daily.briefing

October 13, 2011

2011-10-13T08:58:00.001-05:00

I'm generally not one to let this much time slip between the time I do something and when I blog about it, but I wanted to get the final product out the door and then report on it. That product was a video I produced about the Spirit Lake Pediatric Dental Day.

I was asked to attend that event to document the clinic. I wanted to showcase the organizational side by focusing on the equipment, how it was transported and assembled and then to tell the story of why this location was selected and what it meant to the local people to have this clinic available to treat the children of Spirit Lake.

The video is twenty minutes long because I wanted more time to tell the story, rather than simply show the clinic. I've embedded the video for youto watch below.

In addition, I took a number of the photographs I took and put them into an ebook. I've embedded that as well, but you can download it as a .pdf file by choosing the download link in the control bar below the ebook.

Spirit Lake Pediatric Dental Day

October 3, 2011

2011-10-03T14:17:00.001-05:00

As I said last week, I traveled to North Dakota to the Spirit Lake Indian Reservation at Ft. Totten. I had hoped to do more reporting and updating along the way, but my access to the internet was sparse and even non-existent at times. So rather than trying to find ways to report daily, I opted to wait and update you at the end of the event with a summary of the project.

I want to begin at the end. I had spent a good two days filming the setup of the clinic and then the clinic itself, gathering a couple of hours of footage, a dozen or so interviews and was feeling pretty good about the material I had to work with. Suddenly, this nine year old girl walks up to me and asks if I would take her picture. I gladly grabbed my camera and noticed that she had sat down on the chair I had setup for filming interviews.

“Would you like for me to video you?” I asked?

“Okay,” she said with a bit of hesitancy in her voice.

I asked her who she had come with and she indicated that her aunt had brought her. I visited with her aunt, just to make certain that she understood my purpose for video taping her niece. I began by asking her a few basic questions, just to help her become more comfortable in front of the camera and the lights. That’s when I asked her what she had gotten done a the clinic and how important it was to her that dental volunteers had come together to give her care.

So many times when I talk with patients, it’s after hope has left them and their future is seemingly void of possibilities. But in the eyes and the words of this little girl was a sense that because of the help the children of Spirit Lake received last week, there is hope.

As we finished talking, I asked her if their was anything else she wanted to say. She thanked the volunteers and spoke the words that will end my documentary on the Spirit Lake Pediatric Dental Day. As she walked away, I wiped the tears from my eyes. She is the very reason I get so excited to tell these stories.

September 28, 2011

2011-09-28T07:42:00.000-05:00

OK, cold might be an overstatement, but I did see my breath when I walked outside. Nevertheless, we are on our way to our next stop along the way before we arrive in Ft. Totten, ND tonight.

September 26, 2011

2011-09-26T13:07:00.001-05:00

I'm leaving in the morning for a trip to North Dakota to document (photos and video) a Mission of Mercy project on the Spirit Lake reservation. It'll be a two day drive and I'll post updates along the way.

The Spirit Lake Tribe (Mni Wakan Oyate) is a Sioux tribe with about 6700 members, of which an estimated 6000 live on the reservation. The reservation was established in 1867.

According to the America's Mission of Mercy, this will be smaller clinic and I understand that the care will be aimed at children. Dr. John Fales of Olathe and his staff are traveling as well. Look for updates throughout the week. I'm taking my video camera, lighting, etc., along with my still camera and I'll be posting throughout the week.

I invite you to join me through the week.

September 14, 2011

2011-09-14T09:46:00.000-05:00

I'm back after a few days of traveling, first on Monday to the Wichita District Dental Society annual meeting and then yesterday to the 2011 Regional Oral Health Summit where we discussed the role of public-private partnerships in improving oral health. This is a nice segue into tomorrow's Oral Health Kansas annual meeting in Overland Park. I'll be attending parts of that, but not all.

The meeting yesterday was an opportunity for Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri and Kansas to come together and talk about how oral health can be improved. Of course the focus in the Kansas breakout was about rural access, the discussions were broad and it was evident that there is not simply one solution. The KDA is already working towards most of the ideas that came out of that breakout group, including utilizing bridging loans and other funding to bring new dentists into rural areas. The breakout also gave the KDA an opportunity to talk about the need for funding to support adult Medicaid, which is an integral part of the access puzzle.

We're wrapping up our district meetings over the next few days and then on Monday, I'll be traveling to Marysville to speak to the local Rotary Club about the Kansas Mission of Mercy project.

September 6, 2011

2011-09-06T11:18:00.000-05:00

I mentioned a few weeks ago that we were exploring a new KDA member benefit we were calling the KDA.connect Classroom. It's an online CE video series we are launching this month. We filmed a short trailer with our new KDA.connect Classroom introduction.

If you are interested in giving a CE Program please let us know. We are looking for speakers for the CE series. We welcome other organizations, state agencies and other dentists who may want to give a 1 hour CE lecture. Please contact greg@ksdental.org if you are intereseted.

August 31, 2011

2011-08-31T08:23:00.002-05:00

Frustration. That pretty much explains my feelings this morning after I have tried to upload the KDA Video Minute to Facebook. I'm not sure why, but for some reason, Facebook handles videos differently on "business pages" than on "personal pages." Even posting the link on the KDA page results in just a link and not the video embedded into the story post. I know, it' probably minor, but I think it is more effective to have the video on the page, rather than linking through.

So while we have the KDA Video Minute posted on our website, here it is. This week, we talk about the KDA's 140 Years, 140 Stories photo project.

August 30, 2011

2011-08-30T10:52:00.002-05:00

I just finished wrapping up my first "on camera" KDA Video Minute. I'm always behind the camera and editing. The Video Minute is about the KDA's 140 Years, 140 Stories project and I'll tell you about the project and show you some of the photographs we've taken. It's uploading now, so it will be up later today.

August 23, 2011

2011-08-23T11:08:00.001-05:00

Along with sharing things that are happening at the KDA, the daily.briefing videos are a great way for us to try out new ideas and to continuously improve our video production skills. Today, we've got an adult Medicaid hearing and the upcoming district meetings. We hope to see you at one of our ten district meetings.

And of course, send us your favorite tooth fairy story. I've got a $10 iTunes gift card I want to give to one of you. Simply email it to greg@ksdental.org or upload a video to YouTube and send us the link.

August 22, 2011

2011-08-22T10:26:00.002-05:00

It's National Tooth Fairy Day

We're sure you tooth fairy day purists will argue this day takes place in February, but our research staff at the daily.briefing (that would be me) has discovered that today is also National Tooth Fairy Day. We'd like for you to share with us your favorite tooth fairy story. Maybe it is your own, one of your children, or maybe one that you have heard from a patient.

We'd prefer you record it in video, upload it to your favorite video site and then share the link with us. But if you want, we will take written submissions. Just email to greg@ksdental.org and we will give away a $10 iTunes gift card to our favorite story.

What is my favorite tooth fairy story? Watch the video below.

August 16, 2011

2011-08-16T14:41:00.000-05:00

KDA members should look in their email for links to the very latest Journal of the Kansas Dental Association as well as a reminder about the KDA's Medicaid 140 project.

August 11, 2011

2011-08-11T09:17:00.004-05:00

In today's video daily briefing, we talk about some changes to the KDA website and a speaking opportunity tomorrow. Have a great weekend.

August 9, 2011

2011-08-09T09:48:00.000-05:00

Last year, one of the "take aways" from the American Society of Association Executives was the creation of this blog. The goal was to try and connect daily with the members of the KDA and as one of the speakers at this year's meeting said yesterday, don't hide away in your office and wait for your members to call. Be out there for them. Try and connect as often as possible.

So I'm bringing back the daily.briefing. But I probably won't post daily. But I'll try. But I'll also do things here other than write. Sometimes I'll post quick video updates because sometimes that is easier and tells a better story.

(Me, sitting in the St. Louis convention story between sessions, blogging)

Bottom line, I enjoy working with you and for you, the members of the Kansas Dental Association. As I do every year at this meeting, I get new ideas, meet new people and get new energy. You'll soon see that renewed energy and refocus with some of the things I'll talk to you about here. Have a great day!

March 31, 2011

2011-03-31T09:59:00.000-05:00

I've been sitting here typing and deleting, trying to decide what I want to write, facing a terrible case of writers block. I mean, how do I condense twelve years into a single blog post? I can't. But what I can say, and what I keep coming back to is simply, "Thank You."

Thank you for the opportunity to serve you, whether you are a member of the Kansas Dental Association, a friend of the Kansas Dental Association, or someone I have met through my career here. Since March 31, 1999, I have had the opportunity to meet some of the most amazing and passionate individuals. I've also met countless people whose dedication, professionalism and ethics have become part of my foundation.

Much has changed since I sat down in this office twelve years ago and I never would have imagined in 1999 that I'd still be sitting in this same office. I often think back to my college days, wondering if I made the right decisions in life. I didn't know it at the time, but a career path I didn't take is one I have come back to here at the KDA. I am grateful that I've been able to take a passion for communications and writing and to make it a big part of my work. Of course, technology and the internet is a big part of this, but so too is the freedom I've been given by my Executive Director, Kevin Robertson, who hired me. Sure, the analytical skills I learned in law school are a big part of what I bring to my desk everyday; but it's the opportunity to share the stories of our members, of our service through the Kansas Mission of Mercy, and to create communications like the KDA Video Minute, that I truly enjoy.

I hope that I have been able to bring something of value to you during these twelve years. As long as I am here, I will continue to work hard for you, our members and our friends, and to the people we serve through the Kansas Mission of Mercy. Thank you.

--Greg Hill

March 18, 2011

2011-03-18T15:40:00.000-05:00

This morning, Ed Popcheff with the Indiana Dental Association "retweeted" something I found rather interesting. He posted, "Isn't an essential part of business sustaining the professionals who work in the business? Otherwise all you have is a hobby and a club." As an association, we have a responsibility to our membership to help sustain them and to be able to assist them in any way possible. That is not always easy, but it is something to which we should aspire. There are many ways to do this, most notably answering questions promptly from our members when they call or email. But there are countless other ways in which we can serve our members, part of which is giving it our all and constantly looking to improve everything we do. Technology is certainly making it easier, but more importantly a smile, a helping hand, and a desire to be our professional best for our members is ultimately what our members expect and deserve.

As I watch the tsunami and earthquake coverage of Japan, I can't help but think back to New Orleans soon after Hurricaine Katrina. I spent an afternoon driving through the Lower Ninth Ward and the other areas devistated by that disaster. I was amazed at what I saw and those images are still fresh in my mind more than five years later. I can't begin to imagine what this area of the world would look like at this time.

March 17, 2011

2011-03-17T09:11:00.001-05:00

First off, happy St. Patrick's Day. I'm sitting here in a green tie, so I'm good to go for the day. Things have been quite busy here at the Kansas Dental Association for the past few weeks, much of it focusing on our legislative issues. Because of the sensitive nature of so much of that, I've opted for the daily.briefing to sit quietly. There are still many issues to be resolved and you can follow that issue through the KDA website and with the KDA Video Minute.

In the past few days, we've released a few updates on our Facebook page and Twitter pages for the KDA and the KDCF. First, the other day, we reached our 1400th follower on our KDCF Twitter page. For us as a not-for-profit, the opportunity to reach out to that many people and to the organizations behind those accounts is incredibly powerful. A number of those have called us asking how they can help the KMOM project. We are also rapidly approaching our 1000th follower on Facebook. As we get closer, we'll announce a special prize for that 1000th fan.

