Digital Dilemma

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Our organization is the Society of Neuromuscular Sciences, and we’re a not-for-profit group that organizes medical conferences for surgeons and doctors around the world. I’m the undersecretary and event manager.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Digital Dilemma?

We were trying to put together a functioning website, which we had nothing to speak of at the time. We needed something quite bespoke, and a commercial portal for managing sign-ups at conferences and membership applications.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Digital Dilemma provides ongoing website development that includes a single-page membership registration. The society has been going on for over 40 years, and the system we’ve been using when I first joined 6 years ago was essentially paper-based. The registration form is six pages long, so it was a laborious process for 130 delegates to do. I narrowed it down and put the info onto a single-page registration form that delegates can fill out online.

We offer membership applications for medical personnel, which they need to renew annually. They will then be provided with a membership number, which they need when selecting a conference they want to go to. Additionally, applicants will also need to fill out a registration form for the conference, so Digital Dilemma is developing something more detailed and complex, but at the same time, quick and easy.

They integrated the Stripe payment system through WordPress, and they had a specialist who implemented that type of checkout arrangement. We’re still working together, and they’re constantly getting in touch with me if I have any updates on the conferences — once a conference finishes and a new one comes up, we need to update the necessary information.

We usually have a big get-together around February once a year to do all the annual updates and upgrades. Throughout the year though, if I have any issues that need fixing, it would be just a quick text for them to respond.

What is the team composition?

I speak directly to Andrew (Digital Strategist), Adam (National Account Manager), and another person who provides support to the team.

How did you come to work with Digital Dilemma?

One of the doctors who’s a member of our society, recommended Andrew to us.

How much have you invested with them?

To this date, we’ve probably invested approximately $15,000–$20,000 AUD (around $11,400–$15,200 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

The ongoing partnership started in March 2016.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

We’ve done very well considering the COVID-19 pandemic and the cancellation of the conference. 2020 was a period for us to change the look of the website, since we couldn’t do anything else — it was a good downtime. As I’ve said, we like to make changes every year, so when a delegate goes to look at a website to register, they’ll see something fresh and new.

How did Digital Dilemma perform from a project management standpoint?

I typically communicate with them by email, with a request for them to let me know if the issue had been addressed. When it comes to urgent matters, I would simply text. On one occasion, Andrew and Adam sat at my table, and we had a face-to-face discussion about what we were doing.

What did you find most impressive about them?

What stood out the most is they’re very responsive and willing to work on whatever I wanted. If my idea was something that can’t be done, or it wasn’t such a good idea, they’re very gentle in explaining how it wouldn’t work.

We did have a problem with the small ISP we were using. To solve the problem, Digital Dilemma created a new Gmail account that was able to grab what the ISP couldn’t, and forward all emails that we couldn’t grab to me. They are very quick to work out an alternative solution.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

With every provider, communication is the key to everything. You need to be on top of what they’re doing, so make sure you always have regular communications with them. With Digital Dilemma, they know to let me know when something is done.