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Sue Pelletier MeetingsNet Web editor, mad blogger, and editor of Association Meetings magazine...more

HCEA still going strong at 75

Sue Pelletier July 19th, 2005

The Healthcare Convention & Exhibitors Association may have turned 75 this year, but the old dog still has a few tricks left in its bag. I wasn’t able to attend this year, which is too bad. I a blast last year in Austin (links here, here, here, here, here, here, and here).

Anyway, though the press release doesn’t give many details, it sounds like it was equally fun and educational this year. They added more workshops and gave the exhibit hall a more-open configuration for the June meeting at the Morial Convention Center and headquarters hotel Fairmont New Orleans

I also like that they labeled each session according to the level of expertise a participant should have to get the most out of it—wish more organizations would do this. But what I really like is the quote from HCEA executive vice president Eric Allen: âYou want to know whatâs made HCEA great for 75 years?â Allen asked the audience during the Business Meeting. âLook around. Itâs all of us, because our members care enough to pursue a vision and meet needs, and maintain a vision of this industry as the greatest marketing medium in all of healthcare, and the greatest industry segment in all of the meetings industry.â

News from HCEA:

Carol Wilson, HCEA Director of Meetings, was honored with the HCEA Distinguished Service Award to acknowledge her decades of service in the healthcare convention marketing industry and her dedication to HCEA. Wilson has been on the staff of HCEA since the Kellen Company assumed management of the association in 1986.

Juleanne Dawson, Marketing Services Manager, Bard Access Systems, Salt Lake City, was named HCEA president for 2005â2006.

Other 2005â2006 HCEA officers are: President Elect â Cynthia Holloway, United States Surgical/Tyco Healthcare, Norwalk, Conn.; Vice President â Sue Jones, Boston Scientific Corporation, Natick, Mass.; Treasurer â Geri-Dee Shaffer, Aesculap, Inc., Duluth, Ga.; Secretary â Barbara Costa, Organon Pharmaceuticals USA, Roseland, N.J.; and Immediate Past President â James Hladnik, Abbott Laboratories, Abbott Park, Ill.

The associationâs 2005-2006 directors are Karen Kingston, B. Braun Medical, Bethlehem, Pa.; Judy Peak, Spectranetics Corporation, Colorado Springs, Colo.; Karen Prieto, Forest Laboratories, New York; Sandra Ratcliffe, Pfizer, Inc., New York; Kim Thompson, Biosense Webster, Diamond Bar, Calif.; Jan Blanck, Baxter Healthcare Corp., Round Lake, Ill.; George Feehan, GWF Associates, Hamilton, N.J.; and Sherri Sujai, American Society for Microbiology, Washington.

The associationâs 2005â2007 directors are Joyce Banister, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Plainsboro, N.J.; Susan Huff, Medtronic, Inc., Minneapolis; Laine Mann, Schering-Plough Corporation, Kenilworth, N.J.; Riki Metzger, Merck Human Health Division, North Wales, Pa.; Barbara Orr, Poretta & Orr, Inc., Doylestown, Pa.; and Kevin Wohlfort, American Urological Association, Linthicum, Md.