ASHG provides complimentary press registration to staff and working freelance journalists who wish to attend the 2019 Annual Meeting or cover it remotely from their offices. To register, individuals must apply online in advance (recommended) or on site at the Press Office in the George R. Brown Convention Center (Room 351B), during the hours listed below.

Eligibility

The following individuals are eligible for press registration:

• Reporters, writers, producers, and editors as well as photographers and videographers with staff credentials from newspapers, magazines, online news services, wire services, and radio or television networks and stations
• Freelancers with assignment letters from established, verifiable media outlets
• Freelancers with at least one bylined article/report published online, in print, or broadcast by an established, verifiable media outlet during the six months prior to the meeting
• Online news services or online outlets that provide daily or weekly coverage of health and science
• Bloggers who frequently comment about health and science

The following individuals are not eligible for press registration:

• Writers, editors, and public relations professionals affiliated with exhibitors
• Industry representatives and financial or industry analysts
• Writers and editors for industry publications and websites
• Manuscript editors of journals
• Representatives of public relations firms and the public relations/communications offices of industry, academic, government, and nonprofit organizations

These individuals must register for ASHG 2019 as regular attendees and pay the required registration fee, regardless of affiliation with a news or trade media organization, contracted exhibitor, scientific journal, or publishing company. They may not attend media briefings or work in the ASHG Press Office.

Press Badges and Press Room

Journalists whose applications for ASHG 2019 press credentials are approved in advance of the conference must pick up their press badges and meeting materials upon arrival at the meeting in the ASHG Press Office (Room TBD). Pre-registered press should bring business cards or other forms of identification to the Press Office.

Press who plan to register on site should bring identification, staff credentials, and assignment letters and/or bylined articles as appropriate.

While at ASHG 2019, journalists must:

• Wear or display their official ASHG 2019 press badge at all times while on site
• Not exchange, loan, or borrow ASHG 2019 press badges – Individuals who do so will be required to leave the meeting
• Follow the same camera/recording policy as other ASHG attendees – Attendees may not use cameras, including mobile phone and tablet cameras, or any other audio and/or video recording devices in meeting session rooms, on the Exhibit & Poster Hall floor, or in poster/oral presentations

Embargo Guidelines

ASHG aims to encourage presentation of the latest findings and enable responsible and quality reporting of those findings by press in attendance. To this end, all abstracts, posters, presentations, symposia, and scientific and invited sessions at the ASHG 2019 Annual Meeting will be embargoed until the date and start time of their presentation at the meeting. This means that press registrants may not publish any information about work being presented at the meeting until the date and start time of the presentation. This policy helps ensure that all reporters have access to the same, up-to-date and complete information when researching and writing their articles.

By applying for press credentials, you are agreeing to adhere to all embargoes.

Exhibitor Press Events and Use of Press Office

Exhibitors and other non-ASHG organizations may hold events for the press in connection with the meeting, as long as the following criteria are met:

• Events may not be held in ASHG meeting space. This includes the Press Office.
• Events may not conflict with ASHG’s official press briefing schedule. Thus, they should be held and completed before 9:00 am or after 5:00 pm.
• Events may be promoted via materials left on a table in the Press Office designated for non-ASHG organizations. Such materials may not state or imply an endorsement by ASHG.

Exhibitors and representatives of academic institutions, federal agencies, and other organizations whose researchers are presenting at ASHG 2019 may leave press materials related to the meeting on a designated table in the Press Office. These individuals may not, however, work in the ASHG Press Office.

Please see our Exhibitors section for additional information about exhibiting at the ASHG Annual Meeting.

Press Materials Development Process

Press materials for the ASHG Annual Meeting are developed by the ASHG staff along with committee leaders and authors of submitted abstracts.

After the abstract submission deadline passes, the staff and subject matter experts on the Program Committee and Communications Committee develop a short list of accepted abstracts likely to be of interest to the press and general public. This list is reviewed as a whole and revised to ensure balance among topics and scientific approaches. Then, the staff works with abstract authors to develop press releases summarizing each study’s findings and their importance, the final versions of which are reviewed and approved by the first and senior authors, as well as committee leaders with subject matter expertise. Press releases are issued under embargo in the days leading up to the meeting, and posted publicly once the abstract has been presented.

Questions? Email press@ashg.org.