SAN FRANCISCO — The International AIDS Society, the world’s largest association of HIV professionals, has tapped W2O to handle regional communications for its 2020 international conference.

W2O is charged with expanding the reach of the 23rd biennial conference, which will be hosted by both San Francisco and Oakland next summer on July 6-10. The firm will provide integrated communications support including media relations, content strategy and social media.

W2O will also  develop a creative image-based campaign to celebrate the resilience of the individuals who have embodied the strength of the HIV community in keeping with the conference’s theme of resilience.

W2O’s regional remit is a new one, as 2020 marks the conference’s return to the Bay Area for the first time in 30 years.

The event, which focuses on strengthening HIV science and policies, is the largest public health gathering of its kind. The conference is a means of bringing together experts and activists to strengthen HIV science and policies to advocate for effective responses. The International AIDS Society has members in more than 170 countries.

“For every International AIDS Conference, we rely on communications professionals based in the host country to support our efforts," said Emily T. Blitz, AIDS 2020 conference director. This is key to providing open and accessible conference information. We are delighted to have the support of W2O to help us with these efforts and build momentum around AIDS 2020 over the coming months.”