We’ve also done live webinars, very similar to a
nightly news show. The Medical Library Association
did a live webinar for an hour and a half where
they interviewed subjects on the issues that they’re
facing. We’ve even filmed doctors in the studio who
were outlining the impact of healthcare reform,
which was later viewed on Capitol Hill.
Just as you might go to a movie theater now and
watch a special performance from another location
shown on your local screen, we recently had five
cities in India participate in two-way Q&A sessions
with prominent orthopedic surgeons.
Many hospitals have the ability to film and record for teaching purposes. We’re looking at bringing additional education sources to our convenient
location to help surgeons constantly learn the latest
and greatest. In my day-to-day job, lives aren’t
at stake, but for surgeons, they are. They have a
tremendous drive for quality education. We’re lucky
we can use our technology to satisfy their desire for
top-notch, ongoing education.
As an example, it’s truly a privilege to host an
incredible bio-skills course AANA coordinates with
The Society of Military Orthopaedic Surgeons (
SOMOS). Half the faculty are AANA members and the
other half are from SOMOS, and those who attend
serve in the armed forces all over the world. It’s
critical for them to have a venue equipped to easily
handle all the special requirements and needs for
an event of this caliber.
Because of the flexibility built into the OLC’s
infrastructure, there’s some incredible and innovative events and educational sessions we can offer,
yet we can also host social and unique events.
This past fall we had a group that came to the
OLC after a meeting to watch “The Rocky Horror
Picture Show” on 32 high-definition screens—even
the OLC pre-function area was set-up like a movie
theater with a candy counter, popcorn machine and
beverages!
Association Forum is partnering with the
OLC to better serve our suburban mem-
bers. Does your location in Rosemont
allow you to reach a greater audience?
Many corporations and medical associations find
our Rosemont location especially appealing.
Being just minutes from O’Hare is attractive not
only to clients but also to their event attendees,
with many of our guests coming from international
locations. Last year alone we hosted almost 12,000
surgeons from more than 36 countries.
When one of our clients hosted a program with
the lectures and the lab all in Spanish, we attracted
representatives from six different Spanish speaking countries. In 2018 and 2019, we’re going to
have more continuing medical education courses
in Spanish as well as a course for German-speaking
countries. The accessibility we have here is something we take for granted, and other countries are
hungry for this caliber of education
How does your staff adapt to such a
wide array of specialized offerings?
When we hire people, they need to have a very
unique skill-set with a passion for customer service.
One of our techs has worked with us since 1994.
He is a veteran video technician and one of the best
in the industry. Another has a Ph.D. in instructional
systems technology and his M.Ed. is in medical
educational technology.
Our people provide a level of experience and
service you won’t normally find among on-site A/V
Learn more about the OLC by visiting
www.olcevents.com.
Dan Shea is the content and publications manager at
Association Forum. He can be reached at 312.924.7031 or
shea@associationforum.org.