Home Forums Discussions General Discussion NEXT ACUC

Just doing a little surfing today (cold and snowy here but not as bad as what those of you in the North East are experiencing).
For discussion purposes, here are a few airline fares I found, using June 3rd-7th as an example.

Louisville to Phoenix $140
Portland, Maine to Phoenix $348
Providence, RI to Phoenix $248
Chicago to Phoenix $291
Seattle to Phoenix $262
Indianapolis to Phoenix $191
St. Louis to Phoenix $178
Atlanta to Phoenix $387
Anchorage to Phoenix $658
New York to Phoenix $358
Boston to Phoenix $252
Charleston, SC $289
San Francisco to Phoenix $184
Charlotte, NC $147
Portland, Or to Phoenix $262
Tulsa, OK to Phoenix $168
Denver to Phoenix $158

Interesting that Chicago is $291 but St. Louis is $178, or Louisville $140.

Airfare is only part of the equation. Locating the hotel is the other part.

Of those in the know, what was the final count on attendees at the last ACUC conference in Branson?

I suspect this one will be larger. Thus we have to find a location that will be sufficiently large have space and technical for our meeting and be affordable.

Leslie, what's in Phoenix?

Well, there are a lot of nice resorts which I am sure can accommodate large, tech-requiring groups and it is close to a number of beautiful sights....Sedona, the Grand Canyon just to name a few. And, it is reasonably easy to get there from anywhere with about as good of air fares one will find. Check out your cost to go from St. Louis to Orlando versus Phoenix.
This is just a thought.

Leslie

Are those dates firm?

Phoenix in early June would probably already be in the 100s.
I am from El Paso and it is often already in the 100s there. Phoenix is even hotter.

Disclosure statement: I live in Arizona and obviously have a vested interest.

Phoenix is hot in the summer yet the monsoons blow in almost daily and cool things down. Since summer is not the desired time of year for Phoenix, room rates are cheap. Resorts can be stayed at for anywhere from $99 to $169 a night (for rooms that are normally double that rate).

Flagstaff is 2 hours from Phoenix by car, yet room rates will probably be higher since this is where people escape to, since it stays cooler in the summer than Phoenix. Flagstaff however is only 30 minutes from Sedona and the Grand Canyon. (Little America in Flagstaff would be a great venue for a meeting like ACUC).

Just wanted to give some info.

Where did the dates come from? Is there a conference in the works? Is this a grassroots effort to get another conference?

I elect Vicki to chair the committee! No, as far as I know there has not been anything concrete mentioned and I personally am not involved in any way, shape or form other than to throw out some thoughts. I feel that if anybody is interested in picking up this project, Jon would be willing to listen. The last conference was thrown together initially as a plan for a number of members of this board to get together and have coffee and put names to faces. It subsequently developed into a real program when a few users offered their expertise and time to make the arrangements, aquire CME certification, look at venues and agree to give talks. Jon actually officially came into the event towrads the tail end. It ended up being a terrific success (at least I think it was) and I think many of us would love to see it repeated. Plus, Bert was ill and couldn't make it. I am just opening the forum for discussion.

Leslie

If I'm in charge, it's going to be in Seattle, LOL.

I'll second that Vicki! I might actually be able to make it to that one!

My vote is for Maine in July. It's our only month of summer, but it's hard to beat. Portland has some fine hotels/conference centers.

I am not aware of any definite dates, but I'll ask Jon if he has any thought on the matter.

Seattle and Maine are good too!

Leslie

No one wants to come to scenic NYC? Blue Sky! Trees! Well, one or two trees.

The last conference began sort of like this. Those who did the ground work determined the Branson location.

I am in Chicago, so I would prefer a non urban location, but am open.

In fairness we had the midwest, so we should look to a coast (east, west or south), but then again the midwest is fine with me, it's closer and I can probably drive with the kids.

Time is also open but spring to summer is probably the most practical.

Well, in hopes of bringing more of the AC staff to offer not only development time but also training for newbies, I think Providence/Newport RI, or Boston, makes more sense.

Once V4 is out, we will focus more on planning, though June is the planned time...

Sound okay?

I say put it to a vote. As this was created by and intended for the users, I would ask them their preferences.

Leslie

I am fine with the East Coast.

If it is going to be Providence/Newport/Boston, will Jon & Co be the ones to put it together?

