Attendance at many major meetings has dropped significantly since Covid. However, it wasn't just social distancing that caused the slowdown. Our world is showing amazing progress in technologies and the ways we communicate and in-person meetings are one of the victims. Since the pandemic, overall trade show attnedance has been dropping. Now comes word that on Thursday May 23, 2025 the American Dental Association announced that the 2025 Smilecon meeting will be the last one.
The first video ever played on MTV on August 1, 1981 was "Video Killed the Radio Star" by The Buggles, and that was prophetic. Now online education has just killed what was once the premier in-person trade show in dentistry. Young doctors no longer feel the need to close their offices for several days and travel to far away places. YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram feed the desire for learning and CE credits can be earned through viewing webinars.
Last week I mentioned that the CDA seems to be on the rebound. I still believe some of the larger in-person meetings will continue. I think there is something to be said for a meeting at basically the same time and at the same location year after year. When you are planning on attending a meeting, being able to know the location and not having to travel can be big reason to go. By trying to move every year, Smilecon wanted to make itself available to the majority of their members who are spread throughout the country. The goal was that no matter where you lived, every few years the meeting was at least in your general vicinity. That was an admirable idea, but I think that might have lead to it's demise. However, this has been something many in the industry have predicted for a few years. Recent attendance has been down quite a bit both in attendance from doctors and booths manned by exhibitors. The last Smilecon that I attended was in Orlando in 2023 and everyone noticed that the attendance was light. And just to be clear, this is not an indictment of Smilecon. Many meetings have suffered from low attendance since 2020 and I feel we're going to see more contraction in the future.
However, in their press release the ADA mentioned:
The Governance and Organizational Manual of the ADA requires that the ADA hold an annual scientific session. The ADA is exploring new meeting possibilities and programs to advance oral and overall health by keeping dental professionals up to date on the latest scientific guidelines and technical innovations. Further information will be shared when it is available.
That means that the association will still continue to explore options for some type of meeting, which in my opinion is good news. Education is critical to the profession, and the ADA has frequently helped provide some of the best education there is in dentistry. I'm hopeful that whatever comes next in the required scientific session is successful. It will probably be smaller and not such an expensive line item in the budget, but that's ok by me.
More importantly, dentistry needs the united voice that is the ADA. There is a huge benefit to the profession speaking with a single voice, and that voice is the ADA. Dentistry has benefitted greatly from the hard work of the ADA. Now they can take the financial resources that were being poured into the meeting and use it for other projects. I'm hopeful of what they can with that cash.
Here's a bit of nostalgia... in 1998 what was then called "The ADA Annual Session" was flying high. This was in the very early days of the Internet and computers in healthcare. Back then I had started taking computers apart in my office and had begun writing for a newsletter (photocopied and delivered via USPS) called 'Tools R Us' and published by a good friend Dr. Bob Davis.
Back then my writing for Bob's newsletter on technology in dentistry had somehow come to the attention of some folks at the ADA headquarters in Chicago. With technology poised to have a major impact on the healthcare industry, the ADA had decided to have a special day on the subject as part of their Annual Session. The first ever ADA Technology Day was in San Francisco in 1998.
I vividly remember my first lecture for the ADA. One of the things I spoke about was a new technology that allowed users to connect peripheral devices to their computers. It was called "Universal Serial Bus" and was abbreviated USB. I clearly remember talking about it while audience members furiously scribbled in their notebooks. There were some vendors displaying leading edge tech and the one thing I was really blown away by was a 17 inch flat screen display being shown by Intel. I had seen pictures of them, but this was my first time to actually see one in person. The retail price was $7000!
I was really lucky. At that meeting I made a lot of good industry contacts, which is important for anyone who wants to educate their peers. I spoke at every ADA meeting for about the next 25 years. Often getting into the show meant going through the doors in a mass of humanity. It was incredible.
As someone who has made a career out of being in love with tech I can tell you without a doubt, everything evolves and as progress is made older ideas and tools are replaced. The evolution of broadband connections and video has changed the way many people receive their information. I still think some in-person meetings will survive, but we've now entered a time when we are going to see contraction in their numbers. The ADA Annual Session was a real boon to my career as Technology Evangelist and I'm sad to see it go. However it makes no sense to spend resources on a meeting that few attend. At the end of the day, this was a business decision. I get that and I support the decision, but I can still be nostalgic for those good old days.
The ADA press release can be found here. There was also a post in the ADA News that you can read here.
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