Exhibit Hall At the SHM Meetings: Fear.

The Hospitalist Refugee sums up her his experience at the SHM Chicago annual conference. Here's a part that made me laugh regarding the exhibit hall.  

Finally, as someone who drives a fair distance to serve a rural-esque population, it struck me at the "Exhibition Hall" how disingenuous recruiters are when trying to convince physicians in a hot market to give up major aspects of what make a location desirable in exchange for promises of cash. I almost wish they would be banned from the whole enterprise next year. I realize they represent a significant revenue stream for SHM, but can we at least separate the people who have clinical information for us from the snake oil vendors? We're not stupid. A hunting/fishing "paradise" that's less than an hour (55 minutes at 85mph) from a regional airport makes lofty compensation promises that always always come with strings attached.

I was too afraid to walk through the exhibitors this year.    Several years ago I gave up my email address to a recruiter.  I still get the occasional phone call but the spam mail never seems to end.  I learned my lesson the hard way.  I will never do that again.