Also related to the KDCF, we released our latest Voices of Mercy Podcast. In this episode, I interview Dr. John Fales, a pediatric dentist in Olathe about his involvement in the Mission of Mercy projects, both here in Kansas and others nationally. This podcast is also available on iTunes. Just search Voices of Mercy in the iTunes Store.

We have an event coming up we call the Real World Transition Brunch. This week, we released a video for The "Elevator Speech" Project. This is a project for fourth year students where we are giving them an opportunity to film their two minute elevator speech and we will provide that to our members. You can watch the video at the bottom of the post.

Lastly, we asked the question yesterday, what did your office do for Children's Dental Health Month? Let us know on Facebook or here.

Have a great weekend, have a fun and safe St. Patrick's Day, and enjoy the basketball tournament over the next few weeks.

February 17, 2011

2011-02-17T08:53:00.001-06:00

Dr. Brett Roufs and Dr. Cindi Sherwood meet with KDA Staff

prior to testifying on SB 132 on Wednesday afternoon.

This week has been all about the legislature and the many bills the KDA is tracking. Yesterday, we had two dentists, Dr. Cindi Sherwood (KDA Secretary) and Dr. Brett Roufs (KDA Past-President) in town to testify on SB 132, the KDA's comprehensive oral health bill.

Today, we will be at the hearing of HB 2280, the Registered Dental Practitioner bill which will be held in the House Health and Human Services Committee. The KDA opposes this bill. We have several dentists here again today who will be testifying this afternoon.

We'll provide an update once these bills have had their hearings and where they stand after tomorrow's legislative deadline.

Yesterday, we released the latest Voices of Mercy Podcast, a new series of interviews by KMOM volunteers and other Mission of Mercy project leaders. We hope to tell many of the great stories of the project, not just here in Kansas, but across the country, as thousands of volunteers each year work to "Make a Difference." The podcast is available on iTunes. Just search Voices of Mercy and download the latest episode.

February 11, 2011

2011-02-11T10:46:00.000-06:00

This morning, I am participating in a conference call to select the next class of Oral Health Kansas Dental Champions. As a Dental Champion alumnus, I take great pride in the opportunity to help select this group of people for the next class and to see such a outstanding group of people who have accepted the invitation to become leaders of oral health in Kansas.

Some of these people I have worked with closely over the years and some I am being introduced to for the first time. All bring a desire to become dental champions and to join those who have gone through this program in its four classes.

I have always valued the role of leadership, but after working through the dental champions program, I have found the importance in both studying and applying the principles of leadership in my work and in my personal life. The opportunity given to me to participate in the program and then to attend the Center for Creative Leadership in Colorado Springs was truly a life altering experience which granted me the permission to pursue much of what I have done at the KDA, the KDCF, and many of my other avenues of service over the past few years.

Some of you reading this may be in this next class of Dental Champions. I sincerely hope you have the same outcome as I did.

January 31, 2011

2011-01-31T09:00:00.000-06:00

Can someone tell me where January went? I'm guessing that with the start of the legislative session and KMOM it happened and I almost missed it. So goodbye to January of 2011. Let's hope February is another great month.

So what's on tap today? With another snowstorm expected to drop up to a foot of snow on Topeka tomorrow, I'm hoping to wrap up as much today as I can, not know for sure what the rest of the week is going to look like. One of those projects is the KDA Video Minute that we'll be releasing later today. I'll also wrap up a second "Voices of Mercy" podcast for release on iTunes.

For those who are still unsure of the impact of social media, I'd like to report that our KDCF Facebook page had over 100,000 hits during the week of KMOM (Wednesday - Tuesday). We had videos that weren't just watched, but were share over 100 times, spreading the impact of KMOM far beyond our volunteers. Not bad, considering we only devoted about a quarter of the event to our internal media.

Of course, Thursday is KDA Dental Day. I always enjoy watching our members interact with the Kansas Legislators. We've got a lot going on this Thursday and we'll post some photos on Thursday.

Have a safe week on the roads and I'll see you tomorrow. (Weather permitting)

January 27, 2011

2011-01-27T08:44:00.001-06:00

Yesterday, we announced that we had a new project in the works for the Kansas Dental Charitable Foundation. Today, we are pleased to announce that our first episode of "Voices of Mercy" is now on iTunes. You can find and subcribe to the podcast by searching "Voices of Mercy" in the iTunes Store or by clicking here.

Our goal is to bring you many of the stories from volunteers about how they have been touched by patients they have served. We've lined up a number of volunteers who wish to tell their story, but are interested in others. If you have a KMOM story you wish to share, just let us know.

Have a great weekend and we'll be back next week.

January 26, 2011

2011-01-26T10:10:00.000-06:00

I'm working hard to get caught up after being out of the office and few days and also trying to work on a few things from KMOM still. While I was at KMOM, I began a new project that I'm calling "Voices of Mercy," an audio podcast of stories from the Kansas Mission of Mercy. I've nearly finished the first recording and I'll upload it shortly to iTunes. My goal is to share some of the great stories of KMOM in the words of our volunteers. I know that when I tell my own stories, I tell them with much more passion then I do when I tell others. So why not hear the stories out of the mouths of those who can tell them the best.

While I had hopes of doing more recordings in Hutchinson, I did record three and I have scheduled more interviews. I hope to at least capture 10-15 stories and then see how it goes from there. Look for the first story later this week on iTunes.

January 24, 2011

2011-01-24T08:45:00.000-06:00

After a month long hiatus, the daily.briefing is back ... and so are we From KMOM Hutchinson that is. Over this past weekend, the Kansas Dental Charitable Foundation through its Kansas Mission of Mercy Dental Project, treated 1638 patients with dental care valued at $1.25 million, a KMOM record for dollars in service.

There are so many people to thank and stories to tell and we are going to try our best over the next few weeks to post the photos, stories and even the voices and sounds of the project. We hope to share the passion and generosity of the volunteers and the appreciation of our patients.

Thank you to all who followed us over the weekend and shared your thoughts and feelings with us.

December 15, 2010

2010-12-15T09:53:00.002-06:00

In five weeks, we will arrive in Hutchinson for the 2011 Kansas Mission of Mercy Dental Project. A big thank you to all of the organizers who have worked tirelessly to make this happen. The committee is meeting tonight to start wrapping up the planning.

We also have nearly 500 individuals signed up to volunteer. While that may seem like a lot, we are still open for more. Many of you are following us on Facebook. Do us a favor. Help share your involvement in KMOM by posting this as your Facebook status:

"I'm volunteering at the 2011 Kansas Mission of Mercy Dental Project. Visit www.ksdentalfoundation.org/kmom.html to learn how you can help us Make a Difference."

We also want to give a big thank you to Buhler High School Student Nick Wilson, who designed this year's KMOM logo (above). Excellent job Nick!

Finally, we've started posting videos we recorded in Independence that we think will help volunteers who have never volunteered before at a Kansas Mission of Mercy Dental Project to see what they are going to be doing. We'll continue to release those videos every day, so make sure you stop by the KDCF Facebook page and follow us if you aren't already. We'll be doing interviews in Hutchinson as well and we might just be asking you for your thoughts on the project and how you helped us make a difference.

December 8, 2010

2010-12-08T09:57:00.004-06:00

A Day, a Woman and a Speech

Yesterday was not just any day. As some of you might recognize, it was the 69th Anniversary of the attack at Pearl Harbor, a day proclaimed at the time that would "forever live in infamy." I was somewhat surprised to see very little attention given to the day, given what it meant to the World War II generation. This morning, as I was getting ready for work, I thought a little about that and wondered if, in the age of the 24-hour news cycle; lives juggling tasks, phone calls, emails and family responsibilities; along with the countless other monumental generational days (Kennedy assassination, Challenger Disaster, 9/11) have made this infamous day, largely forgotten. I hate to see this as it also signals that this generation is passing, just as those who fought in World War I passed during my early childhood. So while we may have failed in many respects to recognize the day (millions changed their Facebook profile picture to a cartoon character over the weekend to support the prevention of abuse of children) that doesn't mean we have forgotten what that day meant and the sacrifices of those men and women. In time, November 22nd will come and go with little reference to the Kennedy assassination, the Space Shuttle program will be forgotten and even the falling buildings of the World Trade Center, an image seared into our memory, will be passed into the future only through history classes.

Elizabeth Edwards was not just any woman. Through trials and tribulations, she stood firm and gracious as she battled incurable cancer. It was sad to learn of her passing yesterday. I had an opportunity to see her and Lance Armstrong (a personal hero of mine) together at a Stand Up for Cancer event at a Chicago White Sox game a few years ago. She was a true champion in the fight against cancer and she will be missed.

The Jimmy V. Speech was not just any speech. Every year, the legacy of Jim Valvano, the North Carolina State basketball coach is recognized in a college basketball tournament at Madison Square Garden. Every year during the tournament, ESPN replays a speech he delivered on March 4, 1993, just a few months before his passing, at the inaugural ESPY Awards ceremony. A memorable portion of his speech says:

"To me, there are three things we all should do every day. We should do this every day of our lives. Number one is laugh. You should laugh every day. Number two is think. You should spend some time in thought. And number three is, you should have your emotions moved to tears, could be happiness or joy. But think about it. If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that's a full day. That's a heck of a day. You do that seven days a week, you're going to have something special."

Many of you may have something that speaks to you at a leadership level that encourages you to “step up your game.” For me, this speech is one of those uplifting and powerful events that moves me to reflect and to challenge myself to do better in all aspects of my life.

December 1, 2010

2010-12-01T11:16:00.000-06:00

Right now, my computer is processing a two hour video of KMOM footage we'll be showing tomorrow at the Oral Health Kansas Annual Conference. The slogan for this year is to "Think Big" and when I think back to 2003, I can't imagine we had any idea just how big KMOM was going to be.

Since 2003, the Kansas Mission of Mercy dental project has treated 17,500 patients with dental care valued at $8.5 million. Our tenth project is scheduled for January 21-22 in Hutchinson. On Monday, we launched our volunteer registration and we're quickly gearing up for the event. Also on Monday, I traveled to Hutchinson to speak to the local Rotary Club about the event. As I said in my presentation, one of my favorite parts of my work is sharing KMOM stories with others. I hope that you see that passion in the words I write and in those I speak. I am truly privileged to be able to work with so many dedicated individuals who have committed themselves unselfishly to such a worthy cause.

I'll let you know what is happening at the OHK Annual Meeting this week and on Friday, we're making another trip to a possible site for 2012.

November 23, 2010

2010-11-23T09:38:00.000-06:00

I apologize. I know I have been absent the last few days. But I did want to check back in to update you on a couple of things, but most importantly, I wanted to wish all of you a wonderful Thanksgiving. If you are on the road, travel safe. I hope all of you have the chance to relax and enjoy the company of others and the celebration of thanks.

I'm out the rest of the week, beginning at noon today. On Monday, I'll be traveling to Hutchinson again for a noon presentation to the Hutchinson Rotary Club. We're trying to put together a few more stops while I'm in town with the radio station and potential donors. We are very excited for our tenth KMOM dental project and with all of the holiday activities, it really is just around the corner. Make sure you check www.ksdentalfoundation.org on Monday for a big announcement.

We are also looking into a location for the 2012 KMOM dental project. A group went and look at a site last Friday and we are trying to find a date that works for a larger group visit in the upcoming weeks. Hopefully we will be able to nail down the site for 2012 and can make that announcement at or even before KMOM Hutchinson.

