The Party's On in Anaheim
This year's American Industrial Hygiene Conference & Expo is meeting on Disneyland's doorstep amid lavish 50th anniversary celebrations.
"Celebrating Innovation" is the theme for this year's American Industrial Hygiene Conference & Expo (AIHce), and the celebration element is especially appropriate. The setting for the May 21-26 event is the Anaheim Convention Center, a 37-year-old facility on Disneyland's doorstep that most recently underwent an expansion in 2000, giving it a total of 1.6 million square feet.
The center is part of the 1,100-acre Anaheim Resort district, which includes Disneyland, Disney's California Adventure, and Downtown Disney. A prosperous agricultural community before World War II, Anaheim now is California's second-largest city and the heart of Orange County's thriving tourism industry. Staging the big industrial hygiene show there this month is an inspired decision because The Walt Disney Co. began celebrating its 50th anniversary at parks and properties worldwide on May 5, 2005.
Co-sponsors of the event are the American Industrial Hygiene Association (www.aiha.org, 2700 Prosperity Ave., Suite 250, Fairfax, VA 22031, phone 703-849-8888, fax 703-207-3561) and the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (www.acgih.org, 1330 Kemper Meadow Drive, Cincinnati, OH 45240, phone 513-742-2020).
AIHce 2005 Highlights
In keeping with the times, this year's educational program is spiced with sessions about biohazards, crisis communications, and weapons of mass destruction, but mold sessions are even more numerous. Industrial hygiene topics covering training, sampling, and analysis issues are well represented on the program.
With about 6,000 attendees expected, new elements introduced for AIHce 2005 include "Ask the Expert" sessions that will be 95 percent question-and-answer, AIHA promises. Another is the "Unsolved IH Mysteries" lunch discussion/workshop: real case studies asking attendees (attendance is limited to 40) to solve these puzzles. A Nanotechnology Track will explore possible health hazards associated with these materials, with Tuesday's General Session kicking off that track, followed by a roundtable and local technical tour. Sponsors also have organized a Networking Cafe in the poster area of the expo and "Tech-Talks" explaining the activities of AIHA/ACGIH committees.
"Transform the way you tackle constantly changing priorities facing you every day," AIHA and ACGIH urged in their promotional materials. "Solve your challenges and create new opportunities when you register for AIHce 2005 and the all new, innovative programs waiting for you, for the first time, in Anaheim."
Anaheim Attractions
Yes, Anaheim's Angels professional baseball team recently retooled its name by adding "Los Angeles" at the front. (Legal action followed and was still alive at this writing.) Still, Anaheim and surrounding Orange County have an abundance of resources underlying their civic pride. These include miles of beaches nearby, Disneyland and Knott's Theme Park attractions, oodles of shopping destinations, world-class golf courses, and more than 5,000 restaurants. Hawaiian and tropical fusion chefs and dishes are on the rise at Huntington Beach restaurants including Duke's and Chimayo at the Beach, the Anaheim/Orange County Visitor & Convention Bureau reported earlier this year. Also popular locally are Mediterranean-influenced dishes and light, exotic menus. Day trips to Catalina Island are available by ferry or helicopter (call the Catalina Island Visitors Bureau & Chamber of Commerce at 310-510-1520).
The bureau (www.anaheimoc.org) says convention attendance in the city reached a new high in 2003 with 1,088,188 attendees who generated $1.5 billion in spending. |
The bureau (www.anaheimoc.org) says convention attendance in the city reached a new high in 2003 with 1,088,188 attendees who generated $1.5 billion in spending. Tourism as a whole generated $6.8 billion in sales and 42.7 million visitors in 2003, up from $6.4 billion and 41.8 million visitors in 2002. Anaheim was a fairly good bargain for business travelers last year, according to the 2005 Corporate Travel Index published by
Business Travel News magazine. Average hotel costs in Anaheim were $155.01 per night, 35th on the list of 100 costliest cities, and Anaheim ranked 35th in total per diem at $299.90 (the total includes hotel room rate, car rental, and three meals).
All but two of the official AIHce 2005 hotels are less than a 15-minute walk from the convention center, the sponsors say. Parking at the center costs $8 per day with no in-and-out service.
Social Tours
Conference organizers arranged specially priced tickets to Disneyland for AIHce attendees. Other social tours for the meeting include a day trip to Hollywood, Beverly Hills, and the Santa Monica Pier; a 45-minute cruise of the Newport harbor followed by lunch and shopping; an all-day excursion to Universal Studios Hollywood; and a half-day visit to the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach. It is one of the largest U.S. aquariums and is located close to the Queen Mary, which is open for tours.
Expo Hours
The expo will be open these hours:
* Monday, May 23, 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
* Tuesday, May 24, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
* Wednesday, May 25, 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Eight hours of expo-only time is scheduled during the conference.
This article appeared in the May 2005 issue of Occupational Health & Safety.
This article originally appeared in the May 2005 issue of Occupational Health & Safety.