EB World Congress

Delivering the Digital Infrastructure for the World's First Global Congress on Epidermolysis Bullosa

  • Client: DEBRA UK / EB World Congress 2020
  • Event: 1st Global Congress on Epidermolysis Bullosa
  • Date: 19–23 January 2020
  • Venue: Park Plaza London Riverbank, London, UK
  • Industry: Healthcare, Medical Research & International Events
  • Services Delivered: Website Design & Development · Mobile App Development · Ticket Purchase & Scanning Integration · On-Site Technical Support

The First Global Congress on Epidermolysis Bullosa – A Historic Event in Medical Research

Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB) is a group of rare and complex genetic disorders characterised by extreme skin fragility. Even the slightest friction or trauma can cause the skin to blister and wound – a condition that profoundly affects quality of life and, in its most severe forms, can be life-threatening. For those living with EB and the researchers, clinicians, and patient advocacy groups dedicated to finding better treatments and ultimately a cure, it is a cause that demands the very best of international collaboration.

The EB World Congress 2020 – officially the 1st Global Congress on Epidermolysis Bullosa – was a landmark moment for that global community. Organised by DEBRA UK, the leading charity supporting those affected by EB, the congress brought together over 730 delegates representing 215 organisations from 54 countries across five intensive days in London.

For the first time ever, EB researchers, clinicians, patient support groups, regulatory bodies, and healthcare professionals from around the world gathered in one place – sharing the latest research, clinical advances, and advocacy strategies in a single ground-breaking event. It was two years in the making. The pressure to get it right was immense.

And the digital infrastructure underpinning the entire event – the website, the mobile app, the ticketing and registration system – was built and managed by our team.

🌍 730+ Delegates from 54 countries worldwide

🏢 215 Organisations Represented at the congress

📅 5-Day Event 19–23 January 2020, London

🏥 Inaugural Event: The first-ever global EB congress

The Highest-Stakes Event Brief We've Ever Received

The EB World Congress wasn’t a local conference or a regional trade show. It was an inaugural international medical congress drawing delegates from 54 countries – researchers, leading clinicians, patient advocates, and policy makers – many of whom had been working towards this moment for years.

That context shaped everything about how we approached the brief.

The website had to work for a genuinely global audience. Delegates and registrants were accessing it from across Europe, North America, Asia, the Middle East, and beyond. It needed to be professional enough to reflect the gravity and credibility of a first-of-its-kind international medical event, while being clear and accessible enough for a diverse international audience to navigate with ease – including people for whom English was a second language.

The ticketing system had to be completely watertight. With 730+ delegates travelling from 54 countries – many of them booking flights and hotels months in advance on the basis of having a confirmed congress registration – a failure in the ticketing system wasn’t just an inconvenience. It would have been a serious problem with real consequences for real people. The system had to handle volume, process payments securely, issue confirmations accurately, and produce scannable tickets that could be validated quickly on arrival.

The mobile app had to be genuinely useful, not just a box to tick. A five-day congress with multiple concurrent sessions, keynote presentations, clinical workshops, research tracks, and networking events across different rooms and time slots needed more than a printed programme. Delegates needed a digital companion that put everything they needed in their pocket – live schedule, speaker information, session navigation, and event updates – in a format that worked reliably on their phone throughout the event.

The on-site requirement raised the stakes further. We weren’t just building something and handing it over. We committed to being physically present at the Park Plaza London Riverbank for the duration of the congress – on call, on the ground, ready to respond to any technical issue the moment it arose. For an event of this scale and significance, that level of commitment wasn’t optional. It was the only acceptable approach.

This was one of the most technically complex and logistically demanding projects we have ever taken on. We delivered every element of it.

Our work

Four Interconnected Deliverables. Zero Room for Error.

🌐 Website Design & Development

We designed and built the official EB World Congress 2020 website – the primary digital presence for the event and the first point of contact for the vast majority of the 730+ delegates who attended.

The website needed to serve several distinct audiences simultaneously: researchers and clinicians looking for programme and speaker information, patient advocates and community members seeking to understand and register for the event, sponsors and partners looking for partnership information, and media and press seeking event credentials.

It also needed to carry the weight of the occasion. This was the first ever global congress dedicated to EB – a historic milestone for the EB community worldwide. The design had to be professional, authoritative, and emotionally resonant, reflecting both the scientific rigour of the event and the human story at its heart.