November 16, 2010

2010-11-16T08:55:00.001-06:00

What a nice surprise when we opened the mail yesterday. In it was a $500 individual donation to KMOM with a clipping from Saturday's Hutchinson News Story mentioning that for every $25 donated, we could provide $500 in free care. That generous individual offer will allow us to provide $10,000 in dental care.

Now there are many things I love about my job, but seeing the goodness of others has got to be my favorite part. That's what I've always liked about KMOM. So many individuals do so many things and they do so without the need for recognition or to have others pat them on the back. It is, as one person said yesterday, an example of neighbors helping neighbors. That to me is pretty special.

I cannot begin to say thank you enough to this individual or to the countless people who help us make KMOM a reality. But know that I recognize and appreciate your individual goodness and that collectively, that goodness is able to serve thousands.

November 12, 2010

2010-11-12T10:04:00.000-06:00

I'm in Emporia this morning for a KDA meeting and then un about an hour, I'm headed across highway 50 toward Hutchinson for the KMOM walkthrough.

This is our opportunity to look at the facility and make some preliminary final adjustments to our plans to set up the clinic, determine the most efficient flow of patients and begin to wrap up the planning for our 10th KMOM project.

We've been very fortunate over the past nine projects that volunteers and communities have stepped up to help us make a difference. Hutchinson is no different. The number of people who have offered to help us has been amazing. We've also been very fortunate that we have been able to raise nearly $40,000 for this project so far. But with all the projects we have done, fundraising has been a critical component of putting together an effective KMOM event. It's amazing what a small amount of money can do to help our project. For example, a $25 donation can provide $500 in dental care in our project. We've made it easy to support KMOM by offering the opportunity for supporters to make an online donation. http://ksdentalfoundation.org/support.php. Your donation will help us advance our mission of helping provide charitable dental care in Kansas.

Thank you for your consideration. Have a great weekend.

November 11, 2010

2010-11-11T10:50:00.003-06:00

Two years ago, the KDA released the KDA Network to replace the members side of the KDA webpage. Today, we have made a significant upgrade to the site and have relaunched it as K DA.connect.

KDA.connect is designed to perform two functions. One, it is a place in which we can provide our members with information we only want our members to access. This includes
some legislative updates, our membership directory as well as some council and
committee information like peer review.

But most importanly, KDA.connect is a forum for members to communicate with one another by creating their own networks of colleagues and friends. We've taken the liberty to create some discussion groups already, including one for legislative communications and for new
dentists. Members can even create their own groups. We've even created groups
for the ten KDA Districts.

Individually, members create their own unique profile and can update their profile with a photograph and then add their own content to their pages, much like they would do with other social network applications. (If you've not added a photo to your profile, do so now to help your colleagues find you.)

Finally, beginning today, members with a Facebook account can "connect" their Facebook account to their KDA.connect account and log in under the same username and password. Simply click the settings button in the upper right and select connections.

KDA.connect is only available to KDA Members and currently has 354 members.

November 9, 2010

2010-11-09T09:50:00.000-06:00

I just returned on Sunday from the 2010 American Society of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons State Advocates Forum in Miami, FL. Sunday, which already saw the "Fall Back" time change, also had me traveling from the Eastern Time zone to the Central Time zone, which added yet another hour to my day. Now, you'd think with two extra hours, I should have been able to recover faster; the reality is that it seemed to only make things worse.

So today, I'm back in the swing of things. I just posted a few stories over to Facebook from the ADA's website. One involves three bills in Congress including the repeal of an exemption within the McCarran-Ferguson Act which exempts the business of insurance from most federal regulation, including federal anti-trust laws to some extent. The second involves the exemption of most dental offices from the Federal Trade Commission's Red Flag Rules. Finally, the Dental Emergency Responder Act of 2010 is a non-controversial measure that seeks to enhance the roles of dentists and allied dental personnel in the nation's disaster response framework.

The second post involved Costa Mesa's endorsed ban on dental amalgam. We'll be following this issue closely, particularly for any similar efforts in Kansas.

With that, I'll be back tomorrow. Friday, I'm traveling to Hutchinson for the KMOM walkthrough at the State Fairgrounds.

November 4, 2010

2010-11-04T09:00:00.001-05:00

Thank you for checking in today for the daily.briefing. Today, I am traveling to Miami, FL for the 2010 American Academy of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons State Advocates Forum. It's an annual conference I attend and represent the Kansas oral surgeons. I'll be back next week. Have a great weekend and as always, thank you for reading the daily.briefing.

November 3, 2010

2010-11-03T10:33:00.001-05:00

Election night has come and gone. Just what do the results mean for the next two years in Kansas and Congress?

First, let's start in Kansas. I predicted one Democrat would hold their statewide seat, obviously that didn't happen. I based that on a couple of things. One, I thought that despite it being a "Republican" year, there were still some Democrats that had done the work, had statewide name recognition and would also have the benefit of incumbency. That obviously didn't happen and truthfully, I didn't expect it to. But don't you always place a bet on an underdog, just for the huge payoff?

The Kansas House of Representatives gained sixteen seats, giving them a huge 92-33 hyper-majority. But with that hyper-majority comes hyper-responsibility. Think "too much of a good thing." One House member I spoke with looked at me as the results were coming in and said quite simply, "how will we govern with that many people?" That may become a challenge. Some of those pick-ups came from more traditionally Democrat districts and many in those districts will likely still expect their elected representatives to represent the government programs their predecessor had helped protect. It will be interesting to see if these officials feel more beholden to their districts or to the party? Also, will we see the Republican party split, yet again, into moderates, social conservatives, and tea-party conservatives?

One number I was looking for was the percent that Sam Brownback would win the Governor's race. My magic number has always been 64-36, which is the number Bill Graves won the 1994 election. I look at this number as a showing of broad-based Republican support. Anything above this, to me, indicates Nancy Kassebaum (now Jerry Moran) level support. Moving below this indicates less support from moderate Republicans. Brownback pulled 63% of the vote, which means the Republican Party supported him overwhelmingly with very little reservation.

On the national level, the United States House of Representatives went Republican in one of the largest swings in history. However, the US Senate did not switch, making it the first time in history that the House switched without the Senate. So what does this mean? Perhaps the voters didn't want one party control over both houses of Congress, but weren't willing to give them the keys to the Senate as well? Or, were the tea-party backed candidates too far out of the mainstream to win enough broad based support needed to win a Senate seat?

Finally, how will government now work? The American people seem overwhelming dissatisfied with partisan bickering and want something to get done. But it's all going to have to start with a new House of Representatives with an unpredictable agenda. Will they, as I heard this morning, try to overturn health care reform lock, stock and barrel or will they seek to fix the problems, knowing that the American people support many of the individual components of the package? In other words, will the Democrats run a campaign in 2012 that Republicans tried to take your health insurance away or will Republicans run on a platform of a successful resolution of the health care reform package and you can now trust them with the keys to the Senate?

Of course, the economy was the prevailing factor in this election and that always points at the direction of the president. A strong recovery by 2012 will point toward an Obama reelection; a continued failing economy will point toward a loss.

But so much will happen between now and then. We can only look at a snapshot of today and the new political reality. What happens from here really is anyone's guess. The bottom line, however, is that it's always more difficult to quarterback on the field than to carry the clipboard on the sidelines. It's now the Republicans turn to govern.

November 2, 2010

2010-11-02T09:22:00.000-05:00

The great thing about political predictions is that for about ninety-percent of the races, they are pretty easy to predict. By the time election day rolls around, both the enthusiasm and polling gaps have become pretty clear. In Kansas, we can go ahead and safely put Jerry Moran in the US Senate, Sam Brownback in the governor's office and Lynn Jenkins will win reelection. Those are more-or-less no brainers.

I'm going to put all the Kansas congressional races in the Republican column as well, which many of you will call no-brainers, which I tend to agree, but I don't think the margin will be nearly as big, especially given a reported higher than expected turnout in Johnson County and the nice clear blue sky. I'm also going to give the Republicans all but one state-wide election, which I predict will be State Treasurer. So big wins for Republicans in Kansas, which is expected.

On the national front, the US House of Representatives will go the way of the Republicans, but not by nearly the upward of 70-80 seats that some had predicted. I'm guessing 48 seats will switch, giving the Republicans a slim, but comfortable margin. The Senate will stay Democrat, which will be the first time in history that the House has flipped without the Senate. I'm predicting a 52-48 margin with Democrats maintaining control of the Senate.

So as I said yesterday, the Republicans will be celebrating what they will call America's rebuke of the "liberal Obama agenda" and the Democrats will count their blessings that they didn't lose the Senate and will warn of the "return of the failed Bush policies that got us into this financial trouble." What does this mean for the next two years? More gridlock? A rise of a moderate coalition? What do the voters want? Find out tomorrow.

November 1, 2010

2010-11-01T16:25:00.001-05:00

Probably not many of you have an "election night" routine you look forward to. If anything, you probably hate that once every two years, your late night programming is bumped for the coverage of election night returns, victory speeches and the political pundits trying to explain how each race was won or lost. But I'll admit it, election night is something I look forward to, not because I really have a personal stake in the outcome, but because I really like political science.

I call my election night routine the war room and ironically, it's not so much even a room anymore. In 2000, my war room was two television sets and a computer. I watched the coverage on two different networks and followed the returns on my desktop computer. In 2004, I sat in my family room with three televisions, and two laptop computers. In 2008, I sat in front of only one TV, but followed returns of that historic night on a laptop and my cell phone.

What I enjoy most about election night is that I can follow along in real time, making my own predictions, plugging in my own numbers, adding up votes and seats and seeing how close I am to the actual results. In a sense, I feel like I have the same access to information as CNN (my election night network of choice) and now with the touch screen iPad, I'll be able to zoom in on individual counties by using my fingers just like John King's magic board.

This year, I'll have the TV set to CNN, my mobile phone where I can follow "tweets" from election night headquarters around the country, the laptop to access even more data and to watch local coverage and of course the iPad. While that may sound like an election night headache to many of you, I'll be a kid in a candy store. I might even venture out to the election night parties where I think both parties will be celebrating one for a victory, the other for not losing it all. I'm sure the moods will be quite different. But that's politics.

Tomorrow, I'll post my predictions and on Wednesday, I'll play the part of the political pundit, giving my analysis of what happened and what it means for the next two year.

October 29, 2010

2010-10-29T08:00:00.004-05:00

Today members are easily able to engage and build community with their professional peers outside of associations. How should associations be rethinking their membership engagement and recruiting strategies?

The answer to this really builds upon many of those things I have already talked about this week. It’s easy to talk about how technology is building these types of communities, which we are working to develop through the KDA Network, because these are a natural part of social networking.

We think it’s important not to just offer our members ways to share with us and their colleagues their thoughts on articles, activities and events, but we should encourage them to do so as a way to engage conversation. But we must also allow that conversation to move between face-to-face communications to online communications. Town hall type meetings with members could be broadcast over the internet so that our entire membership could participate in discussions.

I too think it is important to be at the forefront and to help drive the opportunity for our members to connect and discuss issues as well as to use the power of the association to create real life, interactive activities between members. We also need to experiment with innovative ways to engage our members.

Recruitment is not just about asking members to join, but it involves making sure that their dues dollars are worth their investment. It’s relatively easy for members to create social groups and create their own interactive experiences. We see that all the time with study clubs and other informal groups of dentists. So it is important that we give our members something additional that they cannot get on their own.

October 28, 2010

2010-10-28T08:00:00.005-05:00

How will association staff members be doing business differently as a result of technology?

I write about and focus on technology quite a bit because right now we are experiencing a paradigm shift in our model of communication. While ongoing for a number of years, our lives are becoming increasingly and are now almost completely dependent upon technology in one form or another.

