Exhibit Management has selected Brede Exposition Services (Hereafter known as "Service Contractor") to serve as official contractor to provide various services to Exhibitors.

Complete information, instructions, and schedule of prices regarding drayage, labor for installation and dismantling, electrical work, furniture, cleaning, etc., will be included in the Exhibitors Service Kit to be mailed 15. An Exhibitor Service Center will be maintained on the exhibit floor to facilitate service requests from Exhibitors.

It is agreed that the Exhibitor will abide by and comply with rules and regulations concerning local unions having agreement with the David L. Lawrence Convention Center and with authorized contractors employed by Service Contractor.

Should there be specific questions Brede can be reached at:

Brede Exposition Services
2300 Principal Row
Orlando, FL 32837
Phone: (407) 851-0261
Fax: (407) 859-3904
http://www.brede.com

Should you need assistance in planning an event to be held in a location other than one of the official hotels, please contact:

Renee Abrams
Renee Abrams & Associates
1433 Browning Road
Pittsburgh, PA 15206
Phone: 412-363-3112
Email: reneabrams@aol.com
http://www.reneeabrams.com

AAPM, in conjunction with the Advanced Technology Consortium, is initiating a new activity at this year’s annual meeting. The DICOM Connect-a-thon will allow technical exhibitors to show compliance with the RT Extensions to DICOM. For 2004, this compliance will be demonstrated by their ability to export cases from their systems to the ATC QA Centers (ITC, St. Louis or RCET, Gainesville, FL).

Datasets, supplied by the ATC, have already been distributed using the DICOM Working Group 7 mailing list. Once each exhibitor has developed a treatment plan using these datasets, they can be tested by returning them to the ATC via their normal planning system export capabilities. Along with the datasets, manufacturers should submit a copy of their DICOM conformance statements.

The datasets and DICOM Conformance statements will be evaluated by the ATC and AAPM. In addition, a DICOM central test node will be available during the AAPM Annual Meeting to allow exhibitors to demonstrate compliance. Information on the results of the Connect-a-thon will be available at the ATC booth during the meeting. Exhibitors may also arrange with the AAPM and the ATC staff to demonstrate their compliance with the ATC, or to discuss their DICOM conformance statements.

For details, contact:

Bruce H. Curran, ME
Univ Michigan Medical Center
Radiation Oncology
UH-B2C432 Box 0010
1500 E Medical Center Dr
Ann Arbor MI 48109-0010
Phone: 734-936-4309

bcurran@med.umich.edu