It also would relieve travel costs and reduce meeting production expenses. One of the primary roles of this Association for more than thirty years has been to bring together the trademark community. The result has been that trademark professionals from all over the world meet through INTA and develop both business relationships and personal friendships. While perhaps the business aspects could be accomplished electronically, it would definitely change the nature of INTA and the character of the trademark community. The possibility of holding an Annual Meeting online is not a hypothetical question for the future.
Speakers deliver their presentations and then entertain questions from a worldwide audience.
There are even hospitality centers for individuals who leave the formal presentations and want to chat. I do not hope or envision that the INTA Annual Meeting will be replaced in the near future but it may not be long before the Annual Meeting and other INTA forums are offered on a delayed Internet transmission for those who cannot attend in person with the electronic attendees and presenters engaging in dialogue from their own offices. While changes to INTA's meetings may be evolutionary, the impact of cyberspace on INTA as an information resource is revolutionary. For many years INTA had a unique ability to collect and disseminate to its members trademark information from around the world. Now, all of that information and more is available and easily accessible.