ATLANTA - The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) Winter Conference provides members and professionals in the HVACR industry with technical guidance, networking opportunities, and access to the latest technology. For the 2010 conference in Orlando, Fla., the Society will continue in this tradition with an additional new twist: The Conference is going virtual.

ASHRAE said the Virtual Conference extends access to professionals across the country and around the world. Participants in the Virtual Conference will be able to interact with speakers and attendees by posting questions and comments, viewing other comments and viewing the presenters’ responses through an online discussion board, in addition to ASHRAE’s traditional recordings (synced audio and PowerPoint presentations).

“The ASHRAE Winter Virtual Conference offers tremendous opportunities to learn about current practices, case studies, and other professional and personal development sessions on a wide range of hot topics,” said Dennis Wessel, Orlando Conference chair. “From BIM to ASHRAE standards, attendees can post and view comments on their schedule and refer back to the sessions as needed after the conference ends.”

Benefits of the Virtual Conference include:

• Access to over 250 presentations.

• Complete coverage of the technical program with access to seminar presentations, select Transactions sessions, posters and questions and answers from attendees and presenters.

• The ability to post and view comments on presentations.

• Send and receive questions and answers from presenters of selected sessions for a two-week period.

• Online access to the presentations for one year.

ASHRAE members may register for the Virtual Conference at www.ashrae.org/orlandovirtual for $299. Non-members may register for $464; registration includes one-year ASHRAE membership upon completion of membership application. Companies may also register three or more employees for the Virtual Conference. Additionally, those already registered to attend the conference in person will have access to all virtual content for free.

Publication date: 12/21/2009