Thank you for your interest in covering pediatric topics offered at the national meeting of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). The National Conference & Exhibition is a private meeting of the AAP. The granting of media credentials for the meeting is at the sole discretion of the AAP Department of Public Affairs.
Please note the following AAP Press Room guidelines and media credentialing policies for the national conference.
Press Badges
Only individuals who are working for and representing a recognized news organization may register as press. To receive a press badge, working journalists must provide identification such as a business card, letter of assignment and published samples of bylined work, preferably stories relating to pediatric health. All freelance journalists must provide a letter of assignment on company letterhead from an editor of a recognized news organization certifying you are covering the national conference for the organization. Press badges are available only to working journalists who can show evidence that their attendance will result in coverage of the conference. All attendees are to required to be vaccinated for COVID-19 and must adhere to AAP’s Health & Safety and Code of Conduct policies. Reporters are strongly encouraged to apply for press badges in advance of the conference. Reporters will pick up their press badges at the Exhibitor Registration located in the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. Please note that individuals will have to show a valid ID to receive your badge.
On-site registration is not guaranteed and may be delayed.
Based on space requirements, the AAP Department of Public Affairs reserves the right to limit the number of press badges issued to a single media organization. The AAP does not issue press badges to: publishers or a publication’s advertising, marketing, public relations or sales representatives; publishers, editors or reporters from manufacturers’ house organs or promotional publications; public relations staff of exhibitors or educational institutions; writers creating analyses or reports sold as a commodity to customers; educational program developers (including Continuing Medical Education writers and editors and those writing for its international equivalent); or other individuals or their representatives who are not actually reporting on the meeting. Any Press Room badge holder who sells, markets or represents a company or organization for the purpose of obtaining advertising or subscriptions from any meeting registrant or exhibitor immediately forfeits press credentials.
A press badge allows media to attend all conference news briefings, plenary sessions and seminars. It must be obtained before attending news briefings, plenary sessions and seminars, and worn at all times while attending conference events. A press badge is not to be shared.
Registration fees for working press are waived. Public Affairs staff considers working press to be editorial staff of newspapers or magazines, medical or health care news publications and broadcast or Web-based news media outlets.
Media may attend ticketed events depending on space. Ticket-holders have priority for seating. Ticketed events, meeting presentations, seminars and plenary sessions are part of the meeting and offered for the benefit of AAP members. The AAP requests that media not pose questions to presenters during these events. Instead, interviews with presenters can be arranged through the Press Room during the conference, or through the AAP Department of Public Affairs staff prior to the conference. Journalists wishing to videotape or photograph presentations must follow the guidelines below. AAP reserves the right to remove press credentials from those who do not follow these guidelines.
Photography and Video
Television crews, video crews and news photographers covering the meeting are required to check in immediately at the Press Room each day, and must be accompanied at all times by an AAP Press Room staff member when shooting inside the convention center or at one of the affiliate hotels for any educational session, seminar or event, including plenary sessions, point/counterpoint sessions , and keynote addresses. Shooting schedules and on-camera interview requests must be provided in writing in advance to ensure Press Room staff availability. As a courtesy to presenters, television and video crews, news photographers, and radio reporters must obtain permission from the AAP, speaker and moderator before recording or filming. Press Room staff will assist in obtaining permission to the extent possible.
Short interviews conducted in the hallways of the convention center or one of the affiliate hotels do not require an AAP Press Room staff member to be present, but we require you to check in the press room and inform us as to when/where you will be filming ahead of time. Media may not photograph or videotape any exhibit booth without the permission of the exhibitor and the AAP. This includes use of camera phones, personal digital cameras and other handheld devices. An AAP Press Room staff member must be present when filming on the exhibit hall floor. Many exhibits are proprietary.
Press Materials and Press Room
Registered journalists will receive an electronic press kit with embargoed news releases about scheduled news briefings, media highlights, educational sessions and scientific abstracts approximately one week prior to the conference. Releases also will be posted on EurekAlert! at the same time. To access embargoed scientific abstracts in advance of the conference, journalists should contact the AAP Department of Public Affairs. To find topics of interest and other meeting information, journalists may also search the online Program Guide at http://www.aapexperience.org/.
All materials distributed in the AAP Press Room during AAP meetings must relate to the educational content of AAP sessions, and the material must be reviewed and approved by the AAP. Exhibitors who wish to distribute materials, such as press releases or press kits, for the media may do so at their booths, not in the Press Room. Exhibitors are not AAP spokespersons and should not be identified as such in an interview.
Use of the Press Room is limited to those who are registered as media and to those AAP meeting participants who are invited by a reporter for an interview or are scheduled to participate in a press briefing. Internet connections are available free of charge for registered journalists.
Scientific Papers
In order to help maintain their eligibility for peer-reviewed journal publication, some researchers may not want to make themselves available for media interviews. Journalists who want to use slides, graphs and other visuals to illustrate coverage must have the presenter’s permission. Press Room staff will assist in obtaining permission to the extent possible.
The AAP appreciates your interest in child health issues. We hope that you have an instructive and enjoyable time at our meeting and encourage you to join us at future meetings. Please let us know if we can help you in any way. If you are not already on our email list, please contact Lisa Black at lblack@aap.org or commun@aap.org. You will receive weekly emails highlighting newsworthy studies in Pediatrics, as well as other AAP news releases.
AAP Department of Public Affairs
(630) 626-6177 Commun@aap.org