Press Guidelines & Policies

PAS provides complimentary press registration to eligible credentialed journalists who wish to attend the PAS 2020 Meeting or cover it remotely from their offices.

PAS requires members of the press to register in advance. Press registration for the PAS 2020 Meeting can be requested by completing the below form. Press registration should be requested as soon as possible. Deadline to register is April 24, 2020.

Upon approval, an acceptance letter will be sent with additional information.

Eligibility Requirements

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 within six months prior to the PAS 2020 Meeting
Writers for online news services or online outlets that provide daily or weekly coverage of health and science
Well established bloggers who frequently comment or write 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
Sponsored bloggers and bloggers for company pages
Representatives of public relations firms and the public relations/communications offices of industry, academic, government, and nonprofit organizations

These individuals must register for the PAS 2020 Meeting 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 PAS Press Office.

Press Badges and Press Room

Approved journalists will receive a QR code to scan and print their badges on site. Press materials should be picked up upon arrival to the PAS 2020 Meeting in the PAS Press Office (location TBD). A photo ID is required.

While at PAS 2020, journalists must:

Wear or display their official PAS 2020 Meeting press badge at all times while on site
Not exchange, loan, or borrow PAS 2020 Meeting press badges – Individuals who do so will be required to leave the meeting
Follow the same camera/recording policy as regular PAS 2020 Meeting 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 Hall floor, or in poster/oral presentations

PAS 2019 Meeting Press Office Hours

Saturday, May 2 ~ 7:30am – 5:00pm
Sunday, May 3 ~ 8:00am – 5:00pm
Monday, May 4~ 8:00am – 5:00pm
Tuesday, May 5 ~ 8:00am – 2:45pm

Embargo Guidelines

PAS encourages the promotion of research presented at the PAS 2020 Meeting. The media as well as corporations and institutions issuing press releases are required to abide by the embargo policies governing the PAS 2020 Meeting.

The abstracts selected for presentation at the PAS 2020 Meeting will be posted online before the meeting. The information contained in the abstracts is embargoed until the abstracts are available online. Academic institutions and companies may issue a press release to coincide with the availability of an abstract on the PAS website. However, coverage of information that goes beyond that which is contained in the abstract (e.g., additional analysis, commentary, or presentation of updated data or new information that will be available at the time of the PAS 2020 Meeting) is embargoed from release to the general public until the first day of the PAS 2020 Meeting (12:01 a.m. ET, Saturday, May 2, 2020). This includes information gathered in interviews conducted during the embargo period.

Companies planning to distribute a press release containing embargoed information must ensure that the release clearly displays the embargo date. The company or institution issuing the press release assumes responsibility for ensuring embargoed releases are only distributed to reporters who will abide by the PAS 2020 Meeting embargo policies.

PAS does not share press registration lists.

Exhibitor Press Events and Use of the PAS 2020 Meeting Press Office

Exhibitors and other non-PAS organizations may hold events for the press in connection with the PAS 2020 Meeting, as long as the following criteria are met:

Events may not be held in PAS 2020 Meeting space. This includes the PAS Press Office.
Events may not conflict with PAS’s official press briefing schedule. Thus, they should be held and completed before 9 a.m. or after 5 p.m. (and after 7 p.m. on Saturday)
Events may be promoted via materials left on a table in the PAS Press Office designated for non-PAS organizations. Such materials may not state or imply an endorsement by PAS.

Exhibitors and representatives of academic institutions, federal agencies, and other organizations whose researchers are presenting at the PAS 2020 Meeting may leave meeting related press materials on a designated table in the PAS Press Office. These individuals may not, however, work in the PAS Press Office.

Please see the Exhibitors section for additional information about exhibiting at the PAS 2020 Meeting.

Press Materials

Press materials for the PAS 2020 Meeting are developed by PAS staff, along with the Program Committee and authors of submitted abstracts.

After the abstract submission deadline, PAS staff and subject matter experts on the Program Committee develop a short list of accepted abstracts likely to be of interest to the press and general public. This list is reviewed and revised to ensure balance among topics and scientific approaches. PAS staff work with abstract authors to develop press releases summarizing the studies’ findings and their importance, the final versions of which are reviewed and approved by the first and senior authors, as well as the Program Committee subject matter expert. Press releases are issued under embargo in the days leading up to the PAS 2020 Meeting, and posted publicly on the PAS website once the abstracts have been presented.

Questions? Please email Amber Fraley, PAS Communications Specialist, at amber.fraley@pasmeeting.org