Hurricane Fails to Shake ASH Annual Meeting

For the American Society of Hematology (ASH), a canceled New Orleans meeting triggered a surprisingly successful Atlanta substitution.

Held Dec. 10-13, the ASH Annual Meeting and Exposition was originally scheduled for Dec. 3-6 in New Orleans. Then came Hurricane Katrina. Ayuko Kimura-Fay, CMP, the society's director of meetings, started searching for a new location on Aug. 29, the morning before the hurricane landed in New Orleans. After two emergency conference calls, the organization's executive committee and staff made the final decision about cancellation (and relocation) on Sept. 1.

More than 18,000 attendees from 100 countries attended the four-day event, making it one of the largest medical meetings in the country.

"We are ecstatic about the 2005 attendance numbers given that we were forced to move the date and location of our annual meeting due to Hurricane Katrina's devastating effects on New Orleans," Kimura-Fay said.

The attendance decreased less than 2 percent compared to the 2004 annual meeting figures, but international attendance increased by more than 6 percent from the previous year. And 96 percent of ASH's invited speakers participated as scheduled.

Although seven exhibitors canceled their attendance, their absence didn't translate to a significant loss in exhibit revenue; the exhibit hall featured 71 new exhibitors and larger island booths than previous years. A new All-ASH reception benefited the society's Katrina Relief Fund.

"A good time was had by all," Kimura-Fay said, "and we raised more than $400,000 for the fund, which will benefit health care facilities, practicing hematologists, and hospitality industry workers in the New Orleans area."

ESA Stays Put in Ft. Lauderdale After Wilma

The Entomological Society of America (ESA) Annual Meeting in Fort Lauderdale was just days away when Hurricane Wilma struck last Oct. 24. The meeting was scheduled for Nov. 6-9.

For the next several days, ESA waited pensively for details on the status of the convention center and hotels and an assessment of the city's infrastructure. Once the conditions were known, the decision was made to not cancel the meeting, but to postpone it for six weeks to allow the city to assess the damage and begin making repairs.

Communication was the primary focus of all staff and member volunteer activities for the following weeks leading up to the newly picked Dec. 8-11 dates. The program committee contacted all 2,000 presenters and the more than 200 organizers and moderators of scientific sessions to explain the situation and encourage their participation on the new dates. The local arrangements committee verified that the 70-plus student volunteers were still on board … and substituted new volunteers as needed. All organizers of the more than 200 receptions, business meetings, conferences, and workshops were contacted to ensure attendance. Exhibitors were contacted with the new dates, and adjustments were made to the exhibit hall accordingly.

ESA set up a Meeting Update Site on the Annual Meeting Web site issuing updates to the membership and attendees in a Q&A format that was kept current as the new plans were finalized.

Since the program book had already been printed and mailed to all registrants, two additional addenda were subsequently printed and distributed to everyone on site.

"Meeting space was a challenge because other meetings were already booked in the hotels and convention center during the later timeframe," said Judy Miller, ESA's director of meetings.

For the November meeting dates, 80 percent of the hotel block was within walking distance of the convention center. With the new dates, many of the rooms in the original block were lost and new hotels needed to be contracted. Busing was scheduled for many of these new properties, along with any other needed services, thanks to "a generous and hospitable city," according to Miller.

Pre-Wilma, the association was on track to surpass 2004 attendance, with 10 percent fewer exhibit booths sold. Post-Wilma attendance was down by 100 attendees compared to 2004 attendance, and down 20 percent in exhibit booths.

"By postponing, we lost some attendees, but gained others due to the timeframe," Miller said. "We were very grateful to everyone who weathered the storm with us."