We should try to rough out an outline. Also it would be good if we can get CME . I would like as nice a hotel at a good price as well. Not that I am being picky or anything.

The group last time was a division between newbies who were looking for basic info and advanced folks looking for info. I think there was excellent networking and I was very happy at helping out other folks. We may want to continue that, although possibly working on a two track program may be good as well.

How about Baltimore, MD or Washington, DC?

I think the East Coast would be good--and agree with Wayne, how about the NYC area(not necessarily in Manhattan, expensive).
Francisco

Wendell, I agree there is merit in trying to serve both needs, the newbies and the old hands. Clearly stated, beginner lectures would allow some to slip out and get a bite to eat or attend to other matters and clearly second tier lectures would allow the advanced to focus their attention and the newbies sit back and listen without feeling they "don't get it" since they aren't expected to at that point. We will likely find some newbies who can contribute a lot to the advanced discussions as they may already have extensive document handling knowledge or network skills. For that reason I WOULD NOT separate things into two very separate tracts (as say with two rooms or different days.) Lots of opportunities to cross pollinate would be wise.

Here is what attendees had to say after the one in June 2008: http://www.surveymonkey.com/sr.aspx?sm=F7GeNhc4mc3B0fEQMes4_2fq5NaSi3YLHHg8vUEz50F48_3d

Amazing Charts is planning on organizing it, hopefully with the help of the folks who set this up last year. We are going to work to get CME for the sessions as well. Once we get V4 out the door (really close now, btw... see www.amazingcharts.com/beta), we'll start preparing ACUC 2009.

Hey There Everyone,
I know many of you are wondering where we have been. Life has been very crazy and we have needed to attend to many different problems. But it sure feels good to see you all here and to be posting just a bit.

As an east coaster, sort of, as well as the fact that Jon wouldn't have as much expense and trouble to travel his staff to and from the conference, Nancy and I certainly like the idea of the east coast. We even have some family there we might just visit and this time Bert will have no excuses for missing out. Tag you're it!

We also agree with the idea of perhaps moving the thing around so everybody gets a chance at a reasonable travel situation. Also perhaps with Jon's user data we could try to pick towns that are close to clusters of users so again we assist as many folks as possible in at least attending one of these in the next few years.

A few other suggestions are as follows: Here in many parts of NYS school doesn't let out until almost the last few days of June, so even though most of you others have little kids and school conflicts, we certainly did, and that is one reason we did not attend last year even though we really were chomping at the bit to get out there. Let's shoot for early to mid July if possible so those of us with family and pain in the neck school districts feel free to join in. Thanks.

Because we couldn't attend last year in light of the above conflict, Nancy and I attended one of the best little conferences we have both ever attended It was very local in Rochester NY, only an hour from here in Syracuse and allowed us to attend all without the school schedule issues mentioned above. But both conferences were held on the same weekend.

It was the IMP Camp, which stands for Ideal Medical Practice's. At least a third or more of these folks are AC users and the ones that aren't should be. It was almost all super small solo PCP's who were very nice and inclusive and laid back. The IMP movement is trying to improve healthcare via getting back to all the important basics and to get the interlopers out of the doctor patient relationship. What ever date we do go with in the end, we can not stress strongly enough that it should not in anyway, conflict with IMP Camp 2009. I promise you that many folks are going to want to attempt to attend both. If we could afford it, we certainly would. I'm sure that Gordon and the gang over at IMP would be more than willing to work together to make sure that the two groups don't overlap. We highly recommend attending an IMP Camp too for anyone wanting to open up or re-create their small or solo practice and return to quality and sanity of practice.

Lastly, some of us small users who are AC's target audience are in increasingly hard times financially. It would be ashame for many folks to have to self-exclude themselves because of related costs of attending. We are certainly in that boat at this time and most of us know why... So considerations about cheap easy flights for those from far away, reasonably priced venue and hotels and the like I feel would certainly help more solo/solo's and other struggling practices to attend. If held in Boston or RI, we will certainly be driving the 300 plus miles to help save on expenses and to have a Jeep to get around in when we get there.

