The 3rd annual Sleep Apnea Awareness Day lecture was held... here is the link to the page on the ASAA web site with the link to the lecture - www.sleepapnea.org/saad2007.html.
The speakers at the event were excellent. And while the attendance at the event was less than it might have been, we do have it video recorded and available to anyone with access to the Internet.
I must say though, it is a lot of work putting this together and the spent on this was time taken away from other equally important activities. But this was important and now it is done.
There was some serendipity this year that made SAAD 2007 special. I had the pleasure of sharing parts of it with members of the ASAA Board. I got to know Terry Young, noted researcher in the field of sleep apnea.
We were able to participate with the National Sleep Foundation in visits to Capital Hill in support of additional funding for CDC for sleep and sleep disorder surveillance... which will do more with in our legislatative action center.
On top of everything that occurred during Sleep Awareness Day - our newest Board member Nancy Rothstein did a read-a-loud at a local elementary school. It was a treat.
Big things are on the horizon... I will be back to report on these doings, soon.
March 22, 2007
March 04, 2007
The road to Sleep Apnea Awareness Day 2007
Readers of this journal know there are many interesting aspects of my work as an executive director... but planning an event like the Sleep Apnea Awareness Day (SAAD) lecture is the most challenging.
After last year's less than spectacular event, I did not retreat. I rethought, and with the benefit of the collective wisdom of our Board of Directors, redirected the focus of the lecture.
Perhaps the biggest problem for "us" in the sleep community is "translating" the incredible research done by the sleep researchers into content that is accessible to the layperson. What good are the findings of the studies if they remain locked up in a prestigous, but inscrutable medical journal.
The idea of bringing what is known from sleep research to the general public is what the lecture should be all about. In Washington, DC, where we make our home... the public can include policy folks from trade and professional associations as well as members of Congress, their staff and members of Federal agencies.
Dr. Terri Weaver's presentation on snoring and sleep apnea: the effects on the family will do that on Wednesday. Words will never fully express my gratitude for her willingness to share what she has learned with those will assemble this coming week.
That adjustment alone will be a guarantee of a successful lecture. But this year we will stretch and add another dimension to the proceedings, personal experiences.
We have the good fortune to have a new member of our Board of Directors Nancy Rothstein, who, has in the past year, become very active in raising public awareness about the negative effects of snoring and sleep apnea. Her experiences are captured and elegantly depicted in a children's book My Daddy Snores. She will provide the introduction.
We also have the good fortune to know Ashley Keenan, a young woman who willing to share her experience with sleep apnea.
I think it is fitting there are three women speaking at the SAAD lecture, in light of the National Sleep Foundation's National Sleep Awareness Week (r) theme of Women and Sleep.
I hope those of you can attend the event on Wednesday March 7th will, and those of who can't will take the time to view the proceedings when the webcast link (funded by a generous donation from the American College of Chest Physicians - Sleep Institute) is established.
I'll be back with a report on how it went... don't touch that dial, er, mouse.
After last year's less than spectacular event, I did not retreat. I rethought, and with the benefit of the collective wisdom of our Board of Directors, redirected the focus of the lecture.
Perhaps the biggest problem for "us" in the sleep community is "translating" the incredible research done by the sleep researchers into content that is accessible to the layperson. What good are the findings of the studies if they remain locked up in a prestigous, but inscrutable medical journal.
The idea of bringing what is known from sleep research to the general public is what the lecture should be all about. In Washington, DC, where we make our home... the public can include policy folks from trade and professional associations as well as members of Congress, their staff and members of Federal agencies.
Dr. Terri Weaver's presentation on snoring and sleep apnea: the effects on the family will do that on Wednesday. Words will never fully express my gratitude for her willingness to share what she has learned with those will assemble this coming week.
That adjustment alone will be a guarantee of a successful lecture. But this year we will stretch and add another dimension to the proceedings, personal experiences.
We have the good fortune to have a new member of our Board of Directors Nancy Rothstein, who, has in the past year, become very active in raising public awareness about the negative effects of snoring and sleep apnea. Her experiences are captured and elegantly depicted in a children's book My Daddy Snores. She will provide the introduction.
We also have the good fortune to know Ashley Keenan, a young woman who willing to share her experience with sleep apnea.
I think it is fitting there are three women speaking at the SAAD lecture, in light of the National Sleep Foundation's National Sleep Awareness Week (r) theme of Women and Sleep.
I hope those of you can attend the event on Wednesday March 7th will, and those of who can't will take the time to view the proceedings when the webcast link (funded by a generous donation from the American College of Chest Physicians - Sleep Institute) is established.
I'll be back with a report on how it went... don't touch that dial, er, mouse.
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