Healthcare Convention & Exhibitors Association (HCEA)

5 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 9, ISSUE 7 exhibition because everything we do is geared towards the exchange of scientific material – setting out fair, balanced, and helpful messaging, as well as the exhibiting side of things. So HCEA is a place you can come as a healthcare exhibitor to learn specifically about what it’s like to participate in the exhibit industry as it relates to healthcare, as opposed to just general exhibits. “Benefits of HCEA membership also include access to industry research and studies; networking with your peers and really having a change to connect with people both on the association and corporate sides. That connection is extremely valuable for our members because they have the opportunity to talk to the people who put on the meetings that they exhibit at. And then also the access to HCEA’s database of medical meetings and our knowledge base. Things like our webinars and annual meeting sessions, where we partner with organizations like Exhibitor Live and others to keep our fingers on the pulse of the exhibit industry as a whole, but also focusing on the healthcare aspects.” BVM: How have HCEA members been able to adapt during the ‘COVID-19 era’? Feehan: “Obviously, with the advent of COVID-19, the face of exhibiting changed dramatically; the ability to gather in large groups was not prudent at the time. So we saw a pretty quick switch to virtual. One thing about healthcare exhibitions and marketing is that they are very technology forward – these exhibits are always on the cutting edge of what’s new. You think of CES as the place to go to see new things, but I would say that healthcare exhibitions are probably as close to CES as you can get in terms of adapting new technology for use in the exhibition space. “That being said, most of our members were poised and ready to work with their corporate industry partners to switch to virtual. We saw meetings, education, and of course the exhibit hall switching to online platforms. So the ability