ASH Annual Meeting Media Registration and Guidelines


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ASH's media guidelines provide editors, reporters, and health and medical writers with information about the Society's policies and procedures regarding coverage of ASH's 50th Annual Meeting scheduled for December 6-9, 2008, at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, California. This year's meeting promises to be particularly exciting as the Society will be celebrating its 50th anniversary.

Media registration for the 2008 ASH Annual Meeting now open!

The following is offered to properly credentialed members of the media:

Complimentary annual meeting registration
An embargoed press kit
Access to annual meeting abstracts online (and in hard copy, if requested)
Admission to daily press briefings
Admission to all non-ticketed ASH sessions as well as Friday Satellite Symposia
One-on-one interview opportunities
Press room access

The ASH press program schedule and list of presentation topics are made available in advance of the meeting to members of the media only. Reporters who are unable to attend the press conferences will be able to access recordings of the briefings by phone the day after each conference through the remainder of the week.

Information regarding media registrants is proprietary. The Society does not give, rent, or sell current, past, or on-site media registration lists.

Media Registration Eligibility Requirements
Annual Meeting Embargo Policy
On-Site Media Guidelines
Media Room and Media Briefing Policies
Corporate/Institutional Media Materials
Non-Society Press Events and Friday Satellite Symposia
Violation of ASH Policies

Media Registration Eligibility Requirements

Media registration is open until November 24, 2008. Journalists who are employed by accredited news organizations attending the meeting for the purpose of editorial coverage will be granted media credentials. To qualify, journalists are required to submit a letter verifying assignment to the meeting on the letterhead of the news organization being represented, media identification (such as an international, accredited press pass), or a business card issued by a recognized news organization.

Freelance journalists must submit copies of three bylined hematology/oncology-related articles in addition to an official letter of assignment from an accredited news organization.

Newsletter media must submit three issues of their newsletter containing at least one bylined article. If a representative was registered as media at a previous ASH annual meeting, one of the issues submitted must illustrate the resulting editorial coverage.

Representatives from online media, medical publishing companies, and health-care society, association, and university publications must have appropriate media credentials (i.e., a letter of assignment and/or a business card from a recognized news organization) and meet the following criteria:

Original, editorial news coverage
Editorial freedom from advertisers and/or sponsors
Multiple advertisers that are clearly identified

Companies or organizations producing publications, videos, and/or other electronic media intended for marketing, advertising, financial analysis, or public relations purposes may not register as media. Financial analysts and public relations personnel may not register as media.

Annual Meeting Embargo Policy

The media, companies and institutions issuing press releases, and others are required to abide by the embargo policies governing the Society's annual meeting.

The first release of the abstracts is made to the public (in compliance with the Securities and Exchange Commission's Regulation FD) in early November on the ASH Web site. The abstracts are also published in a special issue of Blood in mid-November.

Coverage of information that goes beyond what is contained in the four corners of the abstract (e.g., additional analysis, commentary, or updated information) is embargoed according to the following criteria:

For oral presentations: the embargo time is the start time of the session in which the presentation is being made, or the beginning of the ASH press briefing containing the research, whichever comes first.

For poster presentations: the embargo lifts when the poster session containing the poster opens for viewing in the morning.

While media may attend the Friday Satellite Symposia preceding the ASH annual meeting, the embargo policy still applies for abstracts that will be presented at the ASH annual meeting.

Issuing Press Releases

Companies with products whose value may be influenced by information contained in an abstract may issue a press release coinciding with the availability of the abstract to the public. Under no circumstances should any press releases (embargoed or not) on studies submitted for consideration for the ASH annual meeting be issued before the abstracts are made public on the ASH Web site.

If the press release contains information that goes beyond that contained within the four corners of the abstract (e.g., additional analysis, commentary, or updated information), the release must clearly display the embargo date and time of the presentation at the annual meeting. The company issuing the release assumes responsibility for ensuring embargoed releases are only distributed to reporters who will abide by ASH’s embargo policy.

All press releases must contain the following text: "This research will be presented at the 50th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology," and must include the date and time of an abstract’s oral or poster presentation.

Companies wishing to distribute releases at the ASH annual meeting should review the Corporate/Press Materials section below for further instruction.

We encourage individuals to check the ASH Web site for up-to-date embargo information in early November, and are happy to answer questions about the target release date. If you have any questions regarding the correct embargo dates/times for the ASH abstracts, please contact Communications Manager Wendy Stokes by e-mail or by phone at 202-552-4927.

On-Site Media Guidelines

The following rules apply only to registered media. All other meeting attendees are required to adhere to the general Meeting Rules and Regulations.

Meeting Admission

Registered media are required to wear the Society's media badge at all times while on site at the annual meeting. All scientific sessions, education sessions, abstract sessions, and special lectures at the annual meeting are open to the media. Entry into sessions requires a badge. In addition, media may attend the Friday Satellite Symposia. The Meet-the-Expert and Pioneers in Hematology Sessions are not open to registered media.

Photography

Registered media may take photos in any poster session, session room, or ASH press conference. Specific areas in each session room will be designated for registered media to take photos. Please check in with the room monitor to be directed to the press photography area. Taking photos in a session room outside of the designated area is prohibited. No one is allowed to take photographs in the exhibit hall except the official ASH photographer. Offenders may have their meeting badges revoked and not be allowed to continue attending the meeting.

