On Tuesday, October 21, members of the GMC PCMA community were treated to a behind-the-scenes look at the American College of Chest Physicians’ Annual Meeting — CHEST 2025. The CHEST team welcomed us into their impressive production to showcase the thoughtful planning, vendor collaboration, and creative engagement strategies that make their meeting such a success.

Inside the Numbers: CHEST’s Growth and Insights

Our day began with a tour of McCormick Place’s Lakeside building, home to this year’s CHEST conference. From the moment we arrived, the event’s cohesive branding and engaging atmosphere made it clear why this program has become one of the most dynamic gatherings in the medical community.

Rich Schuch, Senior Vice President of Education and Chief Learning Officer at CHEST, shared key insights and data illustrating the meeting’s remarkable growth and evolution:

• Over 10,000 total attendees, including 6,100 paid registrants and more than 7,200 medical professionals.
• Demographics: 43% Physicians, 20% Residents, with the remainder including Fellows, Non-Physician Clinicians, and Industry Representatives.
• Year-over-year registration trends:
  • 2018: 4,408 attendees
  • 2019: 5,958 attendees
  • 2022: 4,879 attendees
  • 2023: 5,956 attendees
  • 2024: 6,837 attendees
  • 2025: 7,184 attendees

Since 2018, CHEST’s registration has nearly doubled, a testament to its ongoing innovation and relevance. Of particular note, the Resident demographic has nearly tripled — from 557 in 2019 to just under 1,500 in 2025 — showing how CHEST continues to attract and engage early-career professionals in pulmonary and critical care medicine.

A Dynamic Exhibit Hall Experience

The tour continued through CHEST’s 68,000-square-foot exhibit hall, featuring:

• 174 companies with 183 booths
• 32 Learning Theaters
• 4 Rapid Fire Pods hosting 128 sessions
• 5 Poster areas with nearly 3,000 posters

Interactive experiences thrived — from a pop-up pickleball court and 2 escape rooms, to therapy puppies, trivia games, and a member center giving away custom t-shirts. These activations reflected CHEST’s strong partnership with Freeman, whose precision and collaboration helped bring the complex floor plan and activations to life.

Wellness, Creativity, and Community

CHEST 2025 placed a strong emphasis on wellness and engagement. The foyer area featured reformer Pilates equipment, exercise bikes, and massage stations — all complemented by live music and a painting station led by artist Jaremy Jarvis, where attendees contributed to a mural to be donated to a local health charity.

In celebration of the organization’s 90th anniversary, CHEST awarded 90 grants in their “90 for 90” campaign to support presentations in its Grant Showcase — a meaningful nod to its ongoing commitment to professional development and education.

High-Energy Learning and Innovation

The tour also visited the Arie Crown Theater experience, home to the popular CHEST Challenge. This live Jeopardy-style game show brings together residents from 175 institutions, with the top three competing on stage. Partnering with Encore utilizing a platform that Encore provides, CHEST livestreams the event on YouTube, allowing participants worldwide to join in the fun — and giving the winning institution prizes of $5,000, for first place, $3,000 for second place, $1,000 for third place to the winning Resident’s institutions along with well-earned bragging rights.

Next, attendees explored the Simulation Center, a 33-room immersive environment replicating real-world clinical scenarios. These additional cost, ticketed, CME-accredited sessions are powered by vendor partnerships providing in-kind medical equipment donations — a testament to CHEST’s deep industry relationships and operational expertise. The intricate maze of hallways shows the combined efforts of CHEST, Freeman, and the building’s facility teams to provide the power, equipment, walls, tools, and all of the minor details to make these sessions successful.

Smart Solutions for Session Overflow

CHEST’s innovative approach to session overflow management also stood out. Instead of pre-built overflow rooms, Encore’s digital sign system activates live QR codes when a room reaches capacity, triggered by CHEST team communication, allowing attendees to stream real-time audio and slides directly to their mobile devices. The online system is only available via the in-person QR code and is only activated if needed, so attendees cannot attend virtually or from their hotel room to ensure they catch the sessions. This “just-in-time” approach maintains the value of in-person attendance while maximizing accessibility.

Lessons from the Experts

Following the tour, GMC attendees gathered for a panel discussion sponsored by New Orleans & Company, with lunch provided by OVG Hospitality. The session sparked open and valuable conversations about the importance of budgeting early and often, and including all vendor partners in transparent discussions to set everyone up for success. Tim Ennenbach of Encore shared current trends shaping the audiovisual landscape — from increasing labor costs and the rising importance (and expense) of reliable Wi-Fi, to the shift toward recording audio with PowerPoint for on-demand content rather than full livestreaming. CHEST currently offers post-conference on-demand content free of charge as a way to encourage engagement with its new LMS platform. Jody Egel, Senior Director of Meetings & Education at CHEST, emphasized the continued challenge of managing “things that are out of your control,” highlighting the value of preparation and flexibility in event planning. Adding a local perspective, Tiffany Williams, Director of Sales at Choose Chicago, detailed how her team worked closely with CHEST to provide real-time updates and contingency plans during concurrent public events — including the “No Kings” protest and a Bears game — that coincided with the conference’s opening days.

The common message echoed throughout the panel: communicate early, communicate often, and keep all partners informed to ensure a seamless, safe, and successful event.

Thank You to Our Partners

GMC PCMA extends a sincere thank you to Rich Schuch, Jody Egel, Marisol Aquino, and the entire CHEST team behind the scenes for inviting us in and participating in this invaluable experience while producing a fully live large-scale conference. We would also like to thank the panel of CHEST Partners who also paused their current roles in the program to join us for our discussion and provide the meeting space, AV, food, signage, and logistics for our event: 

• Encore: Niki Hawkins, Senior Producer and Tim Ennenbach, Customer Relationship Director, Global Sales
• McCormick Place: Carly Kimbrough, National Sales Manager, Jennifer Schramm, Event Manager, and K’Jia Bozeman, Senior Catering Sales Manager
• Freeman: Steve Hodges, Senior Business Development Director and Adam Dull, Assistant Director Graphic Account Management
• Choose Chicago: Tiffany Williams, Director of Sales

This, like all GMC Events, would not be possible without the planning teams from the GMC PD Committee, Sponsorship Committee, and our Events team at Impact.