Over the next twenty years, attendance at our national meetings hovered around 1,000 attendees. By 1980, attendance had risen to 2,500 conferees, and this number doubled by the end of the decade. The next big leap in the numbers occurred in 1999, when a record 10,000 people in Boston heard about the introduction of biological therapies for the treatment of RA. I recall the buzz at some of the standing-room-only plenary sessions held in the Hynes auditorium on Newbury Street. It was not just the clinicians who were keen to learn more about the anti–tumor necrosis factor therapies. The room was swarming with financial analysts who clearly had strong financial incentives to be there. Many keep returning year after year to hear more about our diseases and their treatments.
Since 1996, attendance at the ACR national meetings has climbed by 50%, an amazing statistic considering the fact that the census of U.S. rheumatologists has remained fairly static over this time. The rising numbers confirm the worldwide interest that our specialty has garnered. It is also a tribute to the growing number of our colleagues working in the allied rheumatology health professions who have created their own wonderful conference within a conference.
What Has Changed and What Has Not
The Washington, D.C, meeting was a great success. Some things stay the same. The state-of-the-art reviews are first rate, there is an endless list of choices for the Meet-the-Professor sessions, and the diverse selection of podium and poster presentations provide the audience with a wide view of the current state of rheumatology. We have increased the original 21 presentations of the 1957 annual meeting by over a hundredfold.
There is also the social side of the meetings, when we get the chance to share a meal or have a drink with some old (and aging!) acquaintances and former colleagues. It’s fun to relax in one of the lounge areas with a cup of coffee and eavesdrop on a conversation in one of the many languages spoken at the ACR meetings.
There are also some things that have changed for the better. You don’t need those heavy abstract books that had to be schlepped around to keep up with the meeting. No longer do we need to stare at a television monitor scrolling a list of names of attendees who had messages waiting for them at the message center. The days have passed when we needed to stand in lengthy lines at a bank of desktop computers to get three minutes to check our e-mail messages. Now we can go online anywhere to search abstracts, track our CME credits, and check out the buzz on the ACR Facebook page. The next iteration of technology has laptops being replaced by smartphones and tablet devices. Messaging is surpassing e-mail as a means of communication. Some of you are avid Twitterers and you may have tweeted about the meeting using the hashtag #ACR2012. What a great way to let others know where the buzz is biggest, using 140 characters or less. If you haven’t yet tweeted, consider doing so before next year’s meeting in San Diego. Only twits don’t tweet.
Some Dos and Don’ts for ACR/ARHP Meetings
- Be careful where you sit, especially if you are about to give a podium presentation. A few minutes before I was going to speak at the 1985 plenary session, I had the misfortune of sitting on a piece of gum that someone may have “accidentally” placed on a chair. Too late for me to do anything except to walk up the stairs sideways!
- I was once told to carry a spare slide projector bulb in case the projector that you were about to use was in desperate need of one. Spare bulbs were not easily found at convention centers and so the chances were great that your talk and the others to follow would either be cancelled or postponed. This advice once saved me, big time, from disaster. Now that we use PowerPoint, I suggest carrying one, if not two, memory sticks (as a backup to your backup!).
- In New Orleans, never book a hotel next to or in the French Quarter, unless you like staying awake all night listening to jazz riffs punctuated by the not-so-occasional drunken brawl.
- If traveling with young children, always pack their favorite drinks. Many years ago, at one of the most popular annual industry-sponsored events that highlighted the great wines and produce of Sonoma, my 3-year-old son demanded a box of apple juice. Though the wine bars carried $50 bottles of every major vintage, sadly, there were no juices. Not wanting to be charged with providing alcohol to a minor, I spent the next hour walking in all directions trying to purchase a suitable juice box. I succeeded, but by the time I returned all the great food had been consumed and only the cheaper wines remained.
- Always, always carry your poster on your flight. Never let the airlines check it as baggage even if you are taking a direct, nonstop flight to the event. Trust me, I know this fact.
