ASSP Safety 2020 Virtual Kicks Off, Brings Safety Education to Professionals Online
American Society of Safety Professionals has officially kicked off its fully virtual event bringing safety education, virtual exhibitor booths and digital networking opportunities to online attendees in just a few clicks.
- By Sydny Shepard
- Jun 23, 2020
Usually this time of year I am slipping on my comfiest shoes, finalizing my meeting schedule and making the trek from a hotel room to a large conference center where the American Society of Safety Professionals hosts its annual Safety Professional Development Conference and Exposition. This year, however, I am sitting at my desk at home, eagerly awaiting the first virtual session of ASSP Safety 2020 to begin.
As I’m sure you are all well aware, ASSP made the decision to shift to a fully virtual conference back in April. The conference, which is set for June 23 – 25th, will feature sessions on various safety-related subjects from speakers around the country. The sessions will be pre-recorded, allowing the speaker to chat live with attendees, answering any questions they may have.
Also digitized in this new event format is the exhibitor hall. Online attendees can virtually browse a list of exhibitors, clicking through to their virtual booths. There, attendees can chat with company representatives, download materials and set up one-on-one Zoom conference meetings with an employee to get more individualized information.
Attendees will also have the ability to network with other online registrants, with special networking opportunities available on each day of the virtual conference. There are specific networking sessions that attendees can browse through by clicking on the Networking menu item in their portal.
Occupational Health & Safety will still be dedicated to bringing you the news from the conference, even if we are attending virtually. Be sure to check in on our reporting at ohsonline.com/live as well as listen to the OH&S SafetyPod podcast episodes dedicated to the show – including a conversation with ASSP President Diana Stegall about the Society’s shift to a virtual platform.
OH&S is excited to virtually attend this conference, but I, for one, am sad that this is the way that we must conduct business due to the growing concern of meeting in large groups without the ability to social distance. Planning for, mitigating and defending against COVID-19 has been a struggle and I hope that this conference not only gives you the information that you need to move forward, but it also gives you peace in knowing that all safety professionals are dealing with the same set of circumstances and setbacks.
For more information about ASSP’s Safety 2020 Virtual, visit www.assp.org.
About the Author
Sydny Shepard is the former editor of Occupational Health & Safety.