Just last week, I became “paperless” and as an association, we are doing more and more to make paper a thing of the past. We also believe that it is part of our responsibility to our membership to help in their transition to technology and I’m always willing to help members as they adjust to these changes.

While I’m not going to make specific predictions about what technologies we’ll be using, although that does sound like a fun exercise, I do think as a staff we’ll be more functional away from our desks and not be confined to the traditional workspace. I also think we’ll use technology to engage more formally with our members through video conferencing for example. Printing and publications are dependent upon a medium to replace paper, whether it is a desktop monitor, e-readers or the development of affordable digital paper. While we do provide our directory and journal in a printed format, the need to print that is becoming less important, not to mention, a very costly way to provide information.

Who would have imagined five years ago the impact that Facebook, Twitter and YouTube would have on the world in such a short time and I am guessing that in five years, we’ll be talking about another social media service that maybe we’ve yet to hear about. I also believe that we as an organization will become more collaborative with our members and will work more efficiently in groups through the web.

Lastly, technology is going to dramatically drive down costs on things like printing, long distance phone calls and even travel, which will benefit not only our budget, but your costs of running a business.

October 27, 2010

2010-10-27T08:00:00.001-05:00

New requirements on the Form 990 are one example of what some are calling a governance revolution. How do you think this will affect both associations and their boards?

Like it or not, there has been and will likely continue to be, more focus and regulations put upon businesses and organizations designed at insuring transparency. While associations consider the additional documentation onerous, the result will be that associations will become more attentive to their responsibilities due to the scrutiny they are now facing.

Ethics of the board, staff members and other members of the association will be looked upon much heavier and I think in a sense this is positive. However, the reporting requirements can’t be so cumbersome that we spend so much time on paperwork that we can’t see the forest for the trees.

Whether it is our association or our 501(c)(3) foundation, we must make certain that our specific tax-exempt missions are kept and that nobody affiliated with these organizations does anything to jeopardize that status.

The KDA will continue to monitor the changes and new regulations associated with these changes and when necessary, hope that national organizations like the American Dental Association and the American Society of Association Executives will continue to represent our interests as a small association.

October 26, 2010

2010-10-26T08:00:00.002-05:00

Associations have, for the most part, lost their competitive edge as sole sources of unique, industry-specific knowledge. How should associations be redefining knowledge as a result?

There is no question that there are countless sources of dental related information available on the web. We have taken, what I think anyway, is a unique approach which is to operate in a sense, as a news aggregator. We try to pull information from various sources, the ADA, dental blogs, newspaper and magazine stories, along with the blogosphere and make it available to you.

We try to mix that with stories and features of our members and dental “newsmakers” in Kansas so that our members can come to us for all of the latest dental information. Having worked for a newspaper in the past, I try and model our information stream as an industry specific newspaper.

Our goal is to become the best source of dental information and news for our members. That is a lofty goal as we compete against other businesses and organizations for your already limited time. But we know too, that your time to read the dental news is not solely limited to the time in which you sit at your desk in the morning or between patients. We’ve adapted our news to video, to Facebook and Twitter which is great for mobility and we’re exploring better ways to distribute other information to new form factors like the iPad.

The daily.briefing is another way in which we bring you the unique flavor of your association. I hope that posts like those in this series, help you better understand what we are striving toward over the next five years.

October 25, 2010

2010-10-25T08:00:00.007-05:00

By 2015, millennials will make up more than 40 percent of the workforce. What should associations be doing to prepare for the future workforce and its needs?

There has been an increase in class sizes at dental schools during the last few years along with a push for new dentists to return to Kansas. The result of this, coupled with an aging population of dentists who may be looking toward retirement, is a much younger workforce emerging.

That means too, that the leaders of our organization are likely to become younger as well. This was quite evident at our latest Board of Delegates meeting where a number of new delegates were younger dentists. In the district meetings I attended, several “Gen Y” dentists took leadership roles.

For the KDA, it is going to be imperative that we understand both the expectations and the needs of this new generation of dentists. Those will likely be considerably different than those of the Baby Boomer Generation.

While younger dentists are becoming more involved in the organizations, they are also balancing their profession with raising families, thus making evening meetings difficult and traveling for committee or board meetings often impossible. This requires that we engage members in other ways.

But for us to adapt, we need to hear from younger dentists. Perhaps a special meeting, aimed specifically at engaging young dentists is needed and instead of us (the KDA) talking about who we are and what we can do to help them, maybe we need the younger dentists to tell us what they expect from us and what we need to do engage them.

This is certainly a divergence of how we have engaged older members, but may be critical to remaining an effective organization over the next five years and beyond.

October 22, 2010

2010-10-22T08:58:00.001-05:00

I mentioned yesterday that I was going to write a response to the 5 Questions for the Next 5 Years, which is the feature topic in the latest issue of Associations Now, the publication of the American Society of Association Executives.

As I thought more about it, I have decided to spend one day next week giving my answers to each of the following five questions as they apply to the Kansas Dental Association.

Question 1 - By 2015, millennials will make up more than 40 percent of the workforce. What should associations be doing to prepare for the future workforce and its needs?

Question 2 - Associations have, for the most part, lost their competitive edge as sole sources of unique, industry-specific knowledge. How should associations be redefining knowledge as a result?

Question 3 - New requirements on the Form 990 are one example of what some are calling a governance revolution. How do you think this will affect both associations and their boards?

Question 4 - How will association staff members be doing business differently as a result of technology?

Question 5 - Today members are easily able to engage and build community with their professional peers outside of associations. How should associations be rethinking their membership engagement and recruiting strategies?

Their has been a considerable change over the last five years in how we do things here at the KDA and I expect that as the next five years progress, our association will look much different as we move toward our 150 year anniversary of the KDA in 2021.

October 21, 2010

2010-10-21T09:16:00.000-05:00

When I started this blog a few months ago, I really didn't have a sense of whether or not it would be a success. But each day, I plugged along on my keyboard, talking about things I think are both interesting and that our members and followers would want to read. Behind the scenes I track on a daily basis, how many readers I have and which days and posts have the most readers. The reason I bring this up is that yesterday was my largest all-time daily readership of my blog and I want to thank you for taking the time to read it. What I find most interesting is that on days in which I don't write or post out to Twitter and Facebook, readers still stop by. To me as a writer, that is the ultimate compliment. So I want to thank you to you, the readers.

I'll be working over the next few posts on a summary of an article in the latest issues of Associations Now, the American Society of Association Executives membership publication titled 5 Questions for the Next 5 Years.

October 20, 2010

2010-10-20T11:04:00.008-05:00

This morning, I took a file folder to the shredder and dropped it into the box and said goodbye to the last paper record I have in my office. Going paperless has been an ongoing process as well as a running joke around our office. I'll admit, it hasn't been easy and it certainly hasn't been quick. From what I could tell by the remains of a Franklin Covey Planner, I'm guessing I started this process on July 1, 2006, more than four years ago.

Why so long? First, there was a comfort level that my information was going to be where I needed it and not get lost. Second, there was a security element that my documents would be safely stored. Third, there was the conversion of paper records into electronic records that required scanning and filing. Finally, there was an organization process of the documents on my computer so I could easily find them.

Technology, of course, has made this easier. With the iPad, I can carry a device with me that I can write on and I do take handwritten notes on the touch screen and then email them to myself in a .pdf file. I am able to access all of my documents on my computer from my phone, iPad, iPod, or laptop, making it even more efficient to be "paperless." This requires that I immediately scan documents and then I work with them in a digital format, creating a much less cluttered workspace on both my desk and my desktop.

Of course, going paperless in an administrative office is not the same as going paperless in a dental office, but many practices have or are considering moving toward digital dental records. According to The Wealthy Dentist, thirty-eight percent of practices have digital dental records and thirty-four percent on converting. The blog also posted some interesting comments on both sides of the "paperless" debate.

Regardless of whether you are a dentist or not, have you gone paperless? If not, would you like to?

October 19, 2010

2010-10-19T15:15:00.000-05:00

We had a great time at the KDA Sunflower Showdown and I for one, couldn't have asked for a better outcome. Now I realize, I just lost half my readership on that comment so those of you who are still with me, I hope you will join us next year as the KU-KState football game returns to Lawrence thanks to the scheduling of the new Big 12.

So what is going on this week? We just released the KMOM flier which we encourage you to share with anyone who may be able to use our services. We've also uploaded the hotel information the website, so if you are planning on volunteering, please make sure you get your hotel reserved right away.

Ramada Conference Center
$65 per night (until 1/5/11)
formerly Grand Prairie Hotel)
includes up to 4 continental breakfast tickets
1400 N Lorraine St
Hutchinson, KS 67501
620 669-9311
800 362-5018

Please make sure you continue to check the KDCF website for updates and other announcements on the KMOM Project.

October 14, 2010

2010-10-14T09:59:00.000-05:00

Rather than the usual daily.briefing, today Greg is offering a video podcast to talk about what is going on at the KDA. He does a very poor job of remaining neutral on today's game.

October 13, 2010

2010-10-13T08:55:00.000-05:00

I learned last night while I was watching the news coverage of the Chilean mine rescue that Dr. Leo Bongers passed away. Dr. Bongers was the president of the Kansas Dental Association in 1973. For those who have never been in the KDA's Past Presidents' Conference Room, we have photographs of every president of the KDA since it was founded in 1871. I have been at the KDA for eleven years and during that time, many of our past leaders have left us. But looking at those shelves of photographs one after another, reminds me of the strength and longevity of this organization. Only a few of those presidents who served prior to the mid-1980's are still alive. So if you have the opportunity to see any of these individuals, please take a moment to thank them for their service.

Tomorrow of course, is the Sunflower Showdown. I'm picking K-State to win by a touchdown. Regardless of the outcome though, I'm looking forward to the opportunity to enjoy what looks to be a perfect night for college football.

October 11, 2010

2010-10-11T09:23:00.000-05:00

Of course, yesterday was 10.10.10 with lots of 1's and 0's. For the math geeks out there, it was a major binary day and hopefully you've recovered from all the excitement. If you missed it, today is 101110, an equally impressive day in the world of binary digits.

Oh sorry, still clearing the cobwebs out of my head after a weekend and I've not yet hit my first cup of coffee. This is the dental blog and 1's and 0's aren't really part of this audience. Ok, I've got coffee in front of me now.

In all seriousness, this is a big week here at the KDA. Of course, Thursday is the Sunflower Showdown tailgate party and we hope you are joining us. We've still got tickets available. Visit our website to learn more. On Friday, the KDA Board of Delegates is meeting in Lawrence. This is a very important meeting for the board. If you are a delegate to the KDA, you should have received all that information via email last week. We hope you plan to join us.

Right now, many of the KDA leaders are in Orlando at the 2010 ADA Annual Meeting. We'll try and summarize what we know from Orlando and share some of that information with you throughout the remainder of the week.

Look for some KMOM announcements this week, including hotel information. Registration is scheduled to open approximately December 1.

Finally, vote and let us know who you think is going to win the Sunflower Showdown on the KDA Flash Poll at www.ksdental.org.

October 7, 2010

2010-10-07T10:05:00.000-05:00

As I mentioned yesterday, I traveled to Hutchinson last night for a KMOM planning meeting. There are many challenges in planning the event and to the local organizers, the challenge seems difficult or insurmountable. The local organizers have always been a big part of the success of the project and the Hutchinson group is well on their way to serving as hosts for the tenth KMOM event. I can't begin to say thank you enough, as the Executive Director of the Kansas Dental Charitable Foundation, to those in Hutchinson who are working tirelessly to make this event a success.

