I was reading Joe and Nancy Sakaduski’s Blog this morning, catching up on what happened at the Chicago Mid Winter meeting, when I noticed a little tidbit about a report released by the Dental Trade Alliance regarding trade shows. I followed the link and downloaded the report and much to my surprise the DTA’s report has confirmed what many have been saying for some time…
The Dental Trade Alliance has concluded that the current model for dental meetings and exhibitions in the United States is no longer efficient or effective. DTA believes that the dental industry and the professional dental societies that organize meetings with exhibitions must work together to change the current model to be more relevant and cost effective.
Over the past few years, the dental industry has become increasingly alarmed by several related trends:
• The number of dental meetings is very large and growing.
• Attendance at, and interest in, dental meetings by dentists and dental team members seems to be declining.
• The cost to exhibit at dental meetings is increasing dramatically.
You can download the full report here.
I am glad that the DTA is finally taking a position on this subject and from the looks of the report they are working in a positive direction towards trade show reform. This will be a long and arduous battle as the dental associations and societies will be sure to put up a fight to keep their members subsidized by the manufacturers and dental dealers.
This is far from over but a step in the right direction.
DI
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