Even though I got here 36 hours ago, it's time to head on home. I guess that's the life on the big time lecture circuit (hehe). I wanted to write this blog post before I left the grounds. With the 9 hour drive home, I'd forget everything I was going to write. One of the things I wish is that I had more time to explore the grounds here at the French Lick hotel and conference center. This is a beautiful facility that is kind of a resort area. Plus, it would be really cool to play a round of golf here - although not today, since it's again forecast to be around 100F with the humidity today.
Thanks again to the Indiana Academy of Family Physicians for the invitation to speak at the annual convention. I'm a little biased, but I think things went well with my two back-to-back talks yesterday. The topic was, of course, Family Medicine & Social Media. If you already haven't, I encourage you to check out my post from yesterday. Both of the talks were full, and there was very good discussion during the sessions. One of the questions that came up was about a social media policy for an office, a clinic, or hospital. I think I'll write a blog post about to follow-up on those questions.
Yesterday's talk was a kind of prep for the biggest lecture opportunity of my short presentation career - namely the American Academy of Family Physicians Annual Scientific Assembly in Orlando in September. Maybe I'm a little too hard on myself, but I think that the presentations could have gone a little smoother. And, if I'm able to, maybe change a few slides before Orlando. In addition, I did video record the talks, and, hopefully, I'll be able to post them up for you to check out.
The rest of the meeting was really fun. I learned a lot during the education sessions. I was also able to tweet out during the meeting. Hopefully, it's still there when you read this. But, you can check out the results of the meeting at the hashtag #IAFPac. Thanks to @QuiltingDoctor and to @MissyCLewis for tweeting out during the meeting. Congrats to @DeDe_Willis for being installed as the new President of the Indiana AFP. I also posted some stuff to my facebook page and to the academy facebook page.
Even though I love social media, there really isn't anything like catching up with old friends and meeting new people - In person. I don't know if it's good or bad that I have been involved with the academy for a long time, but you have long time acquaintances and friends that you're able to catch up with at meetings like this. In addition, I had the opportunity to tap the wisdom of some leaders and mentors that I have had in the past - to talk about some life coaching and career coaching for me. Mentorship doesn't stop when you graduate medical school.
Finally, I know I always say this, but I'm going to repeat it again. Coming to meetings like this really recharges me and energizes me. There is nothing like being around people who have similar thought processes - especially when it comes to Family Medicine advocacy. There is a kind of synergy that takes place where the best ideas come from. The next opportunity for this will be my own Ohio Academy of Family Physicians meeting in 2 weeks in Columbus. I will not be presenting there, but will be tweeting out and continuing to talk about social media. For now, time to go home feeling recharged....