November 22, 2007

Thanksgiving 2007

The office is closed today and tomorrow. This gives me a couple of moments to reflect on my activities since the last post....

The American Public Health Association meeting was incredible. I believe this was the first time the association had exhibited or at least since I came on-board with the ASAA. We came prepared for the show. Annelise Thornton, MHS of Sleepwell Solutions, prepared an excellent document outlining the need for the public health community to focus its attention on sleep apnea as a public health crisis. Attending the meeting provided a number of excellent networking opportunities, particularly with people who help connect with minority communities. Work is underway to do more with the APHA.

The ASAA held its annual Board meeting in early November . While the formalities of elections is not quite completed we are welcoming three new Board members... M. Elizabeth Johns, Burton Abrams and Eric Rude. Each one of these new Board members brings a special set of talents to the association and I am pleased to have them working with us.

The meeting itself was giving over to discussing some of the ideas put forward in Jim Collin's monograph Good to Great and the Social Sectors. It was a lively discussion and from that several working groups were created to develop sets of objectives and actions items. I am thankful for the work of the Board and look forward to the results of the group's efforts.

On top of all this activity, work on the remake of our 1994 educational video - What is Sleep Apnea? began in earnest. This is a project I have wanted to undertake since I started at the association. I am pleased to be working Henninger Productions. We have completed two days of filming... including one at the Sleep Lab at Georgetown University Hospital. The video should be available near the end of the year. Plans are to have video available in Spanish.

It is a busy time at the ASAA. I glad to have a moment to catch my breath and to give thanks to all the generous people who have helped to advance the cause of the association. Thereby making it the leading organization that it is today.

Happy Thanksgiving (and remember to PAP while you NAP ;) )

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Sleep Apnea ED,

Oh you have posted on Thanks giving day and I am commenting right after Christmas... Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

SDG.
Sleep Disorders Guide

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