As many of you are working diligently on this event or you are a patient or an organizer looking to bring patients to the event and you have questions, we have multiple venues for you to ask, including my email at greg@ksdentalfoundation.org. I will see to it personally that we are able to get the information that you need as promptly as possible. We'll have fliers out on the website soon along with other promotional materials very soon.

A big thank you to the Delos V. Smith Senior Citizens Foundation & Center for their $1000 donation to the KMOM Hutchinson project and to the donation of the ushers at the Kansas State Fair who donated $500 to support us. These donations will help us provide care to nearly 1800 patients.

Thank you to everyone involved in the upcoming KMOM project. We look forward to serving the Hutchinson area.

October 6, 2010

2010-10-06T09:01:00.000-05:00

Let me start by congratulating Dr. Julie Swift, a periodontist from Topeka and member of the KDA who was named one of the Topeka's 20 Under 40. I'm interviewing Julie this morning for a story we'll publish later today or tomorrow. It's always great to see dentists and friends earn such high honors in their communities. If you are aware of other dentists who have been honored in their communities, please let us know.

This afternoon, I'm headed to Hutchinson for a planning meeting for the 2011 Kansas Mission of Mercy project. We've got a big announcement coming up regarding a funder for the project. I'll also be traveling back to Hutchinson on November 29th (probably before then at least once) to speak to the Rotary Club and meet with media representatives and potential funders. This event is coming up quick. We'll have registration set and ready to go December 1st.

Speaking of Rotary, I'll be presenting to the Topeka Rotary Club on December 9th, also about KMOM. As some of you might know, this is my Rotary club. I've had the opportunity to speak to many different service clubs over the past several years about KMOM and to share many of the wonderful and incredible stories about the project. I'm looking forward to sharing these stories with a group of people I join weekly for lunch.

Have a great day.

September 30, 2010

2010-09-30T09:48:00.002-05:00

I mentioned earlier in the week that I'm celebrating my twenty year class reunion this weekend. As this date began to approach, the writer in me began thinking of some profound story I could write that could somehow capture twenty years of my life. I considered some unique challenge I faced after graduation that somehow shaped my life and made me who I am today or some completely unexpected event that came along later and presented the perfect opportunity for the job of my dreams.

The reality is, and I think there is both good and bad in this statement, that my life isn’t all that exciting. Few lives are exciting I have found, and those that are, tend to be exciting on the side of chaos. I’m happily married, have two healthy children and overall, life is treating me quite well.

While driving to work this morning, I was speaking to my seven year old daughter and we began talking about how things were different when I was her age. I explained that we didn’t have the internet (dot coms as she calls them) and that we couldn’t Google anything. She wasn’t sure exactly what that meant, but she did know that you “googled” things on the computer.

This got me thinking about the last twenty years and how rapidly the world around us has changed. In high school, the business machine we learned the basics of word processing was an IBM Selectric typewriter. When I took my first job five years later, I had a Macintosh computer connected to this thing called the World Wide Web. Much of the work I do today quite simply, didn’t exist twenty years ago, nor could it have been predicted. Those parts of my job that did exist, do so in an entirely different format altogether.

So back to the top where you are probably asking yourself, “what profound statement is he trying to make?”

Twenty years ago, if you would have asked me what I’d be doing today, I would have told you something I knew to exist at that time. My desk would be littered with law books, economic charts, or I’d have a really powerful calculator on my desk as I was solving an engineering problem. (Yes, I was going to be an engineering major at one time in my life.)

If you ask me today what I’ll be doing in twenty years, I’m going to tell you that I don’t know because it doesn’t yet exist. The framework does, just as the calculator did in 1990. But the method in which I’ll be doing my work likely has not yet been invented and will not be for another fifteen years.

In a way, this is who I’ve become twenty years later. The inquisitive mind of the engineer wonders what the world will look like in the future. The stint as a journalist (something I now wish I had pursued and didn’t) creates the passion to write and to share stories that I think are relevant and important to the reader. The three years I spent in law school forces me to analyze facts and to question.

The fact is, “Pong” for my children is the iPad. They will look back at this technology that today blows us away and laugh at its simplicity and its inabilities.

That is a story that intrigues me and in a way, defines what I have become twenty years after graduating from high school. I can’t wait to see what the next twenty years looks like.

September 28, 2010

2010-09-28T09:14:00.000-05:00

Last night was the Annual Meeting of the Topeka District Society. I had the opportunity to present Dr. Kevin Cassidy who served three years as President of the Kansas Dental Charitable Foundation with a plaque, recognizing his service to the organization. It was a pleasure working with Dr. Cassidy and I wish to personally thank him for all that he did on behalf of the foundation.

In my news search this morning, I've found that the EPA will propose a rule next year to reduce mercury waste from dental offices. I'll put together information on this story and we'll post something later today.

The FDA is again alerting dentists and the risks of burning from electric dental handpieces. For more information, visit the FDA website. We'll put together more information on this as well.

That should keep me pretty busy for the day. Have a great Tuesday!

September 27, 2010

2010-09-27T09:34:00.000-05:00

I really would like a "do over" on last week. If you didn't notice, I didn't post much last week, either here or on our website. The simple reason is that I was sick and tried the best I could to do the more critical work that needed to be done and that meant some things had to take a back seat, including my blog. But I'm back, rested and ready to begin the week and hopefully make up for last week.

Speaking of last week, I did wrap up last week and into the weekend at the 2010 American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry legislative workship in Oak Brook, IL (Chicago Suburbs). Also in attendance from Kansas were Dr. Crystal Walker, Dr. Nick Rogers and Dr. John Fales. It was a great meeting and much of the information will help the KDA in the upcoming months as it prepares for the 2011 legislative session.

Tonight, I'm off to the Topeka District Meeting. We're nearly finished with the 2010 District Meeting Schedule. As I've said before, I enjoy attending the KDA District Meetings and am always excited to see a new group of dentists stepping into leadership roles.

I'll wrap up the week in my hometown of Independence, KS for the class of 1990's Twenty Year Class Reunion. Facebook has reconnected me with many classmates so in a way, I feel like I have kept in touch with many of them. But there are many others who I have had no contact with for ten or maybe even twenty years that I'm looking forward to seeing.

Have a great week!

September 21, 2010

2010-09-21T13:58:00.000-05:00

We're quickly wrapping up the district meetings for this year. Tomorrow night is the First District Meeting in Lawrence and then next week will wrap up with Topeka and Central. I've never been to the First District meeting, so I look forward to attending. If you are in the First District, I hope you are planning to attend and I hope we have the chance to meet tomorrow.

Later this week, I'll be traveling to Chicago for the 2010 American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry Legislative Workshop meeting. I'll be joining three dentists from Kansas there and I look forward to the opportunity to learn more about the various issues facing the pediatric dental profession. These type of "speciality-focused" meetings are always a great chance to learn what types of issues other states are seeing and what we might expect in Kansas.

I hit two of the three local wins (KSU and KC) over the weekend. Don't forget, we are still looking to paint the KDA Website either KU or KState colors the week of the KU-KSU game. If we don't get some photos sent to us with fans dressed in their school colors, I'm just going to get out my purple paint and go to town with purple pride. But in fairness, I'll switch it over to Crimson and Blue if KU wins. We'd still like to have some photos to help celebrate the Sunflower Showdown. We hope to have fun with this event over the next few weeks and we hope you will join us as we celebrate the wonderful sport and experience of college football.

September 16, 2010

2010-09-16T09:53:00.004-05:00

We're all about video today. Watch the first daily.briefing video podcast. The KDA Video Minute is uploading now and we'll have more video for members later this afternoon.

September 15, 2010

2010-09-15T09:29:00.000-05:00

Sorry I missed posting yesterday. Things got hectic yesterday morning with a meeting and never let up. Honestly, part of it may have been the near all-nighter I nearly pulled after the Chiefs game on Monday night. But games like that don't happen often.

We're setting up this morning to shoot the KDA Video Minute. We've not done a VM for a while and we have a lot of things going on here at the KDA. We'll probably have it up later today or tomorrow morning. We're planning on discussing the upcoming Sunflower Showdown, the BPA study and several other issues.

Occasionally, I'll mention an organization that is doing some great things with their communications. The Douglas County Dental Clinic in Lawrence is running an incredible Facebook page and has even turned their page pink to support breast cancer awareness. They have an Ask the Dentist feature they post to YouTube and are asking their followers to provide topics for them to cover. Great job to the innovative staff at the DCDC. They are also hosting a free dental day on September 24th. Check them out.

Have a story you think we should cover? Let us know. We are always looking for stories and features to share dentistry with others.

September 13, 2010

2010-09-13T11:32:00.001-05:00

I had a great conversation yesterday on Facebook with a friend of mine who works for a family run newspaper in a small town here in Kansas. Part of our conversation was about a larger newspaper who still, in the year 2010, does not have a webpage, let alone any social or digital media. She told me that it has been a challenge teaching her parents (the old dogs, she called them) the new tricks of the profession.

I commended her parents for their willingness to learn and suggested that those who don't want to learn, won't survive. I believe that small, local newspapers are a valuable component to the livelihood of small towns and may, in the future, play a valuable role in preserving small town America.

I also believe that the role of the professional association must also adapt to the changing environment and those organizations that who refuse to harness the power of web may risk becoming irrelevant in the very near future.

A few weeks ago, we asked you where you got your dental news. Only thirty-six percent of those who responded said that they got their dental news from the KDA, which was equal to the ADA News. I personally think those KDA numbers should be much higher and am personally committed to making the KDA the "Number One" place where our members go for dental news.

I believe we are moving in that direction and I hope that the next time we ask that question, we'll get an entirely different response.

September 10, 2010

2010-09-10T09:01:00.000-05:00

Did you know ...

According to The Cost of Delay: State Dental Policies Fail One in Five Children, released this past spring by the Pew Children’s Dental Campaign, the average dentist provides about $33,000 in charity and reduced-fee care to patients every year. That comes to $46.3 million in free and reduced care ANNUALLY given by Kansas Dentists!
The Kansas Mission of Mercy (KMOM) dental charity clinics have provided $8.5 million in free dental care 17,500 patients. In all, 572 dentists have provided charity care in at least one of the nine KMOM projects.
Administered by the Kansas Foundation of Dentistry for the Handicapped, the Donated Dental Services (DDS) program in Kansas is among the countries top performers having, provided $6 million worth of free dental treatment for 2,400 disabled patients. There are 360 DDS provider dentists.

This morning, I'm giving a webinar on social media for the Kansas Society of Association Executives to talk about social media. I always enjoy the opportunity to share many of the things we are doing here at the KDA with other organizations across the state.

Have a great weekend!

September 8, 2010

2010-09-08T11:49:00.000-05:00

Yesterday morning in my search for dental news, I discovered the BPA Report which you may have seen last night on the news. Immediately, we released a message through the KDA Network, our members only side of the website, indicating that the story had been released and what the report showed. We chose to release that through The KDA Network because at the time, we didn't have a great deal of information, other than what was being reported. This morning, we posted a message on our Facebook and Twitter pages about the ADA statement.

How we decide to release information is often a difficult decision. We don't want to send too much information to our members, but we want to keep them informed. We also know there is information we want to share with more than our members, which we primarily do through our Facebook and Twitter feeds. So, here is generally how we release information:

Most information we will release through our Facebook and Twitter feeds and publish on our website. Information we only want to share to our members (we are a membership organization remember) we will place within the KDA Network. Generally, we will limit our enews (electronic email to all members) releases to one a week. Other important information we will send through the KDA Network.

