Let’s Talk Yankee!

So when you see the title of my blog today do you think it would make a great title for a novel about the English settlers? Well, I’m not ready to trade in my current career for one of writing novels. No, instead I want to share some quick tips on how to make the most out of attending the upcoming Yankee Dental Congress annual meeting.

First, I have to say of all the annual meetings, in my opinion, this is one of the best. I’m not trying to slight the other meetings, all are excellent, however, the Yankee show always has a special level of excitement. The classes are exceptional, the people are excited and there is a genuine feeling of wanting to learn what’s new.

So, let’s look at some tips that might help you make the most of this visit to the Yankee. It’s amazing how much you can accomplish if you put a game plan together ahead of time.

• Make a list of CE courses you want to attend. My recommendation is, if several of your staff are attending the meeting with you, then divide and conquer, or should I say split up the courses (there I go again, into that novel mode). Attend different courses and then regroup after the meeting to share what you learned. More importantly, put a collective plan together to implement key things you may have learned.
• Make a list of the exhibitor booths you want to visit, AND THEIR BOOTH LOCATIONS. You can waste a ton of time at a show simply wandering around trying to find the exhibitor you want to visit.
• Once you have a list of those exhibitors, plan the timing of when you will visit those booths, around your CE courses.
• Do you know what if any specials those exhibitors might be offering? If not, you should! Get that information now.
• Make a point to review your supplies inventory before you head to the meeting. Look at your back office consumables and your front office product inventories. Make a list of what you need and bring it with you to the meeting. If your supplier(s) are exhibiting, which I’m betting they are, then you can take advantage of some great savings by placing your order at the meeting.
• Make appointments ahead of time with the sales representatives of the companies you want to visit. This leads to the next point.
• Make a list of new technologies that you want to see. Meetings like Yankee are excellent times to sit down with the experts and see the software or hardware, or whatever the technology is, at work. You can actually touch and feel the products, go through detailed demos, ask specific questions about how the technology will work in your office, etc.
• If you are considering making a major purchase, making that purchase at a national meeting like Yankee can be very advantageous to you. Most of the time, exhibitors will be running nice specials on equipment and technologies.

At the end of the day, like everything else in our hectic day, it really does just come down to effective planning. Put a plan together of how you’re going to attack the Yankee Dental Congress and you will find that you enjoy this meeting as much as I do. And who knows, maybe, just maybe, you’ll run into an author selling novels there too!