Videotaping

Registered media, when accompanied by an ASH media relations staff member, are allowed to videotape in public areas of the convention center. Media must receive prior approval and arrange for an escort by visiting on the on-site Press Room. Media are also permitted to videotape any ASH press conference. Videotaping in any poster session, session room, or in the exhibit hall, is strictly prohibited. Offenders may have their meeting badges revoked and not be allowed to continue attending the meeting.

Audio Recording

Audio recording is permitted in the poster sessions, session rooms, and ASH press conferences for registered media only. Absolutely no recording of any kind by anyone is ever permissible in the exhibit hall. Violators will be escorted out and barred from returning.

Interviews

An interview room may be reserved by registered media through the press room staff. Use of this room is by appointment only and is subject to availability. Special requests related to media facilities above and beyond what is provided by ASH must be made in writing no less than three weeks prior to the annual meeting and must be approved by the Society; please contact Wendy Stokes by e-mail or by phone at 202-552-4927 with these requests.

Media interviews are also allowed to take place within the confines of a company’s booth, so long as the rules of the ASH exhibit hall are observed, including the prohibition of visual or audio recording devices as mentioned above.

Children Under 12

For safety reasons, children under the age of 12 (including infants in carriers and strollers, or hand-carried infants and toddlers) are not permitted in the exhibit hall, poster sessions, session rooms, or ASH Press Room. Child-care services will be provided at the meeting.

Press Room and Press Briefing Policies

Media credentials are required for use of the press room. Company and public relations representatives may enter the room to drop off press materials to ASH staff for review, but are not permitted beyond the entryway table. All public relations and corporate representatives are expected to be respectful of reporters' needs and deadlines. ASH will provide a bulletin board near the front table where representatives may leave messages for journalists.

Researchers presenting data at an ASH press briefing are permitted to invite two company and/or institution representatives to attend the briefing and are asked to submit the names of their guests to ASH staff in advance of the briefing. Guests of press briefing participants may not engage in promotional discussions during the briefings or inside the briefing room.

Handouts of presentation slides provided during ASH press briefings are for background information only and cannot be published or reproduced without written permission from the study investigator.

Corporate/Institutional Press Materials

For the convenience of registered media, companies and institutions are invited to bring press materials to be displayed in the press room after review by the Society's press relations staff. Approved press materials will be displayed in a location designated for non-ASH press materials.

Information contained within the press materials must specifically pertain to research being presented at the annual meeting. If a company has a booth in the ASH exhibit hall, it is permissible for the company to also list their booth number in the press release.

Absolutely no unsolicited materials of any kind may be handed out in the hallways outside the press room, or anywhere in the convention center. Press releases may not be handed out at exhibit hall booths; companies should use the ASH Press Room for the distribution of press releases.

To meet the criteria for display in the press room, all press materials must:

Be clearly labeled with the abstract number(s) of the research being highlighted.

Prominently display the proper embargo time of the abstract(s) highlighted. Please contact the ASH media relations staff if you have questions regarding the correct embargo dates/times for the ASH abstracts.

Include a citation that properly states the name of the Society. An example of recommended text: "This information was presented at the 50th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology." Use of the ASH logo without explicit written permission is prohibited.

Institutional or corporate materials, as well as any materials of a promotional nature, are not permitted in the press room. Examples of prohibited materials include:

Branded folders (only plain or clear folders are allowed; use of company letterhead is permissible for press releases)
Press releases on CD are not acceptable; press releases must be printed
Corporate backgrounders or press kits
Press releases regarding data that will not be published or presented at the ASH annual meeting

Press releases on the availability of experts, or lists of experts
Media advisories, such as lists of presentation times and locations
Product backgrounders, such as a fact sheet on a particular drug
Disease backgrounders that highlight only one treatment (disease backgrounders are permissible if they are unbranded and either contain no treatment information or an overview of all available treatments)

The annual meeting abstracts are copyrighted by ASH and can not be reprinted or included in third-party press releases or press kits.

Press materials must be dropped off for review on site to the staff in the ASH Press Room at the annual meeting. It may take up to 24 hours for materials to be approved for display. Press materials cannot be reviewed prior to the meeting, and they cannot be shipped directly to the convention center or to the Society's headquarters office.

Non-ASH Press Events and Friday Satellite Symposia

Press briefings, news conferences, and press receptions, other than those sponsored by the Society, are permitted; however, they can not be held on site at the convention center or at any time during ASH-sponsored events. In accordance with ASH’s embargo policy, such press activities may not occur until after the related abstract’s presentation start time. To obtain approval and reserve meeting space, contact Arthinia Morgan at 202-776-0544 or exhibits@hematology.org.

Companies sponsoring Friday Satellite Symposia programs may not disseminate information related to the ASH annual meeting embargoed program beyond the information contained within the four corners of the published abstracts. The Society's name cannot be used in Friday Satellite Symposia announcements or materials, or in any other manner that gives the appearance of endorsement. Unauthorized use of the ASH logo is prohibited.

Violation of ASH Policies

The Society reserves the right to bar, from this and future annual meetings, any registered media who attempt to obtain advertising or subscriptions from any exhibitor or registrant, who deliberately promote the marketing objectives of a single company or institution, or who misuse media privileges to engage in activities other than journalistic pursuits.

If a company violates any of the above ASH policies, ASH reserves the right to reduce the violating company’s priority points, prevent participation in future Friday Satellite Symposia, prevent access to ancillary meeting space in future years, and/or prevent the company from participating as an exhibitor in future years.