We believe that we provide a tremendous member benefit by providing breaking news in a timely fashion. We also have an obligation to the public, in particular as it relates to the awareness of dental health. Finding that right balance is something that I hope sets us apart.

September 7, 2010

2010-09-07T09:34:00.000-05:00

It's the end of the summer. I can tell because my allergies are driving me crazy and we've returned to our normal hours here at the KDA. We're here 8:30 until 5:00 Monday through Friday now.

While Labor Day is celebrated today as a symbolic end of the summer, it was first observed by the Central Labor Union of New York in 1882. It's purpose was to recognize the strength and esprit de corps of the trade and labor organizations. I had always thought it was about recognizing the end of the hard work that farmers put in over the summer. Regardless, hard work is a virtue that has been the backbone of our economy for many years.

We've had a busy summer here at the KDA as well and we've been laying some groundwork for some activities coming up this fall. We're looking forward to many of the upcoming activities like the Sunflower Showdown, the Board of Delegates meeting and the remainder of the District Meetings throughout the next few weeks, capped by the ADA Annual Meeting in October.

We're committed to bringing you the very best service we can and we'll continue to do so, through the fall and moving forward. Have a great week and I'll talk to you again tomorrow.

September 2, 2010

2010-09-02T09:14:00.001-05:00

I decided when I started this blog that I was not going to give each post a headline. Rather, I would pull a teaser line and post it as a de facto headline to Facebook and Twitter. But, if I were to give today's post a title it might be something like this.

"Exceeding Member's Expectations and then Admitting when I Fail."

You see, I made a major blunder yesterday. Honestly, I'm not sure why or how it happened, but it ate at me all night. I sent two emails yesterday to a total of about one thousand people and for some unexplainable reason, a very important graphic that was supposed to appear in the email never appeared. While this may not seem newsworthy enough to you that I devote a full blog post to it, I think it is and here is the reason why.

I've written a number of times over the past few years about the Center for Creative Leadership and some of the things I learned during that amazing week in Colorado Springs. The longer I have been away from the program, I've found that I've set standards for myself that I didn't really know I had set. One of those is what we here in the office call, "exceeding our member's expectations."

I know it's impossible to do day in and day out, but that is the standard I strive to reach. I probably fail more often than I succeed, but that is still my goal. We've talked a lot here at the KDA lately about the Disney Institute’s program and doing things the “Disney Way.” I followed that with a leadership session from Pixar at the ASAE meeting about doing things the “Pixar Way.”

Now, we all make mistakes and quite frankly I have no idea how it happened. But it happened and I'm ultimately responsible for the error. My point is that no matter how hard we try sometimes, mistakes happen. As someone who strives to be a leader and often writes with a teaching message, I would offer this:

"We are going to make mistakes. Some are avoidable. Some are not. But if we strive to exceed our member's, our patient's or our customer's expectations and we make a mistake, I believe they are much more forgiving than when we fail at meeting their most basic level of expectations."

Lastly, as the end of today’s tagline says, I have to admit when I fail. So often we see people make mistakes and then search long and hard for an excuse. So, if you were one of those thousand people who received an email from me yesterday without that graphic, I apologize and I promise I’ll get the problem fixed.

September 1, 2010

2010-09-01T08:01:00.000-05:00

First, Happy September. Hopefully that grueling summer heat is now behind us and fall will arrive soon.

Last night, the Kansas Dental Charitable Foundation Board of Directors met and elected its new members and officers for the 2010-2011 year. If you missed it last night on the KDCF Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kansas-Dental-Charitable-Foundation/133761094713) or our Twitter page (http://twitter.com/KSDentalFound) we posted the results immediately following the election. (As my six year old daughter would say, "That's how we roll around here.")

We are pleased to announce the Dr. Mark Herzog of Ellsworth was elected to serve another three year term as an "at-large" member and was then elected as President of the Kansas Dental Charitable Foundation. Dr. Nick Rogers of Arkansas City was elected to serve as Vice-President. Mildred Bergstrom, RDH, of Lebo, is our first non-dentist to hold an office within the KDCF. She will serve as Secretary/Treasurer.

I'm looking forward to serving with these new officers and continuing to serve as the Executive Director of the Kansas Dental Charitable Foundation.

August 31, 2010

2010-08-31T07:54:00.002-05:00

Paint the KDA Website with your school colors.
(Yes, that purple is intentional)

Friday is national "College Colors Day." Show us your school pride by sending us a photo of you or your staff wearing the colors of your favorite school. We'll recognize the overall "most spirited" and then we'll choose the best KU dressed fan and the best K-State dressed fan. Those two winners will square off for a fan vote. The winning school will have their colors painted on the KDA website during the week of the Sunflower Showdown.

Now, I can guarantee you that a certain KDA blogger will be wearing purple on Friday and I'm not making myself ineligible to participate, just ineligible to win. So show us your school pride and help paint the KDA website with your school colors. (Otherwise, I'm going to paint it purple!)

Here are some suggestions from collegecolorsday.com for College Colors Day in the office

Have a lunchtime tailgate party at the office (potluck or catered) to get the team together.
Have a College Colors Day king and queen contest to see which team member best supports their team by donning their college colors.
Prepare a list of where employees attended college and send it around for fun.
Have a college karaoke contest where team members sing their fight songs.
Prepare a college trivia contest with sports and college traditions-related questions and send it around the team.
Have a photo contest with college photos from your team members and see who guess everyone correctly.

We'll post the official rules later in the week and where to send your photo entries. Then join us in Lawrence on October 14th for an evening of fun and football as KU and KState square off in the 2010 Sunflower Showdown.

(Rules)

August 30, 2010

2010-08-30T08:12:00.000-05:00

I look at this week as the final week of summer. Of course, this also means scrambling around to finish all of those projects I had planned to complete by the end of the summer. I'll be the first to admit, I didn't complete them all, but I got most of them.

One of those is the redesign of the KDCF website for KMOM Hutchinson. Byrle Gross from Independence took some absolutely incredible photos in Independence and I would be remiss if I did not incorporate them heavily into the new site design. So look for that in the next few weeks. I'm telling you,Life Magazine would be glad to have these photos, I'm not kidding. My challenge is to design the site worthy of hosting them.

Dr. Nevin Waters provided care last week as part of the Kansas Urgent Dental Care funding. I'm hoping to catch up with him today to find out how his day went and any tips for other dentists who will be providing care. We're hoping to run that story today, or early tomorrow.

We're in the midst of the District KDA Meetings, which means lots of traveling and meeting with our members from across the state. I spoke to the Kansas Oral Surgeons last week and am off to Wellington on Thursday to the Southern District. We have more meetings over the next few weeks. I always enjoy the opportunity to get out of the office, and even though the nights are late, I do appreciate the hospitality we are provided by the districts.

Have a great Monday!

August 24, 2010

2010-08-25T08:56:00.000-05:00

I’ve been fortunate over my relatively brief working career to have had the opportunity to hear some incredibly powerful speakers. Typically, those speakers, however, have been individuals who have come to their reputation through years of experience. But it was refreshing to hear Jason Ryan Dorsey, an incredibly brilliant, funny and young speaker, this morning talking about the ways to retain and motivate Generation Y employees and too, how to effectively communicate with them.

Now, I am thirty-eight years young, born in the year 1971 and technically, I am regarded as a Gen Xer. But when I look at what influenced Gen Y and the expectations of Gen Y, I feel that in many ways I am a hybrid of the two. Maybe it is because I grew up on the front end of the technology boom and was the older brother of two borderline Generation Y siblings. Regardless, many of Jason’s comments resonated and made me think that in many ways, even though we are often looked upon as an organization working at the forefront of social media by many associations, we perhaps still aren’t doing it the right way to attract young people to our organization.

I’m going to try quickly, as I’m sitting here on the floor at the LAX Airport, to capture what Jason said and then bring those ideas back to what we do at the KDA. This is important because as we recruit the recent graduates of dental school, we have to recruit them in a way that is different than how we have done it in the past. Once we have them, Jason would argue that we have to interact with them too, in ways different than we have in the past as well.

First, he says to tailor our web presence to fit Gen Y’s hot button. He says that videos that are unscripted, honest and seem homemade resonate well with Gen Y. While we do a lot of video production at the KDA, it tends to be less of this model and more of a newscast style. So while this may resonate well with older members, for younger members it may not. Perhaps it’s worth exploring another video aimed at younger members that will connect better.

Jason says to make the first in-person interaction with the KDA blog-worthy. We want a new member to tell their friends that they have joined. It’s that first impression that makes the difference. Gen Y also considers a phone call to be an “invasion of privacy.” He says to put the phone down and send a text or an email. But only write in the subject line. I don’t have the time to read what is in the body of an email and I’m a Gen Xer. Gen Y tends to hate email even more than I do and are far less likely to read the body. Text messaging is the best way, he says, followed by social media. Only use email if you have to.

Lastly, we must ask what makes the KDA valuable to them both personally and professionally. If we aren’t giving them what they are paying to join, there is no reason for them to join.

Now I admit, this is really just a summary and in many ways a generalization of Gen Y, but some of the ideas are worth exploring. I do think in many ways, we are doing many things right with our communications strategy. But we do have to think differently than we have.

So if you are a Gen Y give us feedback and let us know what we need to do. You may start to see us interact with you a little bit differently because we are here4u and we really, really want you to join us as valuable members of the KDA. You are our future.

August 23, 2010

2010-08-23T09:52:00.002-05:00

I feel as if I need to reintroduce myself after what seems like a hiatus, even though it was only four days. But the weekend, along with the two hour time difference, which has me writing this at 9:22 CT as opposed to my usual time, has me really worried that I've broken the number one rule that I've learned out here.

More on that in a second. "Out here" is Los Angeles and I'm at the LA Convention Center attached to the Staples Center in a beautiful state of the art entertainment area of LA. It's fun and the organizers of the 2010 American Society of Association Executives have really turn the dial on the level of "presentation" at the main events. This is LA after all, and they've pulled out all the stops. Great work to the ASAE event planners.

OK, so what I've learned so far and that most important lesson. While in a session yesterday which covered a number of the legal aspects of communications, the speaker commented that, "instantaneous is the new speed." So yes, writing this two hours later than usual does really violate that rule. But it's not critical information, which as a sidebar discussion I had later on with some friends, changes how we tend to deal with the information and send to you. "We don't want bombard our members with email after email after email," one of them said. "But yet we want to get them the important information."

Our little group agreed that one of the roles of a 21st Century Association is to be a news source, creating both our own content and filtering through all of the other information out there and delivering it to you in a timely and in many cases "instantly." So part of our job as a 21st Century Association is to operate as a newspaper or television station might. As someone who does have a little background in the staff writing business for a newspaper, that is exciting.

One last thing, Bill George, one of the top business leadership minds, was our keynote speaker. His primary lesson was how to lead in a crisis, but he spoke about something in particular. He said the 20th Century model of vertical or hierarchical leadership is dead. The 21st Century model calls for empowerment of individuals within your organization. He said that if the people you have working for you aren't smarter than you, you need to get different people. That might be a hard concept to grasp, but one that I think deserves some thought.

Have a great Monday!

August 20, 2010

2010-08-20T06:03:00.001-05:00

Told you that you wouldn't hear from me for a few days. I think I succeeded. I've been on "staycation" this week, doing some painting and spending some time at home with my six year old daughter before she starts back to school next week as a first grader.

