FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 1, 2008

DC WELCOMES 19,000 PSYCHIATRISTS FOR ANNUAL MEETING

(Washington, DC)…Grab a seat on the couch; the doctors are in. The American Psychiatric Association (APA)’s Annual Meeting comes to Washington, DC next week, May 3-8, bringing 19,000 psychiatrists, social workers and mental health professionals from around the globe to the nation’s capital. It’s the first event in a busy lineup of May happenings in and around the District, including Passport DC’s celebration of international culture, college graduations, Police Week commemorations, an inaugural craft beer tasting event and more.

“We’re welcoming 19,000 psychiatrists and mental health experts to DC next week, and that’s great for the city in a lot of ways—even if they’re not here to make house calls,” quipped Bill Hanbury, president & CEO, Destination DC. “They’ll spend more than $17 million in our hotels, restaurants and attractions.”

he impacts of the massive convention, held at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, will be felt throughout the city as delegates, spouses and families pour into shops and attractions. Many DC restaurants are reporting strong private dining bookings next week, thanks to corporate-sponsored events.

Here are a few facts to consider:

• The delegates will check in to 53 DC area hotels. On the peak night of the convention, delegates will use 8,980 hotel rooms, or nearly one-third of DC’s entire hotel inventory.  In total, the convention will generate 39,954 hotel room nights.
  
• They’ll take part in more than 500 scientific sessions on topics ranging from advances in Alzheimer’s care to Kundalini yoga therapy for psychiatric disorders.
  
• Included in the convention’s line up: lectures by renowned neurologist and author Oliver Sacks, M.D. and Patty Duke, who will share her personal experiences with mental illness.
  
• The convention agenda is also packed with multicultural programming, addressing topics like helping LGBT patients to come out, providing services for women in correctional facilities, stemming violence in minority groups, combating obesity and examining mental illness stigmas in Asian Americans.
• Delegates are invited to discover the city by taking part in 21 organized tours of DC area landmarks and neighborhoods like Hillwood, Mount Vernon and Georgetown. Or, they can view paintings, pottery and other works of art created by APA members and their significant others, on display in the Convention Center’s L Street Bridge Lobby.
  
• Restaurants and private dining venues throughout the city are also raking in business this week. Among the biggest spenders at Old Ebbitt Grill: groups of European doctors and pharmaceutical companies. Zola is playing host to four private events generated by the convention, including three events on May 4 alone. Ashok Bajaj, owner of downtown hotspots Rasika, 701, The Oval Room and Bombay Club as well as Woodley Park’s Ardeo reports an especially busy week for private dining in all of his restaurants. Tiffiny Dunn, THINKfoodGROUP events manager added, “Zaytinya is welcoming dozens of large private dining parties, including both national and international groups, during the May conference.”
  
• The group will operate 10 shuttle routes to transport their delegates to and from the convention center.

The oldest medical specialty society in the U.S., the Arlington, Va.-based APA last met in DC in 1999. One of the year’s largest conventions, the APA gathering sets the stage for major meetings this summer including the National Education Association’s Annual Meeting (July 1-5) and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority’s Centennial Boulé (July 12-18).