A View from the Aisle: Medical Congresses in 2023

American Society of Hematology (December, 2022). Photo by author.

Medical congresses, like all large meetings, ground to a halt during the pandemic. Three years later, and almost 18 months into the industry's recovery, where do things stand?

Back in 1990, when I started in this business, we called them healthcare conventions. When I took the job, I assumed nobody would pay me to go to one.

Six months in, I slid a key into my door at the [then] sleek Pickett Suites in Durham, NC, perched on the edge of highway 40. I was hooked.

"You'll be there to take notes," my boss warned. "14 planning meetings over three days. Look interested and bring extra pens." Along with a tragically ill-fitting suit, I packed enough pens and paper to write 10 novels.

Today, the Pickett Suites is just another dreary Doubletree. I've ditched my Bic Cristals and composition books for a laptop and iPhone. And somewhere along the way, somebody started using the word "congress."

By 1990, conventions had evolved from dull scientific assembles into a sophisticated medium for reaching large numbers of otherwise hard-to-reach healthcare professionals, efficiently and cost-effectively. The exhibits reeked of "edifice complex," boxy and heavy, with small, thick, heavy display screens and surrounded by skids of literature and giveaways.

Thirty-some years later, the fundamental value of congresses hasn't changed. For savvy exhibitors of all sizes and in every stage of commercialization, congresses are critical for building awareness and advocacy, educating HCPs, and gaining insight - both on and off the show floor - from hundreds of thousands of thought leaders and rank-and-file physicians. And today, the opportunity is bigger than ever: According to the Center for Exhibition Industry Research, congresses will attract ~5,000,000 healthcare professionals in 2023 in the US alone. (Source: CEIR 2022 Index Report - Healthcare Sector)

Cautious optimism reigns.

The Pandemic was Just Another Inflection Point

While many feared the pandemic would destroy an industry based on face-to-face interaction, we were back to work in 18 months, and congresses once again flourished. Virtual exhibits were our industry's shotgun marriage: we entered blind, hoped for the best, and most left disappointed and poorer.

Our industry is rife with inflection points, from Bill Clinton's promise of healthcare reform, to the Iraqi invasion and 9/11. Add to that the Sunshine Act, Open Payments, adoption of the and PhRMA and ADVAMED codes, and local gift bans. Each was seen as a threat, slowing us down, giving us opportunities to think and grow, and we bounced back ... every single time.

Even in the face of COVID's 18 month full stop, industry has recovered, and congresses continue, due largely - in my opinion - to the unique interdependences that drive them:

• Associations rely heavily on congress revenue for fiscal solvency, and on their delegates to maintain legitimacy.

• Manufacturers rely on associations for access to HCPs, and the HCPs themselves for growth and profit; and

• Physicians rely on associations for CME credit, and on industry for financial support and educational opportunities.

In short, both lives and money are on the line, and as of today, there's no better option. At the same time, there are changes afoot, and working with clients in many therapeutic areas, and attending hundreds of meetings, gives us a front row view.

In 2023, A Diverse Set of Realties - Positive and Negative - are Driving Congress Participation

• Some meetings are quietly thriving. Year-over-year gains in attendance are strongest at specialty meetings, and in therapeutic areas where the pace of innovation is brisk, especially oncology, hematology, healthcare IT, and data management. 80% of pre-pandemic attendance is the figure cited most often by show management, though many are vague when providing breakdowns between in-person and virtual attendees, and the US/ex-US delegate split.

• Others aren't, but there's opportunity in chaos. By contrast, primary care care meetings seem to struggle to maintain momentum. For many, the playing field is [a bit] more level. Smaller show floors and modest decrease in average exhibit size help to level the playing field, creating opportunities for companies in smaller spaces, many of them new to the meeting, to gain a disproportionate share of voice and time with HCPs on the show floor.

• Cautious optimism prevails among marketers and congress and event managers. Chicken Little-level fear of seriously diminished in-person attendance have subsided with most congresses are now seeing in-person attendance of 80-85% (or more) of pre-pandemic levels. We see participation in specialty meetings as the most robust, where declines in attendance in primary care meetings as more substantial.

• Bigger isn't always better. Some meetings are seeing a decrease in net square footage. Exhibitors have traded large exhibits for mid-sized islands, and small islands for inline exhibits. A dent in the collective edifice complex, across-the-board downsizing, can be a good thing for those with small budgets and disproportionately ambitious goals. Likewise, at most meetings, any falloff of in-person attendees is disproportionate among ex-US delegates - paradoxically, a benefit for the many companies who market exclusively to US-based physicians.

• Skepticism remains, particularly among leadership. Those who believe in the value of conventions point to their rapid recovery; those who don't point to rising costs and falling attendance, poor performance of virtual channels, and little to no consequence arising from the industry's 16 month pause and the [7-8 figure] cost savings it represented.

• Convention planning involves more friction than ever. When large companies slash annual congress investments by half or more (not uncommon), it falls on the [typically] understaffed convention team to manage the fallout while simultaneously building a new strategy. And with costs top of mind, and our supply chain so erratic, building a coherent financial argument is difficult.

• Other economic realities are driving significant shifts. As exhibitors decrease the size of their field forces, and with physicians allocating even less time to seeing reps in person, congresses become even more important opportunities for substantive engagement.

• Virtual engagement isn't all bad. The opportunity to participate virtually has made congresses more accessible to the next generation, including those in outside of major metropolitan areas, providing an opportunity for exhibitors to engage earlier with the next generation of clinician.