Douglas R. Bacon, M.D., Editor

The Miracle That Was Atlanta

t was a “normal” Annual Meeting. The meeting rooms were full, registration proceeded without very long lines, and the technical displays were their usual grand selves. The House of Delegates met, and there was a Rovenstine and a Wright lecture, and for all the world, the meeting seemed to be “normal.” Registration was down slightly at just over 14,000, yet not to the levels seen after September 11, 2001. So why should our Annual Meeting in Atlanta be considered a “miracle”?

Seven weeks before the Annual Meeting was scheduled in New Orleans, Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Crescent City, making landfall at 6:10 a.m. on Monday, August 29. The storm surge broke the levees and flooded the city. Devastation on a scale seen only in war was all over New Orleans and the entire Gulf Coast of the United States. Canal Street in New Orleans had become one, and the lobby of one of the ASA headquarters hotels was under water. We watched in horror as the scenes of unrest and violence erupted in shelters, watched helicopters transport stranded people and the desperately ill out of watery prisons. Acts of heroism and tales of terror bombarded those outside the region; we prayed for the people trapped, sent money and supplies and did what we could to lessen their burdens. We waited for contact from friends and relatives to be assured of their safety, and we realized each time we heard in the affirmative that there would be many who would never hear that reassuring voice or receive the comforting e-mail that loved ones were alive and safe.

In the midst of all the human tragedy, a decision had to be made about our Annual Meeting. It was clear, within 72 hours of the breaching of the levees, that New Orleans would be incapable of hosting the meeting. The ASA Bylaws stipulate that only the House of Delegates needs to meet annually. The choice was between simply canceling the meeting and scheduling the House of Delegates at a convenient time and place, or trying to move as much of the meeting as was possible to a new location.

Why bother with this seemingly Herculean task? The reasons were clear. Far from being only a business meeting, this was the opportunity for anesthesiologists to attend to the continuing medical education needs of their specialty. When gathered together en masse, the opportunities to learn, debate and discuss are far greater than any computer-generated learning opportunity. To speak with the leading experts in the field about a problem, and know that there is no clear solution at this moment, can be comforting and help to drive the development of ideas to solve such a dilemma.

Clearly a decision had to made and needed to be made quickly. Then President Eugene P. Sinclair, M.D., drove to the ASA headquarters in Park Ridge, Illinois, from his home base in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to assess the situation. By Friday, September 2, the day Dr. Sinclair arrived in Park Ridge, Director of Scientific Affairs Jill A. Formeister and her staff had already contacted several possible cities to host the meeting. Not unlike Dwight D. Eisenhower in planning the invasion of Europe during World War II, Dr. Sinclair needed options. And, as a good commander, he had set priorities and limits on the job at hand. The meeting had to occur on the same dates as planned for New Orleans. As time away had already been allocated, and it would be impossible for many of the active participants to reschedule. Also, Dr. Sinclair said the educational sessions had priority over meeting space and staff time, and the House of Delegates had to be held; social events, though, and other collegial activities that competed for ASA staff time would not be held.

Given these parameters, and while the president was at ASA headquarters, calls went out to the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) and the larger hotels. There was space available where it was needed most. Like Eisenhower on June 5, Dr. Sinclair made the call. The meeting was on. The job now rested with ASA Executive Director Ronald A. Bruns, Assistant Executive Director Denise M. Jones, Ms. Formeister, Director of Information Services Janice L. Plack and ASA Annual Meeting Chair Susan L. Polk, M.D., and Vice-President for Scientific Affairs Charles W. Otto, M.D. Seven weeks is not a long time to plan and execute such a move — how did they do it?

The answer is simple and two-fold. First, divide the responsibilities among the available staff. Second, let good people run with their area of expertise, and be ready to help solve problems that arise. The story of our Atlanta success is bound up in these simple management principles. But the ASA staff needs to be recognized for its efforts. Allow me to hopefully put a name to the job well done.

Cris L. Sutter worked with the CVB to identify space in the Georgia World Congress Center (GWCC) and nearby hotels. Calls were placed before Dr. Sinclair’s arrival, and a spreadsheet sent of the space available, both at the convention center and at the major downtown hotels. Once the green light was given, Cris arranged for the housing bureau to confirm ASA’s housing agreements with the hotels. Once completed, the hotels and their rates went online. As the downtown hotels filled up, the CVB and housing bureau found more hotels to accommodate those wishing to attend the meeting. Cris was also responsible for promotion of the new location for the meeting. Partnering with the CVB, the critical information on Atlanta, such as airport transportation and more mundane things such as computers and copying machines, were made available.

Once the sleeping rooms were secured, the next question was how to get the attendees to the meeting. Jeff R. Schulz took responsibility for the shuttle bus transportation. While this sounds neither exciting nor extraordinary, it is one of the key pieces of infrastructure that makes the meeting work. Jeff needed to know which hotels would house those attending the meeting, and further, which hotels would have educational sessions. As the hotels continued to fill up, others in more distant areas were added, and routes needed to be revised. At first there were 11 hotels, but by the start of the meeting, there were 23 involved, and thus the bus routes were revised and three additional routes added. Working closely with the shuttle bus company, optimum numbers of buses on each route were determined to ensure that ASA members and their guests made it to the meeting sessions in a timely fashion.

Inside the Georgia World Congress Center (GWCC) and in the hotels, space needed to be allocated to educational sessions. Once the sessions were assigned to new space, Judy K. Jacobson did an outstanding job entering the new rooms in the database, communicating with workshop presenters, exhibitors who were loaning equipment for the workshops and other speakers and members. Audiovisual needs were addressed next, and signs were created to help direct attendees to the correct rooms. Refunds for those who had changed plans were handled by Betty Davis and Karen L. Caracci.