This morning, I'll be attending the Kansas Dental Board meeting. I'll "tweet" from the meeting if you want to follow what the board is discussing today. You can follow our Twitter page at www.twitter.com/ksdental.

Tomorrow at about noon, I'll be boarding a Southwest Airlines airplane (we're a frugal bunch at the KDA, but I confess, I did pay the additional $10 to get the special early boarding privileges) for Los Angeles, CA, where I'll be attending the 2010 American Society of Association Executives Annual Meeting.

Basically, I'll be attending educational classes about association management with representatives of associations from across the world. It's a fairly intense three days (at least I make it intense trying to take in as many education opportunities as I can), but there is a immeasurable "takeaway of ideas" that I'll bring back to the KDA. I've said that there are so many elements of those ideas from past ASAE conventions built into the KDA website already.

I'll be posting from Los Angeles next week and may even impliment an idea or two into the KDA website.

August 12, 2010

2010-08-12T07:30:00.001-05:00

As I mentioned yesterday, I'm going to be out of the office for a while. Next week, I'm going to be on vacation and will be spending the week with my daughter. I'm going to try really, really hard not to "come into work" virtually or otherwise.

On Saturday, August 21st, I'll be boarding an airplane for Los Angeles for the 2010 American Society of Association Executives Annual Meeting. This will be my third ASAE meeting and each time I've attended, I've come back to work with a million ideas of how I can better serve the Kansas Dental Association. It's safe to say that so much of what I have helped to create has stemmed from things I've learned from ASAE and the innovative minds of other association staff from around the country. As you can imagine, I'm very excited about the opportunity to attend this and to spend four days immersed in what I love doing.

It's also a great chance to see a group of people that I virtually learn with day in and day out, those countless association professionals from around the country who share their knowledge and skills with one another and are what is driving the innovation behind some of the great associations.

So don't expect to hear much from me next week, but expect me to be very excited when I send you a virtual postcard from Los Angeles on August 23rd.

August 11, 2010

2010-08-11T08:34:00.000-05:00

I mentioned a few weeks ago in one of my postings that I would, in time, be putting together some ideas of how dental offices could use social media to market their practice. I have started that project, although it is obviously still in the very early draft, but do plan over the next several months to begin sharing some of those ideas with you.

In the meantime, I did run across a blog by Modern Dental Practice Marketing that is offering a free download of a very short document on how to use Facebook to market your dental practice. It does offer a few good ideas, including a listing of four things that you need:

1) A Facebook Fan Page
2) Fans (people who "like" or subscribe to your page)
3) Short, weekly Facebook posts
4) A Blog that feeds to the fan page

I think all of these are good, but one thing you can consider is finding a good resource of dental tips to share with your patients and once every three or four days, remind them of the importance of good oral health. It's simple, but it is a great place to start.

If you don't already have a Facebook page for your dental practice, explore setting one up and tell your patients where to find you.

I'll be back tomorrow with a weekly wrap up and tell you about a few things I've got coming up which will take me out of the office for the next seven days.

August 10, 2010

2010-08-10T07:30:00.021-05:00

We're testing out a new feature this week and if it's successful, we'll continue it. Either way, this week I'm set to interview Dr. John Fales, a pediatric dentist from Olathe. Our topic is "back to school" and we are going to focus primarily on the importance of oral health and how parents can keep it at the forefront when life gets incredibly hectic at the start of the school year. It'll be written more from the public service point of view, geared at parents rather than just our members.

But here is why we are announcing the story ahead of time. We want to involve you in the interview. I welcome you to submit a question a question (or two) by emailing them to greg@ksdental.org and if chosen, I'll ask Dr. Fales that question as part of the interview. I hope you will take this opportunity and I look forward to talking with Dr. Fales later this week.

August 9, 2010

2010-08-09T08:12:00.000-05:00

Where do you get your dental news? Since redesigning the KDA website, we've worked very hard to bring you the most dental news and to deliver it quickly to you wherever you might be and to make it your number one source for dental related information. So how are we doing? Let us know on the front page of the KDA website in our flash poll.

Since the KDA Annual Meeting, we've brought you almost one hundred different news highlights, including some stories and video you will only find here, like our interviews with President Dr. David Hamel, KDA Dentist of the Year, Dr. Glenn Hemberger and coverage of the Topeka Community Foundation Emergency Dent Fund Grant from the Capitol Federal Foundation and the Topeka Rotary Foundation.

Sine then, we've added nearly fifty new followers,including most recently, our newest dentists in Kansas. We hope to provide dental news fit for both dental professionals and consumers. Don't forget, if you are a KDA member, you also have access to the KDA Network, the members only side of the KDA.

August 5, 2010

2010-08-05T08:39:00.000-05:00

So what is going on in other state dental associations around the country? Traditionally, we had to wait until those associations sent us their monthly or quarterly journals, the ADA ran a story in the ADA News, or maybe when we saw another state dental association staff person at a national meeting.

Today, we are able to read snippets of information from across the dental community by following lists of Twitter feeds. Like us, many state associations report their news through Twitter for their members and the public to follow. Individuals have taken the initiative of grouping these accounts called Twitter Lists. For example, the Ohio Dental Association has created a list of ADA constituents and components. By viewing this list, we can quickly see what other state associations are working on.

Along with groups of associations (some even focus specifically on dental specialties), there are industry related lists. @Livvie_Matthews/social-media-dental covers 317 dentists and the dental industry accounts which brings you a live feed of dental news . These feeds cover corporate/industry related news, research reports and for some, just a report of the life in the day of a dentist.

This is just one of the ways in which we filter through the dental related news here at the KDA and decide what is most important to share with you through our website, Twitter and Facebook feeds. The KDA is listed 33 times, most of which are dental related listings. You can view those lists and follow them whether you are a Twitter user or not.

Of course, you can follow our Twitter feed at www.twitter.com/ksdental.

August 4, 2010

2010-08-04T09:28:00.000-05:00

I heard there was an election yesterday. Truthfully election nights are one of my favorite days of the year and as I said yesterday, it's one of the few days where it's fun to be a political science nerd.

I'm sure that some of you who had a candidate in this race are happy this morning and others are disappointed. I don't think there were any races that surprised me, but the only thing that disappoints me is that so few people voted. I remember when I was maybe twenty years old, I missed an election. I'm sure it was a primary. Regardless, my father told me, quite sternly I might add, that it was my civic duty to vote and I had a responsibility to do so. Since then, I've never missed that opportunity.

The opportunity to be involved in the governing process goes beyond public elections and it's part of the freedom to assemble and to associate. Some of you may feel that as members of the KDA, you have the same responsibility to be actively involved in the governance of this organization. We commend you for that. For others, you may not have that same calling to be actively involved, and that's okay too. Our campaign this week focuses on the KDA being here for you and that applies to all our members, regardless of whether they are Past Presidents or first year members.

We're tryng to make it easier for each of you to participate and to be involved in the various discussions we are having as an association. We hope you will be a part of that process as we strive to make the Kansas Dental Association an association for the future.

August 3, 2010

2010-08-03T08:26:00.000-05:00

The KDA staff has begun putting together the 2010 KDA Sunflower Showdown Tailgate Party. If you haven't heard, this year's game between the Kansas Jayhwaks and the Kansas State Wildcats will be played on a Thursday night in front of a national FSN television audience.

As with many events we host, sponsorships play a pivitol role in the success of the event. We're adding some great sponsorship opportunities as part of the base sponsorship plans as a way to launch into an overall web based advertising strategy.

In addition to the sponsorship levels listed here, we'll also announce the names of the Gold and Silver Sponsors individually on our Facebook and Twitter feeds with links to their product or service. We'll also include the logos of the Gold and Silver sponsors, with the Gold Sponsorship listed at the top of the Sunflower Showdown page and at the top of any other web based promotions we do for the event. Look for an enews and a KDA Video Minute to promote the Sunflower Showdown. The Gold and Silver Sponsor logos will be included. Bronze Level sponsors will be listed in all material without logos.

We're also planning some type of KU-KState Football trivia game to create interatction between the KDA members. We'll incorporate the sponsorships into this competition as we develop it.

We're hoping to roll out a web based advertising plan in the near future that will likely include the KDA Website, KDA Video Minute, the KDA enews as well as innovative stratetgies that carry over into our social networks. Look for that in the upcoming months.

Until then, check out our Facebook event page and if you are interested in sponsoring this event, visit the Sunflower Showdown Sponsorship page on our website.

August 2, 2010

2010-08-02T08:25:00.000-05:00

As I mentioned last week, the KDA is launching a social media new member campaign today aimed at recent graduates of dental school. The campaign is titled Here4U because we think it's important for those new dentists to know that there is someone that is there for them and a place for them to go twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week for answers.

So here is how the campaign works. If you are a new dentist, simply click here to sign up for membership in the KDA. It's free for the first year after graduation and the dues are structured so that they do not hit the full dues level until your fifth year. That helps you by still giving you the full benefits of membership, at a discounted price.

Once you've joined, we're asking you to share your new membership with your friends by posting a message on your Facebook and Twitter page so your new dentist friends will know that you have joined and how they too can become a member of the KDA.

We'll also be asking current members of the KDA to post a special status update to let those new dentists that they've connected to that they can become full members of the KDA for free and take full advantage of the KDA benefits. Click here to here to update your Facebook status with our new campaign message or update your Twitter status and tell the new dentists in Kansas that they can join the KDA for free.

Visit www.ksdental.org/here4u to learn more about the campaign.

July 29, 2010

2010-07-29T08:15:00.000-05:00

The Kansas Dental Association is the professional dental organization in the state of Kansas, representing nearly eighty-percent of the licensed dentists in the state. We promote public health and health services, advance the art and science of dentistry, and foster an awareness of the obligations of the dental profession to society.

We take this responsibility pretty seriously and it is a big part of our online strategy. We use our Facebook and Twitter feeds as primary sources for information to reach the public and this blog is available for anyone to read, not just KDA members. We also have a considerable amount of information open that many other state dental associations keep behind membership walls. It's a decision we've made because we believe that in many ways, our organization is stronger by engaging not just the dentists of Kansas, but engaging the patients in which those members serve.

We hope to grow our reach to the public to enhance our ability to foster and awareness of the obligations of the dental profession to society. And that's how you can help. With our new website, we've created multiple ways for you to share content with others and to engage in the conversations around dentistry. All of the pages on the KDA website can be shared by "liking" or "recommending" them to others and the pages can be "retweeted". You will also see more pages with the opportunity to comment and discuss.

So take a second and share our public mission with others. Just click this link and post a quick status update to your friends so they too can learn how the KDA is here to serve all Kansans or simply click one of the share buttons below. Finally, if you aren't following this blog, just click follow to the right.

If you don't yet follow us on Facebook, click here and become a fan. Find us here on Twitter.

July 28, 2010

2010-07-28T07:30:00.009-05:00

Next week, the Kansas Dental Association is launching a new campaign aimed at recruiting recent graduates to become members of the Kansas Dental Association. Our effort is titled "here4u" and is an online campaign built around social networking.

Beginning Monday, online followers of the KDA will begin to see these images with a link to the here4u campaign website. From that page, new members will have the opportunity to complete an online application to join the KDA.

Existing KDA members will be asked to promote this campaign by updating their status to reflect the here4u campaign on their Facebook and/or Twitter pages. Since many KDA members have made connections with new dentists as friends, this "sharing" part of the campaign will help us expand the reach of the effort by utilizing their existing networks.

In addition, once a new member joins, they too will be asked to update their status to tell their friends that they have joined the KDA with a link to the campaign. This will allow us to connect with graduates through their network of friends.

