A few months ago, I started as the Social Media Manager for Patterson Dental. While I’ve been in the business world for a number of years, I’m very new to the dental industry. I’ve known I need to take care of my teeth and gums, but until a few months ago other than brushing and flossing as well as getting routine cleanings, I’ve never really given the world of dentistry much thought. The last few months have meant tremendous growth for me as I’ve started to learn about advances in dental technology, unique dynamics of how dental offices operate, challenges facing dental employees, etc.
As part of my introduction to the dental world, I had the opportunity to learn about the role of the dental office manager and the American Association of Dental Office Managers (AADOM). I was ecstatic when I found out I would have the opportunity to participate in the 2011 AADOM Conference at the Gaylord Opryland Resort in Nashville, as well as help to integrate social media into the conference. As the Diamond Sponsor of the conference, we posted key takeaways from many of the sessions on the @PattersonDental Twitter account (to see the takeaways and conversations from the conference, type #AADOM2011 into the search function on Twitter). Our goal was to raise awareness of some of the capabilities of social media in the dental industry and provide insights to those of you who weren’t able to attend this year’s conference as it was happening.
Prior to last week’s conference, I have really taken for granted the abundance of seminars, training sessions, discussion groups, etc. there are for those of us who work in the social media field. The need and desire for educational opportunities for the dental office manager were very apparent when I saw the over 400 attendees of the 7th annual conference hitting a new record for attendance. I have to applaud Heather Colicchio, Lorie Streeter and the rest of the AADOM staff for identifying this several years ago. I thank all of you for having the drive and dedication to put on this conference every year and allowing me to be a part of it this year. As Lorie said at the conference, I’d also like to thank Kim McQueen for introducing me to AADOM and all she has done to support such a wonderful organization.
Because of the hard work of the AADOM staff and the support from the numerous AADOM sponsors, attendees of this year’s conference had the opportunity to learn about generational differences, referral programs, social media, human resources, accounts receivables, Eaglesoft, CAESY Cloud and much more, all while having a little fun and learning to line dance. On Saturday, it was also announced that AADOM has several new initiatives coming up in the next year. AADOM will soon have a new website, the eDOM program partnering with Rita Zamora, and the 2012 Conference will be held in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Aside from gaining a tremendous amount of perspective from the 2011 conference, I also had the opportunity to meet some absolutely inspiring individuals. Congratulations to Robyn Rossetter, this year’s Dental Office Manager of the Year! Congratulations to the AADOM and Patterson Dental scholarship winners! Congratulations to the FAADOM Class of 2011! Congratulations to all of the attendees of the 2011 AADOM Conference! It was an amazing to meet all of you and I look forward to working with all of you in the future as part of eDOM and as part of the Patterson Dental family.
It was great to have you at this years conference Kristen! Thanks for your support as we bring this great new iniative to AADOM members and Patterson customers!III