We built a full WordPress website covering the complete scope of the event – from registration and programme information to speaker profiles, sponsor recognition, and venue logistics — with a clean, accessible design that worked as effectively for a researcher in Tokyo as for a patient advocate in Leeds.

What was built:

  • Full custom WordPress website
  • Programme and schedule pages with multi-track session listings
  • Speaker profiles and keynote information
  • Registration and delegate information pages
  • Sponsor and partner recognition pages
  • Venue, travel, and accommodation information
  • News and updates section
  • Mobile-responsive design throughout
  • Multilingual accessibility considerations
  • SEO-optimised page structure throughout

📱 Mobile App Development

We developed a dedicated mobile app for the EB World Congress 2020 – a digital event companion designed to make navigating five days of complex, multi-track programming as straightforward as possible for delegates from across the world.

A five-day international medical congress is a genuinely complex event to navigate. With concurrent sessions running across multiple rooms, keynote presentations, clinical workshops, research symposia, and networking opportunities all happening simultaneously, the printed programme alone isn’t enough. Delegates needed something they could carry in their pocket, reference in real time, and rely on throughout the event.

The app put everything a delegate needed directly in their hands – live schedule, session information, speaker profiles, room navigation, and real-time event updates – in a clean, intuitive interface that worked reliably across iOS and Android devices for an international audience.

What the app included:

  • Full interactive event schedule with multi-track session listings
  • Real-time session and schedule updates
  • Speaker profiles and presentation information
  • Room and venue navigation
  • Event announcements and updates
  • Delegate information and congress logistics
  • iOS and Android compatibility
  • Offline functionality for core content

🎟️ Ticket Purchase & Scanning Integration

The ticketing and registration system was the most operationally critical element of the entire project. With delegates travelling internationally to attend – many of them booking travel months in advance – a reliable, accurate, and secure registration and ticketing process was non-negotiable.

We integrated a complete ticket purchase and scanning system into the congress infrastructure – covering the full journey from initial registration and payment through to arrival, check-in, and session access on the day.

Delegates could register and purchase their congress passes online through a secure, streamlined booking flow, receiving confirmation and digital tickets immediately. On arrival at the Park Plaza London Riverbank, our scanning system handled check-in quickly and accurately – validating tickets, confirming registrations, and getting delegates through the door without queues or confusion.

For an event where first impressions matter enormously – where leading researchers and clinicians were arriving from 54 countries to attend what was, for many of them, a once-in-a-career event – a smooth, professional check-in experience was as important as any other element of the congress.

What was delivered:

  • Secure online ticket purchase and registration system
  • Multiple delegate category and pricing tier support
  • Automated booking confirmation and e-ticket delivery
  • Digital ticket scanning and validation system
  • Real-time check-in management
  • Delegate registration database and reporting
  • Integration with the main congress website
  • High-volume check-in capability for peak arrival periods

🛠️ On-Site Technical Support

Perhaps the most distinctive element of our involvement with EB World Congress 2020 was our physical presence at the event itself.

For the full five days of the congress at the Park Plaza London Riverbank, our team was on-site – embedded within the event operation, on call from the moment the doors opened to the moment they closed. Not monitoring remotely. Not available by email. Actually there, in the room, ready to respond to any technical issue the moment it arose.

This level of commitment reflects something fundamental about how we approach high-stakes projects. When you’ve built the website, developed the app, and integrated the ticketing system for an inaugural international medical congress attended by over 730 delegates from 54 countries, the job isn’t finished when the build is done. The job is finished when the event is over and everything has worked exactly as it should.

Over the five days of the congress, our on-site presence meant that any technical query – from a delegate having difficulty with the app to a check-in scanning issue during a busy arrival period – was resolved immediately and invisibly, without any impact on the delegate experience.

What on-site support covered:

  • Full five-day on-site presence throughout the congress
  • Live monitoring of all digital systems throughout the event
  • Immediate response to any technical issues or queries
  • App support for delegates experiencing difficulties
  • Ticketing and scanning system oversight during check-in
  • Real-time coordination with the DEBRA UK events team
  • Post-session and end-of-day system reviews
  • Technical debrief and handover documentation on conclusion

GET STARTED TODAY

Let's Talk About Growing Your Business

Tell us what you need. We’ll come back to you within one working day with a clear, honest proposal – no jargon, no pressure, no commitment required.