Anyway, Merry and happy holidays to all from this mixed family. I will probably not be posting much for some time to come as we still have lots of stuff to straighten up around here. But it sure was nice to be able to drop in and create one of my famous long posts.... Miss you all very, very much. Keep up the great work one and all. Nancy and I might be giving a talk about AC in the solo setting at the local county medical society's HIT meeting soon. And Jon, once again, thanks for the best little EMR on the market today.

Be healthly, stay well and be safe these next few weeks....

Paul and Nancy

Paul:

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! I remember when last year at this time you all gave me a home here. Thanks to you all... I really appreciated it then and still do very much to this day.

Do you know when is the next IMP Camp going to be scheduled?

Al

Paul and Nancy,

Great to hear from you and Happy Whatever back to you! I am pulling for you to get everything back on track.

Leslie

Thanks to all, and to all a great night.... Have a great weekend everyone...

P&N

I'm with Leslie. Of course, I usually am. From reading these posts, it seems there we are not even close to a consensus. I can't really pick out the perfect place, but it would be nice to combine a really cool vacation trip with the conference.

Without thinking about distance or airfare, places which come to mind would be

The Grand Canyon
Tetons
Bryce National Park
San Francisco
Key Largo
Miami Beach
Yosemite
Anywhere in the southwest

Maybe it is because I have lived on the east coast all my life, but I can't think of one place other than Miami Beach or the Keys I would want to drive or fly to.

No offense, but Providence, RI was a great place to take my boards, but I am not sure I would want that to be my destination for the ACUC.

And, Boston in July? A Red Sox game would be fun, but Fenway Park is no more, and the drivers aren't really fun to be around.

Jon,

How about sending out another survey to all users, especially ones who were not able to make it to the last one and see if they may have preferrences for the next location. Perhaps some that were not able to make it to last years may be able to make it other locations. Personally I really do not care.

Leslie

I agree we should have a survey.

Bert,
With all due respect. Fenway park is alive and well. Tix are nearly impossible to come by for a reasonable price, however.

Oops. Must have gotten it confused with Yankee Stadium.

Haven't checked in for a few days, It's been a good holiday.
Jon, I don't remember getting an invitation to the survey, but 45% wanted Las Vegas (they also wanted summer, not sure LV is best in July).

Martin, Most of us stayed even during the basic stuff because of the little tidbits that were thrown out. Also it was interesting to see what newbies were struggling with.

I followed the posts about the IMG sessions and agree that timing around them would be good, especially if there is a high turnout from AC users. Where and when will they be?

As I stated earlier, east cost is fine. I would probably prefer Rhode Island only because I have not been there and it is more rural than Boston (which I went to for the first time this fall, been to NYC bunch of times though).

Rhode Island? You could straddle the opposite borders of the state if your stand with your legs at shoulder width apart. Just kidding, but I don't like that idea.

Vegas sounds cool, I've never been. Somewhere in Florida would work too.

Hey, what about booking a caribean cruise and having the conference on a ship?

Adam,
That thought crossed my mind also. I even checked the Carnival site and they do have meeting facilities and group bookings available. For a single attendee it would be a value deal....not sure how it would compare for a family. There would be children's and spouse activites available on board while we had our meetings. Personally, I get so little time away from the office that, if I am going to a conference, I am going to want to combine it with some other vacation-like atmosphere. I think a cruise is a great idea.

Leslie

My vote is for:

EULA, TX

Population 125

http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?city=Eula&state=TX&country=us

And, I think Paul should head up the conference, lol.

Cruise is cool, there is a lot of "down time" in going from port to port where we could have meetings. Again, I am open.

Probably more expensive than land base, but not necessarily.

What's in EULA, Bert? They should probably have Jon for mayor since he has one of the most reasonable EULA's out there.

Well, apparently the highschool there are EULA Pirates. That might sway Jon away from there.

Leslie

Wendell,

Glad you asked. According to Wikipedia, folks in Eula have to use addresses from Clyde, Texas (I am sure you have heard of Clyde). There is an independent school district at the intersection of Farm to Market Road 603 and County Road 244. It's classified as 1A.It does border Abilene, Texas so we would have some conference areas. Their cross country team placed second at states in 1997.

There are three churches and a Lions Club.

omg, how did I miss that. I saw they were the pirates, but the irony could not have escaped them.

EULA pirates. Now, that is hilarious.

Just goes to show you that you can either be married or not and still not have a life

Leslie

I make a motion for a cruise.
Do we have a second?