last two days. While on day 1, high-calibre experts and DPMA staff will provide insights into current developments in panel discussions, day 2 will consist of presentations. These will be streamed purely online, mostly on YouTube and this year for the first time also simultaneously on LinkedIn.
Positive feedback from participants
And it was well received. On the first day, there were around 150 people on site in the large hall of the Patent and Trade Mark Office in Munich, but around 200 participants connected virtually. The number of visitors remained constant on the second day of the lecture. We used the Sli.do tool to enable interaction between speakers and online participants. This can be used to create surveys and viewers can also submit questions. One question, for example, was “How do you participate in today’s DPMAnutzerforum”. Of the 198 people, 61 per cent voted for the answer “I follow the livestream via YouTube”. Great feedback for the DPMA, which is taking the right approach with the hybrid event.
Impression film worth seeing with exciting behind-the-scenes insights
But we can do more than just livestream: In addition to the video transmission, our technicians collected impressions for a film on site. We then edited the film footage and created a worthwhile impression film with exciting behind-the-scenes insights. We also produced a film in advance for each item on the agenda, which was shown as an opener. The material for this came from previous years.
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Successful example of a hybrid event from Munich
For us, the DPMAnutzerforum is a perfect example of how hybrid events can work successfully. The mixture of presence and online creates an innovative format that appeals to everyone equally. After all, the DPMA is active throughout Germany and not every participant can travel from Berlin to Munich for a conference, for example. Nevertheless, there are enough interested parties who want to be there. A hybrid format is the ideal combination of both types of event. The costs for an additional live stream are also kept within reasonable limits, as components such as lighting, projector and sound are required for a face-to-face event anyway.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank the German Patent and Trade Mark Office for the pleasant cooperation over the past three years. Thanks to the experience gained in previous years, the team is already very well-rehearsed and the processes have become firmly established.
