Faculty of Economics and Business thwarts coronavirus by holding VHB Annual Conference online

The post-conference on 20 March marked the end of the 2020 VHB Annual Conference on the general topic of "Digital Transformation". Though it was due to be held at Goethe University Frankfurt this year, it had to be moved online at short notice due to the current COVID-19 threat.

A record number of around 700 registered participants led to growing anticipation of a particularly interesting, stimulating and varied exchange of ideas. This great demand was reason enough for us to thwart the corona crisis by finding a way to go ahead with the conference, which was originally planned as a face-to-face event held in several lecture halls and other venues on the Westend Campus. The solution – to hold the event in virtual space – fit perfectly with the conference theme of "Digital Transformation". With just five days to prepare for the conference, the organising team led by Mark Wahrenburg, along with the HRZ media technology staff and with the support of the Dean's Office and the Executive Committee, successfully tackled this major challenge.

Numerous presentations and over 80 parallel sessions were held on all three days of the conference using the university's own Vidyo system. Participants were highly satisfied with the solution, experiencing hardly any interruptions to proceedings. We are delighted to have enabled such lively discussions on so many fascinating topics, most notably the principal theme of Digital Transformation. Most of the sessions are still available for conference participants to view on demand on the video platform. In addition, all information regarding the conference is still available at www.bwl2020.org.

We would like to thank Mark Wahrenburg, his organising team and the media technology staff of the HRZ for this outstanding achievement, as well as all those involved in the conference for their spontaneous willingness to join us on the road to digitalisation, especially in this difficult period.

We wish you all every success – and the best of health!

Prof. Dr. Raimond Maurer

Dean
Faculty of Economics and Business