Every year, the Annual Meeting program committee devises new initiatives designed to increase the value of the AM to the AUTM Membership. Most of these initiatives fly under the radar and go unnoticed. So throughout the summer and fall, a portion of the Annual Meeting blogs here will be dedicated to highlighting these initiatives.
Below is a brief list of the initiatives on tap for 2010, sans the details. Details on each topic will be provided in future blog spots for your pure reading enjoyment.
- CLE credits at AM to be expanded to 12 hours (1.5 ethics)
- Government rates negotiated at the conference hotel in New Orleans
- Substantial upgrade to functionality of Person Events Manager and other networking programs
- New structure for Educational Tracks (split over two days and shortened in length)*
*(I am particular interested in describing the benefits of the new Ed Track structure in a future blog)
- Two workshops in moderated debate format (already covered by prior blog, more info to come)
- 1st ever Annual Meeting site chair to help with activities, local sponsors and speakers, etc*
* Jake Maczuga is the Orleans site chair - if you know Jake, you'll understand why I am just a little bit afraid of the possibilities!
- Dedicated workshop track for newer AUTM members to get a well-rounded educational experience
- Suggest programs for seasoned vets to keep them engaged and contributing fore everyone's benefit
- dedicated Special Interest Group room in round-table setup to facilitate discussion (and no A/V)
- recording of sessions for future viewing for training purposes (additional fee)
- top-rated plenary sessions (announcements made as soon as contracts are finalized)
I know there are a few other changes of note to mention, but the above is all I can think of off the top of my balding head. In addition, the committee went to great lengths to rely on new submissions to fill the program, instead of looking at recycling talks from prior years. And we are going the extra mile to ensure that presenters are not part of multiple workshops and ed tracks, so more people will have a chance to participate in sessions.
Please stay tuned for details on each of the above changes in the coming weeks and months.
Regards,
Alan