The Wizard of OZ
We have just returned home from the ACUC 2008.
I have been involved in the coordination of many conferences over the past couple of decades, but I have never experienced one that had the enthusiasm that this one possessed. Not even close!
Althugh we had approximately 85 total attendees, Jon had previously met only five. We AC users have always admired Jon from afar; much as the citizens of OZ admired their wizard. However; as Jon emerged from behind his curtain, we were delighted to find that this CEO was as passionate about AC and its improvement as any of us. I think that the ACUC attendees can reassure all AC Users that Amazing Charts' future is in good hands.
As has been mentioned previously, we dedicated this first ever ACUC Conference to Bert. AC User Vickie Edwards had to cancel at the last minute, but said that her greatest regret was that she would not get to meet and thank Bert. It seems that, when she was setting up AC, Bert spent over two hours on the phone talking her through her questions. He did the same for me, and, as we related this story to the group, apparently for many more as well as evidenced by the show of hands.
Our speakers were wonderful.
Martin Sechrist traveled to Branson from California on the back of a Triumph Crotch Rocket (zero to 60 in 2.8 seconds) and accompanied by his son, Brandon, on his Ducati. Martin gave us a spectacular view of health maintenance planning.
Fritz Faust was the most entertaining as he treated us all to a review of his exploits as he set up his solo pediatric practice.
Adam Lauer exhibited maturity and experience far beyond his years as he instructed us on the proper setup for fool proof back ups. He was a huge asset to the conference.
Tim Lewan gave an informative talk on UpDox.
Although Leslie did not yield to our pleas to give us a talk, she contributed wonderfully to the ongoing discussions as did Wendell and many others.
Brian Cotner spoke on speeding up documentation and championed the use of Dragon Naturally Speaking with AC. I may actually give the Dragon another try as a result of his enthusiastic presention. Brian was co-chair of this event; he and his lovely wife Laura contributed a great deal to its success.
Many thanks to my wife, Barbara, who videotaped the conference for us; we will let you know how it turns out.
The speakers all plan to make their Power Points available.
Finally, Jon's wife, Sandy, along with AC Staff Kathleen and Jon K. worked to make this conference hum and this made it enjoyable for us all. Our thanks also to Cathy Leiboult, Executive Director of the Greene County Medical Society, who was so impressed by the attendees' enthusiasm that she ended up donating her time monitoring our CME for two days.
Jon was an integral part of our agenda committee and remarked on several occasions during the planning process that he did not like public speaking. He may not like it, but he is certainly good at it. The attendees were so intriqued by his presentations that we ended up meeting straight through lunch on Saturday (7:30 a.m. to 4;30 p.m.) and even turned down Laura Cotner's offer to have Brian buy ice cream for everyone at 3 p.m.
My personal favorite portion of the conference was the networking that occured. I loved getting to meet our fellow AC users and sharing our experiences and hopes for the future.
We had multiple informal surveys throughout the meeting; when the group was asked at the end of the meeting who would be willing to help new AC users, everyone's hand shot up.
I am already looking forward to ACUC 2.
Jim
