Royal College of Physicians
Learn why the Royal College of Physicians have been using Vevox for the past 8 years to increase engagement during meetings and events.
Royal College of Physicians
Founded in 1518, the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) is a professional membership body for physicians, doctors who work in hospitals, and physician associates - with over 40,000 members in the UK and around the world working to improve patient care and reduce illness. Its activities focus on driving improvement in health and healthcare. It’s the oldest medical college in the UK and was founded by King Henry VIII.
Ben Pain is Head of audio-visual resources at the RCP, and he shared his experience of using Vevox during his time at the organisation with us – detailing the reasons why they’ve chosen Vevox as their go-to polling solution for the past 8 years.
In a world where the person that shouts the loudest generally gets heard the most – having something like Vevox where everybody has an equal capability to ask questions is very powerful.
Why Vevox?
Ben’s responsibility is to manage the team that provides all technical support required by the RCP to run live events, internal and external meetings, virtual events and workshops at its headquarters and event venues, RCP London Events (London) and Spaces at The Spine (Liverpool). He first came across Vevox years ago when working on a project with a previous employer and decided to deploy the tool at the Royal College of Physicians, where Vevox has now been in use for the past 8 years.
When the RCP opened its new northern headquarters in Liverpool, The Spine, and its second event venue, Spaces at The Spine, Vevox was deployed as the preferred voting solution.
In the past, the only voting solutions available were those that required physical handsets, or clickers. The London venue alone hosts over 330 external events per year and Ben says that ultimately they wanted to get away from the cost and risk of having to set out sometimes up to 300 handsets at an event. It became clear to Ben and his colleagues that they needed a solution that allowed participants to use their own device, and Vevox fitted the bill.
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Vevox was the right fit for the RCP’s needs, and Ben says that they are very comfortable with it – hence why they’ve now been using Vevox for 8 years.
Most loved features
Ben says that Vevox has now become a part of what the RCP does on a daily basis, as it’s used for small and large internal meetings, workshops and commercial events – basically across the whole span of RCP activities! He thinks that Vevox is a great tool, and appreciates how democratic it is, saying:
In a world where the person that shouts the loudest generally gets heard the most – having something like Vevox where everybody has an equal capability to ask questions is very powerful.
The elements of Vevox that Ben likes the most are:
User-friendly interface
Ben thinks that the user interface within Vevox is fantastic and very well thought out, simple to use for all.
Q&A increases engagement
The Q&A board has been particularly useful, and Ben says that they have definitely seen an increase in engagement as participants do not need to stand up and speak in front of an audience and can ask questions at any point during a session, rather than having to wait until the end.
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Vevox benefits commercial clients hosting events at the RCP’s venues too. Even if panellists only have time to discuss two or three questions during a session, Vevox allows organisers to access a post-session list of all queries.
Easy to embed
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Royal College of Physicians launched their own virtual events platform, RCP Virtual, and Ben says that they really appreciated how easily they could embed Vevox into the platform.
Embedding Vevox into RCP Virtual allowed event organisers, speakers and delegates to engage with each other and be better connected at a time when meeting in person was not allowed and interactions were at a minimum. Vevox brought an element of interaction to virtual events.
Brilliant customer service
Ben says that they have always maintained a good relationship with the sales and development teams at Vevox – suggestions made by Ben and colleagues at the Royal College of Physicians have always been taken on board by the Vevox team.
Ben’s Vevox top-tip
Planning and preparation makes all the difference when using Vevox.
