NASS’ Distinctive, Effective Re-Design of the Exhibit Hall

Kudos to Rick Bacon, Edward Dohring, M.D. (North American Spine Society’s President for 2022, now Past-President), and the entire NASS team for a surprising and notably well-received re-design of the Classic Medical Device Exhibit Hall.

Gone was the traditional grid format for exhibitors. In its place was a Surgical Stadium, smack in the middle of the exhibit hall.

Literally and figuratively, NASS put education and training at the hub of all the implant, instrument, robotics, and biologic trade exhibits.

All roads (or main thoroughfares) were angled so that they would naturally direct surgeon traffic to The Surgical Stadium. (See the layout below).

The first company to use the stadium was Joimax, followed by Spinal Elements, Medtronic, Intrinsic Therapeutics/Barricade, Adcura, and Stryker (winner, incidentally, of OTW’s 2022 Best Technology in Spine Award).

Attendance averaged 200 people per session.

We had a chance to catch up with Spinal Elements Chief Marketing and Business Development officer, Rick Simmons, later. How pleased was he with the outcome? I do believe he was walking about three inches off the ground with stars in his eyes.

For his session in the Surgical Stadium, Simmons arranged for Dr. Pierce Nunley, Chairman of the American Board of Spine Surgery, Associate editor for The Spine Journal and Assistant Professor of Surgery at LSU to teach a cadaver lab about Spinal Element’s novel KARMA system.

The audience sat in bleachers that rose at angles from the demonstration surgical table. It reminded me of the first surgical theaters where physicians and students sat at similar angles so that they could peer down at the action on the table. Not unlike Thomas Eakins famous painting, “The Agnew Clinic”.

After their session, it should be noted, Simmons scheduled a follow up lab in NASS’ surgical innovation labs where surgeons in the audience could immediately try out the procedure for themselves.

Massive monitors hovered over the audience where every nuance of the procedure was captured and broadcast.

Designing the center of the exhibit hall as a Surgical Stadium, where master faculty like Dr. Pierce Nunley could lecture, demonstrate using typical surgical equipment, and answer questions was a demonstrably effective training and educational experience.

Rick Bacon, always the best dressed guy at NASS with his trademark bow tie and sharp shoes, led the effort to bring this good idea into reality.

So, join me, and give the NASS team a pat on the back for kicking off this post-COVID meeting with panache, great attendance, and an innovative re-design of the good old exhibit hall. It was long overdue.