Hinman Dental Meeting’s Hybrid Conference Attracts 6,986 Attendees

The Thomas P. Hinman Dental Meeting—one of the nation’s largest—hosted its first hybrid meeting March 12–13, 2021. The conference attracted nearly 7,000 dentists, dental hygienists, dental assistants, students and other oral health professionals and industry personnel. A little more than 2,000 attended the meeting in person at the Omni Atlanta Hotel. The remaining 5,000 attended virtually, participating in courses and events that were both livestreamed and recorded for on-demand access. The theme, “Feel at Home with Hinman,” emphasized the goal of making everyone feel comfortable, whether they attended in person or virtually.

Hinman 2021’s educational program offered more than 45 in-person courses and more than 40 virtual courses, including live Q&A with the speakers. There were 48 world-class speakers featured and 10 in-person participation courses, as well as Hinman’s first live virtual participation course led by David Clark, DDS.  The meeting drew a total of 2,463 dentists, 2,278 dental hygienists, 419 dental assistants and 233 office staff. Hinman 2021 also attracted both in-person and virtual exhibitors (473), dental and pre-dental students (143), educators (32), laboratory technicians (22) and other dental guests (54). According to Hinman’s survey, 28% of those who participated were first-time Hinman attendees.

In addition to the courses offered, the Keynote Session was livestreamed and featured Air Force Colonel (Ret.) Nicole Malachowski, the first female Thunderbird pilot and one of the first women to fly modern fighters in combat. More than 800 attendees either viewed it in person or online. The onsite exhibit hall, which hosted 70 industry companies, was also a big draw. It offered eight two-hour timeslots for attendees to choose from on Friday and Saturday and limited attendance to 225 people per two-hour slot to ensure social distancing. Online exhibitors, such as Crest+Oral B, Atlanta Dental Supply, Philips Sonicare, 3M and more, also had visits from 2,669 total digital visitors.

The in-person courses limited attendance to a maximum of 148 people. More than 6,200 new and returning attendees logged into livestreamed courses on Friday, March 12 or Saturday, March 13.

Hinman’s virtual courses were available on-demand through April 12 and more than 83% of attendees planned to access the courses if they had not already. This year’s meeting also introduced several new elements that were well received. The online networking community, “Networking Powered by Grip,” allowed event participants to connect and schedule meetings. The all-new “Hinman Studio” broadcasted live from Atlanta and featured interviews with industry experts and influencers.

Planning has already begun for Hinman 2022, which will be held March 17-19 at the Georgia World Congress Center and Omni Hotel at the CNN Center in Atlanta. In the post-meeting attendee survey, Hinman discovered that 87% would like to see a hybrid meeting component continue in the future.