why do we go where we go?

WANTED: An area the size of 2-112 football fields with 1-1/2 times as many square feet as are contained in the average 100-bed hospital. Area must be able to support 1,500 tons of freight. Must be adjacent to an area as large as 4 basketball courts which also must be adjacent to two areas each 1-1/2 times the size of a basketball court. Area must be within 15 blocks of 2,800 Class A hotel and motel rooms; must be enclosed from the weather, provide heat and air conditioning, modern lighting, offer 200, OOO watts of additional electricity as well as gas, hot and cold water and compressed air. Must have parking fa- cilities for a t least 500 cars and restaurant to serve at least 3, OOO hot meals.

WHY DO WE GO WHERE WE GO? Gordon M . Marshall

The above “advertisement” is the way an ad would have to read in part, if you translated the requirements of the AORN Annual Con- gress into everyday language.

Perhaps, you as a member have wondered how the cities are selected for the AORN Congress each year. Why are certain hotels picked as headquarters?

The AORN board has asked me as your convention manager to present a picture of just what it takes to put on our Annual Con- gress. In short, why do we go where we go?

With 135 chapters at present, and an ever- increasing membership which currently totals about 8,000, our Congress meeting-room re- quirements grow each year-as do the num- ber of companies exhibiting at the Congress and the area of exhibit space required by

Gordon M. Marshall entered the medical publishing field soon after his graduation from the University of Ilinois. Before becoming publisher of Hospital Topics in 1949, he worked for the AMA, the Medical Society of the State of New York and American Home Products Corp. He is convention manager for the AORN 1969 Congress.

each company.

ginning has been:

1954-New York 1,730 1955-St. Louis 1,373 1956-Boston 1,644 1957-Los Angeles 1,191 1958-Philadelphia 2,040

Our professional attendance from the be-

Nurse Registration

1959-Houston 1,625 1960-New York 2,338 1961-San Francisco 1,576 1962-Denver 1,537

1964-Dallas 1,415 1965-New York 2,965 1966-Chicago 2,689 1967-San Diego 2,397 1968-Bos ton 2,699

196&Washington, D. C. 2,100

Our exhibit area has grown as follows:

1 9 5 k N e w York 43 51 1955-St. Louis 77 101

Exhibitors Booths

44 AORN Journal

1956Boston 1957-Los Angeles 1958-Philadelphia 1959iHouston 1960-New York 1961-San Francisco 1962-Denver 1%3-Washington,

D. C. 1964cDallas 1965-New York 1966Chicago 1967-San Diego 196S-Boston 1969-Cincinnati

92 90

106 109 126 116 111

125 141 151 166 158 173 171

109 101 127 137 163 163 158

165 192 217 241 250 291 325

To keep ahead of the rapid growth of the AORN, your national board of directors works at least five years ahead on the selec- tion of Congress sites. This is particularly desirable, since the big convention halls and large hotels are booked years in advance. Many national conventions return year after year to the same place and book space as far as ten years ahead.

Thus, in order to get dates when we want them and where we want them, we must antic- ipate and act fast. We try to keep the dates of the Congress as close to the middle of February as is possible. These dates were se- lected at the beginning because they seemed to suit the majority of our members best. Moreover, a February meeting does not con- flict with any other national medical, surgical, or nursing convention.

However, February is a very popular month in other fields, and in most locations, competition is keen for the best facilities.

After years of this static situation, the last decade has seen a burgeoning of new hotel and convention facilities in every area of the country. This expansion has been brought about by the fact that four times as many people go to conventions now as compared to ten years ago, and there are ten times as many different conventions, seminars, sales meetings and other affairs for them to at-

tend. We keep upto-date on all the new hotel and motel facilities being built and all the new convention centers or convention halls.

We have files on every city which now has convention facilities or is planning to build facilities that will accommodate our Congress. We travel constantly to all areas of the coun- try studying plans for new convention halls and hotels before they are built. I am a found- ing member of the Professional Convention Managers’ Association, whose members are constantly being asked to advise on how to build new convention facilities for efficient, maximum use. Not all conventions have sim- ilar needs, of course. Many require facilities for 14 to 38 meetings at once. Many require only one big general meeting room. Many do not have exhibits.

At every AORN Board meeting, I report on the cities we have under consideration and make recommendations for new cities to be considered on the basis of their new facilities.

The AORN Board considers the transporta- tion angle of every proposed convention site for bus, rail, car, air and local accessibility. The number and location of hotels and whether we will need a shuttle bus system are also factors.

The Board considers the fact of whether or not we have a local group in or near by the city under study and whether we have an invitation from the local chapter. The attractions of the area are considered, as is the availability of post-convention tours, since more and more of our members have to pay their way and often use their vacation money to attend.

The size of the local group does not mat- ter, since the Board has taken the view that the work of preplanning and actual running of the Congress be taken off the shoulders of the local committees as far as possible so that they, too, can profit by attending the sessions, visiting the exhibits and having a little social life. Too often in the past, members of the local groups were put upon to spend long

February 1969 45

hours doing something that others could have been hired to do.

Myra Slavens, National Educational Di- rector, plans the program after consultation with the local program committee and the Board. The national AORN office sends out all letters of invitation to speakers or to ex- hibitors, and gathers all information regard- ing the needs of speakers for audiovisual aids, or anything else they might need. The “bible” -a manual listing requirements in detail-is prepared for every activity at every hour.

During the year preceding the meeting, we make a number of trips to the convention city to draw up floor plans, meet with the Chamber of Commerce, the convention hall management and the local AORN committees. The floor plans showing size and location of exhibit booths and proximity to the meeting rooms are mailed to past and prospective ex- hibitors almost a year in advance. Only com- panies whose products are used in the O.R. are invited.

We take a staff of about 25 people to each Congress. Most of us arrive a week in ad- vance of the Congress. We hire qualified typ- ists to work at the registration desk and ar- range for bonded cashiers. We supervise the set UP and operation of the registration area, and all other areas of the Congress.

A total of over 300 people work behind the scenes during the three days of setting up the exhibits and the four days of the meet- ings. In addition, over 1,400 company men and women staff the exhibits. When you walk into the exhibit hall at 11 a.m. Monday, the preparations will be over. You’ll see an ex- hibit area that is truely an extension of the scientific program and that you, the one for whom all these preparations have been made, will know that every booth in every aisle has something of interest for you. And when the big show is over, your Board will review the preparations for the 1970 meeting, prepara- tions which have been under way for more than a year. See you in Cincinnati!

ON HUMAN RIGHTS

The AMA’s forthcoming consideration o f Bylaw amendments to discourage and eliminate discriminating membership practices by state and county medical associa- tions demonstrates the strong and purposeful leadership of the national Medical Association. Following the AMA’s action concerning human rights, the American Nurses’ Association sent this telegram to the A M A President, Dwight L. Pi lbur:

“The American Nurses’ Association congratulates the American Medical Associa- tion for its action today in amending i ts Bylaws to eliminate discrimination in mem- bership on account o f color, creed, race, religion or ethnic origin. Particularly encouraging is the increased authority in your relations with your component andlor constituent associations. This should help considerably in your association’s efforts to remove barriers to membership and to ensure ful l participation o f all American physicians.”

A N A News Release

A O R N Journal