Networking Opportunities Abound In IPS Exhibit Hall

APA travels to the heart of the south for its 2004 Institute on Psychiatric Services. The theme of this year's institute is “Mental Health Disparities in the Community.”

The institute is often referred to as APA's “other meeting,” and many may not know what that means. Where the annual meeting is seemingly immense and all encompassing, the institute is informal, clinically focused, less hectic, and multidisciplinary. Because of its more concentrated size, the meeting offers attendees more opportunities to interact with faculty and network with colleagues, both national and international.

The institute's central gathering point will be the Exhibit Hall, located in Georgia Hall on the lower level of the Hilton Atlanta Hotel. Meeting attendees are welcome to drop by for morning coffee and afternoon receptions. Commercial and educational exhibitors will be available to discuss the latest products and services for psychiatrists and mental health professionals, including pharmaceutical products, computer software, and books. Further, APA staff will be on hand in the APA Member Center and Job Bank to provide an array of services or answer questions.

Many registrants won't go home empty handed. Drawings for valuable prizes will be conducted in the morning and afternoon. This year's prizes include a notebook computer, Palm Pilot, personal copy machine, fax machine, cordless phone, DVD player, digital camera, video camera, stereo, free registration to APA's 2005 annual meeting, free registration to the 2005 institute, color television, dinner for two, and two roundtrip domestic airline tickets.

The exhibits will open at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, October 7, and close at 5:45 p.m. on Saturday, October 9.

More information about the institute, including a preliminary program, CME course listing, and housing information, is posted online at<www.psych.org/edu/ann_mtgs/ips/04/index.cfm>.▪