Jul. 9, 2020

Announcing ObesityWeek® 2020 Interactive

July 8, 2020

Dear colleagues:

I am writing to announce that ObesityWeek® 2020 will be held as an interactive, online conference during the week of November 2, 2020. This change in format has been necessitated by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, and its persistent effects on health risk, travel and large gatherings.

In making this decision, TOS leadership has been guided by the course and pattern of viral spread in different areas of the country, recommendations of medical and public health experts, the response of local and national officials, and the perspective of an ad hoc ObesityWeek task force of previous TOS presidents.

While we have only recently begun the process of converting from a standard professional gathering to an online, interactive version, over the past 8 weeks we have examined a wide variety of strategies, schedules and software solutions available to the meetings community. 

As ObesityWeek® 2020 Interactive is developed, we will aim to reproduce the most important parts of our usual in-person meeting. We will also look to enhance and extend the usual conference by exploiting the unique capabilities of an online format. We have assembled a working group of TOS members to help guide this effort. We encourage you to contribute your suggestions by email to OWInteractive@obesity.org, and we will keep TOS members and previous ObesityWeek® attendees informed of our progress.

I am grateful to members of the ObesityWeek Task Force – Allen Levine (chair), Penny Gordon-Larsen, Harvey Grill, Jim Hill and Steve Smith – who provided valuable perspective in making this decision. I also appreciate those of you who have responded to our recent survey – the response was excellent and will provide important guidance as we define the structure and program for ObesityWeek® Interactive.

ObesityWeek® 2020 is happening: ObesityWeek Interactive at ObesityWeek.org. From Innovative Science to Transformational Care. With more than a dozen collaborating professional societies. 

November 2-6, 2020. Please put it in your calendar and let your colleagues know (#ObesityWeekIsHappening).

I look forward to joining you online in November at ObesityWeek® Interactive. In the meantime, please stay safe and continue your important work to improve the lives of people living with obesity.

With warm regards,

Lee Kaplan

2019-2020 President, The Obesity Society