Poster tours at ASBMR’s 2010 Annual Meeting were hosted by leaders in the field.
Headinginto its 2010 Annual Meetingat the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, ASBMR Executive Director Ann Elderkin said, “we were very concerned about whether enough people would be able to afford to come, given that attendance had been down the year before from the economy.” To boost
attendance —and as part of its ongoing mis- sion to keep its meeting
fresh—ASBMR rolled out a number of new features: Travel grants for 143 junior-level profession- als who submitted abstracts and qualified. “In any research field, the young investigators are the most vulnerable [to economic forces],” Elderkin said, “but they’re also the promise of the future.” A Networking Center “to foster connections between different researchers in their field,” Elderkin said. “We took our typical ASBMR
booth and put it in the middle of this [Network- ing] Center” in the exhibit hall. The Networking Center also featured a Young Investigator Lounge, a cyber café andWi-Fi lounge, a career center, and a booth for ASBMR’s journal. Dur- ingthe openingreception, which was held in the exhibit hall, ASBMR placed wine and cheese stations near the NetworkingCenter, Elderkin said, “and people gravitated there for the rest of the meeting.” A speed networking event organized by ASBMR’sWomen in Bone and Mineral Research Committee that paired young researchers with their senior counterparts for a series of four-minute mentoringsessions. Poster programs enhanced with a new Presi- dent’s Poster Competition alongwith poster tours hosted by leaders in the field. Local registration was extended at the ASBMR member rate to Toronto clinicians with an interest in bone and mineral research. ASBMR’s efforts paid off. Total attendance
this year was 5,053, plus 63 exhibitors—up from 4,373 attendees and 61 exhibitors in 2009, when ASBMR convened in Denver. “It was extremely upbeat,” Elderkin said.
“People walked around just spontaneously sayingthis is the best meetingthey’ve ever been to.” —Christopher Durso
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How are meetings and conventions innovating? Bob Priest-Heck, President and CEO, Wheelhouse Solutions (parent company of Champion Exposition Services, The George Fern Company, and Immersa Marketing)
“Show organizers and exhibitors have become more creative with tighter budgets and fewer resources to increase the impact of meetings and events for all stakeholders. This has
included utilizing social-media technology to engage their conference community before, during, and after the event, rezoning the trade-show floor to position exhibitors as experts, and expanding sponsorship options to generate revenue.”
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Michelle Russell is editor in chief, Christopher Durso is executive editor, and Barbara Palmer and Hunter R. Slaton are senior editors of Convene.