Screening at IARS Annual Meeting reveals the Game of Thrones fans in anesthesiology

With the Game of Thrones finale scheduled to release on the Sunday night of the IARS Annual Meeting, attendee and proclaimed GoT fan Patrick Purdon, PhD, was dismayed to find that the Headquarters Hotel for the meeting didn’t have HBO. But like many anesthesiologists in the field, Dr. Purdon was poised to find a solution. There’s no way the IARS Annual Meeting attendees would be deprived of the opportunity to watch the last episode ever (“The Iron Throne”)…live. Why not stream the final episode from a lecture hall for all Game of Thrones fans in attendance at the meeting?

With the help of Dr. Purdon’s VPN connection to HBO Go, an extremely helpful AV technician who was willing to stay late (despite not having watched Game of Thrones before), and a large ballroom at the Fairmont The Queen Elizabeth Hotel, the Game of Thrones fans at the IARS Annual Meeting were able to find out who finally sat on the Iron Throne and who survived and who died…before the spoilers and memes spread to social media.

More than 100 attendees showed up early, some in their GoT gear, to secure a prime spot in the conference room for the screening. Some even pulled chairs over to put their feet up for a more comfortable position during the hour and a half entertainment. Laughter and chatter filled the room as excited fans discussed how the series might end. As the familiar notes of the Game of Thrones theme music played in the hall and the opening sequence flew over Westeros for one last time, the room grew quiet, phones switched off, and the IARS GoT fans at the meeting were all in for the show.