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IDWeek T
The joint meeting for infectious-diseases and epidemiology professionals engages attendees on its show floor by helping them navigate it.
wo years ago, organizers of the Infectious Diseases Society of America’s (IDSA) annual meeting decided to join forces with the Society for Healthcare Epide-
miology of America (SHEA), the HIV Medicine Association (HIVMA), and the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society (PIDS) to create IDWeek — a joint meeting that, according to the event’s website, serves as “a forum for health profession- als of varied backgrounds to collaborate, cooperate, and learn from each other’s expertise.” IDWeek’s first incarnation, last Oct. 17–21 in San Diego,
drew more than 5,500 professional attendees and 6,600 participants overall, including exhibitors and press. “We did better than we would have independently,” said Sandy Har- wood, CMP, IDSA’s vice president of meetings and educa- tion and IDWeek’s meeting secretariat. “We pulled in other exhibitors that had not previously [exhibited] with either group in the past, and certainly not with IDSA.” Harwood found that some exhibitors, who typically might only be able to participate in one organization’s show, are able to reach a
wider audience with the development of IDWeek. This year’s show, themed “Advancing Science, Improving
Care,” will take place at the Moscone Center in San Francisco on Oct. 2–6. Attendance is projected to be higher than last year, although some attendees are federal employees, so Harwood anticipates that there may be issues with current sequestration measures that limit the amount of spending for federal agencies — which often includes meeting travel. IDWeek organizers have implemented some strategies on
the show floor to help attendees get the most out of the expe- rience. One such offering, which IDSA attempted at previous meetings and is now starting to take hold with IDWeek’s
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