Careful planning makes Congress

go smoothly How would you like to find hotel accommo- dations for 7,000 people?

0 Or arrange a banquet for 2,000? Or throw a party for 6,000?

These are the figures that Mike Corley, AORN's business and convention manager, faces when he looks at locations for the AORN Congress.

Sites for Congress are selected five years in advance. For example, next year, Con- gress will be in Miami Beach; in 1977, Anaheim; 1978, New Orleans; and in 1980, Atlanta, Ga. One year, 1979, i s s t i l l open. Plans were to have Congress in Scln Fran- cisco, but the new convention center will not be ready until late 1979, so Corley i s now looking for an alternative.

There are only about a dozen cities with facilities adequate for the AORN Congress. And because Congress i s in March, southern cities offer better weather. Another geo- graphical consideration is that AORN tries to have Congresses in different areas of the country-East, West, and Mid-section.

As AORN's membership grows, so do the numbers attending Congress and Corley must take into consideration projected growth. For example, this year he expects over 4,000 registered nurses to attend the Dallas Congress, but by 1979 he will be prepared for 6,000 with an additional 3,000 exhibitor personnel .

Corley recently visited two cities that he is considering for 1979. The first item on his checklist was the convention center. By

1979, he will need over 200,000 square feet of exhibit spclce compared to the 145,000 square feet in Dallas that will be used for exhibitor's booths, lounges, and supporting areas. This year, more than 200 companies will be exhibiting at Congress according to Larry Gilliam, exhibit manager.

Next, Corley looked for an ample regis- tration area. The AORN Congress has an elaborate registration system that requires more area than most conventions. Close to the registration alreu must be office space for Headquarters, Journal, accounting, and public relations staffs.

Is there a meeting room large enough to accommodate 5,000 for the opening and closing sessions? Corley also checks for at least four or five rovms holding audiences of 1,000 as well as three smaller rooms holding 500. At the Dallas AORN Congress, there are six educational programs running simultaneously each morning and afternoon.

Once the convention center is checked out, Corley searches for an adequate num- ber of hotel rooms as close as possible to the convention center. In Dallas, there are 3,800 rooms, but Corley estimates that by 1979, 5,000 rooms will be needed with about two-thirds of those double occupalncy. Even if the hotels are within three or four blocks of the convention center, AORN provides bus service from the hotels to the convention center from 7 am in the morning until the end of the educational session. In Dallas, ten buses will cover two different routes. This

430 AORN Journal, February 1975, Vol 21, N o 3

Michael D Corley

year for the first time, one of the exhibitors will provide bus service each night to all downtown hotels.

The hotels must have banquet facilities for both the AORN banquet and several large exhibitor's functions. This year 1,800 are expected for the AORN banquet. The larger exhibitor's banquet requires facilities for 4,000 and this is almost impossible to find.

But in terms of numbers, it is the exhibi- tor's party that provides the biggest chal- lenge. Few indoor facilities can handle the expected 6,000 nurses and exhibitors who attend this yearly event sponsored by all the exhibitors.

The exhibitor's committee plans this party headed by W 0 "Lindy" Lindholm. This committee includes Willard F McNeil, direc- tor of sales, Bard-Parker, Division of Becton, Dickinson & Co; Charles T Riall, director pro- fessional relations, Davis + Geck, American Cyanamid Co; Kenneth H Johnson, vice president, marketing, Zimmer-USA; Paul McGlothing, director trade relations, Hos- pital Products Division, Abbott Laboratories; Harry M Tompkins, manager education dept, AMSCO-American Sterilizer Co; Robert F Smith, Smith & Underwood; Jerry Peers, executive director, AORN; Richard New- hauser, president, Richard-Allan Medical Industries, Inc; and Charles E Meyer, Parke- Davis.

As the party has grown in size, the com- mittee has looked at new approaches. Out- door events are more feasible since few indoor facilities can accommodate such a crowd. This year the party will be at Six Flags over Texas, a 145-acre amusement park, with plenty of room for all. But with outdoor events, the committee worries about weather, since March is usually a rainy month.

Corley works with the exhibitor's com- mittee as well as the local Congress com- mittees acting as the liaison with Headquarters. He also makes up the Con- gress "Bible", an 80-page book that lists the specifications for each meeting room. This contains every detail that is to be provided and contributes much to the smooth func- tioning of Congress.

As Congress has grown, an increasing number of functions have been delegated to outside organizations. Grosch-Tucker, a convention service contractor which has been working with AORN Congresses since the beginning, handles the decorating service, supplies for exhibitors, deals with outside labor and handles nearly 1,000,000 pounds of freight. Last year, Exhibition Management Associates took over typing the badges and converting the registration to computer. Meeting Services takes care of all the audio-visual requirements from some- thing as simple as finding an electrical outlet to providing equipment for a complicated multimedia production.

To set up the registration and adminis- trative areas, a half ton of materials is shipped in from AORN Headquarters.

The careful work that makes Congress go smoothly is done beforehand. "If you have done your iob, you don't have headaches," says Corley. "Problems are usually minor and can always be solved with patience and diplomacy."

This will be the second year that Congress has been completely managed by AORN. It i s acknowledged to be one of the best- managed conventions in the country. ESS

432 AORN Journal, February 1975, Vol 21, No 3