The technical and scientific exhibits were another major challenge to match as closely as possible to the floor space at the Morial Convention Center in New Orleans that had been allocated. A plan was devised for Atlanta and sent to the exhibitors. Changes had to be made to accommodate differences in the conventions centers, and refunds were issued for those who had corner booths in the old floor plan but could only be accommodated with in-line booths in Atlanta. Despite these changes, the vast majority of the exhibitors stayed with the meeting. Carol L. Klemm made the new assignments and ably dealt with exhibitors’ questions and needs generated by the change in venue as well as working with problem-based learning discussions and the ASA Art Exhibit.

Program books had already been received at the Freeman Decorating Company warehouse in New Orleans. For a time, Freeman could not get near the warehouse to ascertain damage to the building or its contents. Eventually they found that the many boxes of ASA programs were undamaged, and the books were shipped to Atlanta. Now the Atlanta room assignments were needed by the attendees. The program supplement is usually a small piece, but it was greatly expanded to include revised grids for each session type, a list of other sessions and meetings and other information specific to Atlanta. Ms. Formeister and Lake County Press produced this document in one week, and it arrived on time for distribution in Atlanta.

ASA contracted this year with a new registration company, Convention Data Services (CDS). Jill, Cris, Janice and Betty had worked with CDS in planning on-site registration and printing of badges and tickets for New Orleans. These plans had to be revised with the change of venue. From this came the idea of the self-print kiosks for preregistrants, something that was very well received in Atlanta and will be expanded in Chicago for the 2006 Annual Meeting.

Several of ASA’s suppliers were unsung heroes and were key to the meeting’s success. ASA’s general contractor, Steve Schulz, and Fred Stone spent many hours visiting the GWCC and reviewing floor plans and other arrangements. A new exhibit floor plan was needed, additional directional signs were ordered, and many signs already in production for New Orleans had to be scrapped and then revised for Atlanta. Dan Gutierrez from Audio Visual Headquarters weathered Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and then had limited time to finalize equipment and staffing requirements.

Both Dan and Steve could not finish their arrangements until they received ASA’s set-up instructions to the GWCC and the Hyatt Regency Atlanta. The information was delayed while ASA staff finalized the meeting space available to us, reassigned proper space for sessions and meetings and checked for conflicts. Once ASA’s educational sessions were accommodated (President Sinclair’s top priority), remaining space was assigned to regional and state caucuses, foundations, components and subspecialty societies. Each step of the process was checked, double-checked and often triple-checked by Jill with constant updates to and feedback from Ron Bruns and the ASA leadership.

Communication was another trial by fire for the ASA staff. Dee Jones and Janice Plack, with Director of Communications Gina A. Steiner, crafted frequent updates for the Web site and blast e-mails to members. They also responded to members’ incoming e-mails offering input about the meeting as well as offering help to the victims of the hurricane. The switchboard and the membership department, headed by Robert M. Wallace, handled an increased number of calls from members and exhibitors working out the problems associated with the move. Pat R. Fitzpatrick and Kathy M. Laurino also handled many of the telephone calls and assisted with the mailings.

Press coverage also had to be changed. The carefully planned list of New Orleans media contacts was put aside, and a new list was constructed for Atlanta. CNN was suddenly at the meeting’s back door, which called for a different kind of “pitching.” Editors for some national publications, who had already assigned reporters to cover the meeting, assigned different reporters based on the new location — each of whom had to be put through a process to receive press credentials. Meanwhile the communications staff needed to create a new press kit, add alerts about meeting changes to the NEWSLETTER and re-vamp the photography schedule based on the changes to the program.

Finally Gary W. Hoormann and his staff had to move those subspecialty societies that wished to hold their annual meetings in Atlanta. With some flexibility on all parties, the meetings went off almost as if there had been no move at all.

While this beehive of activity was going on, Dee Jones led a group that developed a tax-deductible fund to help those residents displaced by Katrina from the Ochsner Clinic and Tulane University whose need was acute. Charles W. Otto, M.D., was appointed to chair the Task Force on Hurricane Katrina Disaster Relief. Partnering with the Anesthesia Foundation,¹ ASA donated $30,000 from the Centennial Fund to establish the Anesthesia Foundation-ASA Disaster Relief Fund. Director of Finance Rick Barwacz researched and organized the technical details of setting up the fund so that it would meet all necessary requirements. As I write these lines, through the generosity of our members and others, total donations to the fund have reached an astounding $298,000!

Oftentimes as ASA members we wonder what our dues money buys. The Atlanta meeting proved that our dues help fund the best support staff a specialty could have. While not everyone who contributed to the move has been mentioned here, ASA staff spent many hours and days putting their lives literally on hold so that we could hold the Annual Meeting in Atlanta. From the commitment of our then President, Dr. Sinclair, through the entire ASA staff pulling in a united direction, a miracle was accomplished.

The movement of the Annual Meeting from New Orleans to Atlanta is a lesson for all of us in leadership—first and foremost to make a decision and set clear parameters. Second, to have faith in the people who know the job to do it best. And finally to celebrate and praise those who made it happen. To those I have named, and others whom I have not, I salute your efforts on my behalf, not only in moving the meeting to Atlanta but every day as you strive to put ASA forward in the best light possible. From the membership, our thanks.

— D.R.B.

Reference:
1. Moyers JR. The Anesthesia Foundation: Aiding anesthesiology residents since 1956. ASA Newsl. 2005; 69(12):28-29.

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