Boston, a town known for both its history and its innovation in the field of health, will play host to APHA’s 141st Annual Meeting and Exposition in November.
Running from Nov. 2-6, the meeting will feature more than 13,000 public health professionals and 1,000 scientific sessions, along with networking opportunities, business meetings and social events. The meeting, which has the theme of “Think Global, Act Local,” will be centered at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center.
The Annual Meeting officially kicks off at noon Sunday, Nov. 3, with the opening session.
Opening session keynote speakers will include attorney Sarah Weddington, JD, who successfully argued the Roe v. Wade case before the U.S. Supreme Court in 1973, and Michael Marmot, MD, PhD, MPH, an epidemiologist and leader in research on health inequity and the social determinants of health.
“We’re so excited to be able to offer Annual Meeting attendees keynote addresses from these public health luminaries,” said APHA Executive Director Georges Benjamin, MD. “Though their backgrounds are very different, they will be able to address some of the most pressing issues in public health today.”
Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, co-chair of Mayors Against Illegal Guns with New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, will also speak at the opening session.
Immediately following the opening session, the meeting’s Public Health Expo, which is expected to feature more than 700 booths, will open. Booths will showcase state-of-the-art products and services geared toward public health professionals. The expo is open through Wednesday. On Nov. 6, students are invited to visit the Public Health Expo free of charge in order to network, explore and learn more about careers in public health.
The expo hall will also be the site of Everything APHA, which will serve as a source for APHA publications, membership benefits and career opportunities. Attendees are encouraged to stop by the membership booth in the expo hall to create photos and videos and share them via social media. Visitors can also visit the booth to get involved in the “new APHA,” a new direction for the Association that will be unveiled at the meeting.
Everything APHA will also host the APHA Press booth, which will hold three book signings during the meeting:
Weddington will be on hand immediately following the opening session on Sunday, Nov. 3, to sign her book, “A Question of Choice;”
Benjamin and co-authors Theodore Brown, PhD, Susan Ladwig, MPH, and Elyse Berkman, MPA, will sign copies of their book “The Quest for Health Reform: A Satirical History,” from 4-5 p.m. Nov. 3; and
Matthew Masiello, MD, MPH, and Diana Schroeder, MSN, RN, will sign copies of their book, “A Public Health Approach to Bullying Prevention,” on Monday, Nov. 4, from noon-1 p.m.
For those looking for a little break from the action or who want to stretch their legs, APHA is offering an indoor history trail. Twenty-five signs located on the first floor of the convention center will mark major milestones in APHA and public health history.
Throughout the Annual Meeting, the Mix and Mingle Lounge will be a central gathering point for attendees. The lounge, which will be located in the North Lobby of the convention center, will offer free computer access in the Electronic Information Center. The entire convention center will offer free Wi-Fi access to attendees during the meeting.
The Annual Meeting will also have opportunities for engagement via social media. APHA will host a Social Media Lab on Nov. 4 and 5 in concert with representatives from AIDS.gov, which is known for its social media expertise. The lab will offer the opportunity for one-on-one meetings with social media experts who can walk people through the hows and whys of setting up accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube and other social media channels. Meeting attendees can sign up for a free 20-minute session on-site or register online now at bit.ly/APHASocialLab.
For the fourth year in a row APHA will also host a social media meetup on Sunday, Nov. 3 at 5:30 p.m. To RSVP, visit http://bit.ly/APHAMeetup13.
Annual Meeting attendees can be a part of the conversation via APHA social media channels, including the Annual Meeting Blog at APHAAnnualMeeting.blogspot.com. APHA has accounts on Facebook, Twitter — @APHAAnnualMtg and #apha13 — Flickr, Storify, LinkedIn and more. Visit the meeting social media page at www.apha.org/meetings/socialmedia for more information.
APHA will feature 10 special sessions during the Annual Meeting, addressing topics ranging from violence prevention to healthy foods to waste in health care. Session 3009.1, to be held from 8:30-10 a.m. Nov. 4, will look at health reform in the U.S. and the recent reforms to the United Kingdom’s National Health Service.
The session, titled “Royal Society of Public Health Annual Lecture: Health Reform: A Global Perspective,” will feature Fiona Sim, MBBS, MSc, LLM, of the Royal Society for Public Health and Howard Koh, MD, MPH, assistant secretary for health in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Participants will be able to earn continuing education credits by attending scientific sessions at the meeting. Education opportunities will also be offered at the meeting’s Learning Institutes, which will be held Nov. 2-3.
Meeting attendees can begin keeping track now of events they want to attend using free tools from APHA. The Association’s online personal scheduler, online at www.apha.org/meetings/eventschedule, allows attendees to create their own Annual Meeting itinerary from a list of events. The Annual Meeting app, called APHA Meeting, is available for iPhone, iPad and Android devices. There is also a mobile Web version for BlackBerry and other products.
Sessions and events at APHA’s 141st Annual Meeting will be centered at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center.
Photo courtesy Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism/Flickr Creative Commons
Registration will be available on-site at the Annual Meeting. As in years past, APHA members will also give back through the Help Us Help Them campaign during registration. This year, APHA has chosen Groundwork Lawrence, an organization that promotes healthy communities and empowers residents of Lawrence, Mass., to improve their quality of life. APHA’s goal is to raise $20,000.
APHA will be providing shuttle buses for transportation between most official meeting hotels. Accessibility information for people with disabilities is available online.
The 141st Annual Meeting will end with the closing general session from 2:30-4 p.m. Nov. 6. Keynote speaker Evan Tlesla Adams, MD, MPH, will talk about his work improving the health of native people in Canada. He will be joined by a panel of public health experts to discuss disparities and social determinants of health.
For more information, visit www.apha.org/meetings/annualmeeting, call 202-777-2742 or email annualmeeting{at}apha.org.
Scavenger hunt, food tour among special Section-related events
Beyond the official APHA Annual Meeting events, the Association’s member groups often schedule their own related activities during the meeting.
For example, a Food and Nutrition Section working group is organizing a food system tour on Nov. 2 and the Community Health Planning and Policy Development Section will be doing its annual community outreach activity.
The Physical Activity Section will sponsor two events — open to all attendees — on Nov. 4 that are designed to get Annual Meeting participants moving.
The first is a guided tour of Boston’s Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway Conservancy from noon-1 p.m. The tour will include information about the conservancy’s history, activities and plans.
The other event, to be held from 4-6 p.m., is a scavenger hunt in the Seaport District near the convention center. Teams will sign in and pick up written clues and a map outside the convention center.
For more information on the related Section activities, which are not in the Annual Meeting program, contact Section leadership or read the latest Section newsletters on the APHA website, www.apha.org.
- Copyright The Nation’s Health, American Public Health Association
