If you're a North American medical society looking to position your organization — and expand your meetings — across the pond, check out Brussels, Belgium — based European Association Services, a joint venture of Zug, Switzerland — based General Headquarters Services GMbH, and Executive Director Inc., based in Milwaukee, Wis.

In addition to offering strategic planning, legal assistance, executive management, volunteer support services, and a host of other association management services, EAS was designed to handle just about any aspect of meetings management you can imagine. Its services include site selection, contract negotiation, scientific program committee support, abstract/proceedings printing, registration, awards, exhibition planning and sales, symposia and program development, and continuing medical education accreditation management. It also can provide Web hosting and online registration.

“We're not a traditional association management company, and we're not a pharma marketing company,” says Terrance Barkan, EAS's CEO, who started up sister company GHQ in 1995. The GHQ office manages the European Dialysis and Transplant Nurses Association's annual congress, which brings together approximately 4,000 participants from 60 countries and includes a 20,000-square-foot exhibition.

He says EAS “blends some pharma company tactics with our understanding of the association market to come up with unique programs.”

For more information, contact EAS at info@eas-eu.com, or visit its Web site at www.eas-eu.com.