The 2nd Annual Oregon Biomedical Association Conference and Exposition is a one-day exhibitor fair that is coming up on Friday, October 24th at the Holiday Inn Portland South in Wilsonville, OR. HCBN talked to Russ Magoon, OBA President, about this important event.

HCBN: This is your 2nd annual conference and expo, so it sounds like the first one was a success?
RM: Yes, the first one did go very well, and there's a lot of enthusiasm from our biomeds and the vendors about our upcoming event. We're bring back all the best aspects we learned from the first go-round.

HCBN: What would some of highlight of this year's conference be?
RM: Well we have a solid line-up of speakers. First and foremost there's Pat Lynch, who likes to call himself the "Biomed Do-Gooder." Pat works for GMI out of Georgia, but he goes around the country to a lot of conferences to raise awareness of the biomed profession and promote it. His presentation is entitles "Is the business of biomed destroying the culture of biomed?" Then thereValdez Bravo,MBA, MHA, and hospital administrator for the VA in Portland, and his theme is "Talking to the C-suite."
And there's also Chris Walton, Washington State Association Biomed Treasurer, speaking on "Career Options in Health Care Technology Management" and Kyle Grozelle, talking about "Ultrasound 101." Attending these presentations qualifies toward maintaining CBET and CRES certification.

HCBN: How many biomends and vendors do you anticipate this year?
RM:We're expecting over 100 biomeds and 35-40 vendors, and both numbers top last year's numbers, which make everyone happy.

HCBN: What does it cost for a vendor to exhibit?
RM: We have three options, ranging from $375 - $600. For $375 you get an 8' x 8' exhibit space with a table and chair, plus free electrical. For $500 you become a corporate sponsor and get your name on the OBA website, plus the 8' x 8' exhibit space. And at the $600 level you get your company name and logo on printed materials, to include a Conference banner.

HCBN: Are there any special events?
RM: Absolutely, there's our Beef & Chicken Lunch for everybody, and lots of door prizes you can win. In fact, we expect a total of more than 25 door prize drawings, all for gifts contributed by the OBA and our vendors. That was a lot of fun last year and will be even better this year.

HCBN: What does it cost for a biomed to attend?
RM: It's just $20 to attended, and that also gets you membership in the OBA for a year. But let me also emphasize that you don't have to be from Oregon to attend, we invite all biomed from the Northwest to attend, because we expect this event to continue to grow year after year.

For more information please visit the OBA website

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