Look for more information about the campaign on Monday. If you are a member of the KDA or just interested in helping us reach new dentists and recent graduates from dental school, visit us on Monday and be a part of the here4u campaign. If you are a new dentist/recent graduate in Kansas, we hope you will consider becoming a member of the Kansas Dental Association.

July 27, 2010

2010-07-27T08:24:00.001-05:00

We like new ideas here at the KDA. So we were pretty excited to learn that Oral Health Kansas is hosting an Innovative Ideas Exhibit at the 2010 OHK Annual Conference in December. The goals for the exhibit are to foster learning by sharing goals and activities in areas of research, policy, and practice; to provide insight regarding current innovative projects, their performance and their constraints; to communicate visions and new opportunities for innovative interventions to other stakeholders; and to encourage relationship-building among and between individuals across traditional disciplines and fields to achieve relevant goals and objectives.

We've got a number of projects we think are innovative, so we are excited about the possibility of sharing those with others. One of those projects is one we call the Dental Access Mashup. The idea behind the project is to create a way to visually view data over Google Earth. We designed some applications around it a few years ago when we were looking at law changing with respect to satellite offices. We'd now like to create an open-source application for those focused on oral health to be able to build upon this map application. We've got the basics created and we demonstrated this past spring at the Real World Transition Brunch.

And speaking of innovative ideas, I picked up a copy of the 2011 Children's Dental Health Month poster and was surprised to see that it was in 3D. Now, we don't yet know how to develop 3D applications here at the KDA, but February is still a few months off. This should be an exciting opportunity to develop a public education effort for children across the state.

July 26, 2010

2010-07-26T07:30:00.001-05:00

Are you as “socially” savvy as your patients?

The answer is probably not. But you can be, very quickly. This is an observation I made after my trip to Chicago last week. You see, when I landed at Midway Airport in Chicago, I “checked in” to the airport using a social media application that tagged my geo-location with my message. A few minutes later, I received a message from Midway Tweets welcoming me to Chicago. When I landed at KCI, I again checked in and then received a Twitter message from KCI Airport welcoming me home. In terms of customer service I was impressed. In terms of social networking I was amazed.

So if an airport is able to follow me when I check in, how big of a stretch is it for the KDA to follow messages from across Kansas from people who are visiting a dental office? The answer is that we can. And now we are.

Beginning with a social experiment on Saturday morning, we are now watching for people who are visiting dental offices across Kansas and who are posting about it. We’re also following up with those patients, and if they have dental related questions, we’re able to direct them to information from the ADA.

In the next few months, we’ll be putting together a guide to helping make your office “social”. Because most likely, it already is, and you just might not know it. We’ll also provide you with the tools so that you can connect with your patients and even use them to help you promote your practice.

July 22, 2010

2010-07-22T07:44:00.000-05:00

Today's is membership day for me at the ADA Management Conference and then I'm heading home this afternoon. We'll be talking about membership recruitment and marketing and while I'm not the membership person at the KDA, there are some great membership recruitment tools that we've discussed here at the ADA that utilizes social networking.

Yesterday, I attended a social media presentation by Conor McNulty of the California Dental Association. His presentation was very good and he demonstrated a few very simple applications we hope to integrate into our website very quickly that can help us better share the benefits of KDA membership. I also spoke with some other socially savvy attendees about developing a reward-based system for membership recruitment, utilizing badges and awards, similar to the very popular Foursquare or Gowalla applications. We'll see how that goes, but rest assured, the collective brainpower of the dental association social media group will be brainstorming on this in the upcoming months. We think it has a great potential and it should be fun for you to use as well.

I've had a great time in Chicago, but it's time to return home. Catch you tomorrow.

July 21, 2010

2010-07-21T07:35:00.000-05:00

We're back at the ADA this morning for the American Dental Association Management Conference. Today's schedule includes a keynote address and then breakout sessions. There are a couple of breakouts this morning talking about technology, so I'm particularly interested in those. Another breakout will talk about Skype video conferencing. All of these tools can help us engage our members and create greater opportunities for our members to communicate with one another and with us more effectively.

I forgot to mention yesterday that we did receive our first classified ad. It was posted on our website on Monday and then sent out to our Facebook and Twitter feeds, which together include more than 1000 people. I've written about the number of people we can connect with through our social network streams in the past. This is just one more way in which we can use this growing network as a benefit to membership in the KDA.

I'll share some of the key points of this mornings presentation tomorrow.

July 20, 2010

2010-07-20T08:44:00.001-05:00

Live from the 22nd Floor of the American Dental Association in Chicago, IL, it's the daily.briefing. This morning we're meeting in the ADA Board Room, a very, very nice, high tech board room that makes me drool in envy.

The Executive Directors of the state associations are gathered around the table for one of the meetings of the American Society of Constituent Dental Executives. It's an opportunity for the constituent societies to share successes and challenges around the country. It's also an opportunity to hear from the Executive Director of the American Dental Association as well as other ADA officers and top level staff. It's important that we understand what is happening in other states around the country, because good or bad, there is a likelihood that similar issues will surface in Kansas. Knowing how those issues were resolved can help us better address those challenges in Kansas.

If you saw us on Facebook yesterday, you saw the nostalgic postcard from Chicago and if you've been to our website, you saw the new banner for the week. While we tend to live in a fast-paced, high tech world, it's sometimes nice to experience a bygone era and often, technology can ironically help provide that experience. I went out last night and took various photos around downtown Chicago in a classic Polaroid and in a 1960's style.

Have a great Tuesday and I'll talk to you tomorrow.

July 19, 2010

2010-07-19T09:14:00.001-05:00

As I reported last week, I'm in Chicago this morning at the American Society of Dental Foundation Executive's annual meeting and continuing education program. I've had the opportunity to attend this meeting on a number of occasions and during the past four or five years, I've also been privileged to serve on the Board of Directors of this organization. This organization was instrumental in providing the Kansas Dental Charitable Foundation with great information early on when we created our foundation and continues to be a wonderful resource for information for constituent and component dental foundations across the country.

Since we're (Kevin and I) are both in Chicago this week, we'll be providing a more national perspective of organized dentistry. We'll be attending a number of leadership and management classes over the next few days and I'll report on some of those classes with you.

Talk to you tomorrow. I'm about to learn the answer to following question: "Can professionals trained in Dentistry be trained to be equally effective as fundraisers?" Sounds like an interesting topic.

July 16, 2010

2010-07-16T10:41:00.003-05:00

As I mentioned, I'll be in Chicago most of next week for the ADA Management Conference. I'm particularly excited this year, because for the first time in probably four or five years, I will not be giving a presentation, so I will have the chance to take advantage of the presentations others are giving and really learn from others. While I enjoy the chance to share what we are doing here in Kansas with other states, being a presenter seems to take away from the learning element of a meeting like this.

Yesterday, I had the chance to introduce Oral Health Kansas Executive Director Tanya Dorf Brunner as the program at the Rotary Club of Topeka's weekly meeting. Tanya spoke about history of OHK, some of the successes of oral health in Kansas over the past few years, as well as some of the future challenges. If you are interested in viewing her presentation, visit http://www.downtowntopekarotary.org/ to watch the video.

Kevin and I will both be in Chicago next week, so we may be a little slow getting back to you with your questions, but we'll try our best. Have a great weekend and I'll be back on Monday from the 2^nd floor of the American Dental Association in Chicago.

July 15, 2010

2010-07-15T08:22:00.002-05:00

Today, I have the privilege of introducing Oral Health Kansas Executive Director, Tanya Dorf Brunner as our speaker at the Rotary Club of Topeka meeting. Her program is titled "Maintaining Excellent Oral Health, What you Need to Know." I'm looking forward to this opportunity to hear her speak, but to introduce her to the club I have been a member of now for nine years. Interestingly, I was originally sponsored by Dr. Bob Jackson, a dentist from here in Topeka, so Rotary has always had a special connection with my role at the KDA.

This morning, I'm wrapping up a grant application for next year's Kansas Mission of Mercy project in Hutchinson. The local planning is well underway and we'll begin to transition the website to begin to promote KMOM Hutchinson after I get back next week from Chicago.

Have a great Thursday and I'll let you know what Tanya Dorf Brunner had to say to our Rotary Club when I post again tomorrow.

July 14, 2010

2010-07-14T09:00:00.002-05:00

Yesterday was one of those really great days around here at the KDA. It's mid-afternoon, I'd been getting quite a bit done and had just wrapped a graphic to help explain the website ad strategy I wrote about yesterday. That's when Tasha walked into my office and asked why we didn't have a classified ad listing on our website.

Now, I hate to admit it, my answer was one that almost always leads to failure. "Because we tried it once and it didn't work," I said. Thankfully, she pressed and asked if we could build another one that would work? I said, "of course you can." And together, over the next hour, we devised a very simple classified ad listing page on the KDA website.

It's something we've needed, but because of the past failure I had written off the idea, not thinking that there might just be another way to approach it that would work. So thank you Tasha for bringing the idea back and for resolving the issue that had kept me from implementing it on the new site.

So now, we have a Classified Ad section on our website. If you would like to place an ad, visit http://www.ksdental.org/classified.php.

And that's just one reason why yesterday was a really good day around here.

July 13, 2010

2010-07-13T09:59:00.002-05:00

Did you know …

The Kansas Dental Association has 426 Facebook fans?
The Kansas Dental Charitable Foundation has 606 fans?
The KDA has 786 followers on Twitter?
The KDCF has 774 followers on its Twitter account?
The KDA Network has 344 members?
The KDA enews subscriber list has 786 members?

Of course, there is overlap between these groups, but we estimate that more than two thousand people receive information from the Kansas Dental Association on a regular basis. These include dentists, potential advertisers and vendors, as well hundreds of regular people who have an interest in what we are doing here at the KDA.

So now that we've got the new website finished, our goal is to do a better job of tapping into this already existing network to enhance the products and services we can bring to you as dental professionals. In the next month, we hope to begin to unveil some innovative new online advertising packages for the website and the KDA Video Minute. Look for more on this in the near future.

Have a great day!

July 12, 2010

2010-07-12T08:42:00.001-05:00

Welcome back and I hope each of you had a great weekend. My wife and I are painting our house, so I'm more than ready to get back to the office after climbing up and down a ladder all weekend.

So what is going on this week?

We've been working with Dr. Nick Rogers of Arkansas City who serves as the Kansas Dental Home Initiative State Leader for the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry. He is developing a survey which we will send out to you, probably later on this week, which we would like for you to just take a few seconds to complete. KDA members should look for that in your email later on this week.

Speaking of surveys, I mentioned last week that we were going to add some things to The KDA Network that would promote grassroots participation at the district level. We are finalizing a list of ten topics we will be asking you to rank in terms of importance. As part of this, we will include district level information to that so we can see what is important to our members by where they are from. We will gather this information and report the results to you at your district meetings. We're working hard to fine tune those questions, so it may be a week or two before you see them, but please take the time to respond and let us know what is most important to you so that we can better focus our energies on what matters most to you.

Have an interesting story or have something you want to share with your colleagues? Let us know and we may feature it at ksdental.org. Between our membership, Facebook and Twitter followers, we have nearly 3000 people who follow the KDA … and we're growing.

Next week, I'll be in Chicago at the ADA Management Conference and I will be blogging from the road. Catch you tomorrow.

July 9, 2010

2010-07-09T08:00:00.005-05:00

Happy Friday everyone. It's a slow news day after what wound up being a big news day yesterday.

First, hope you had the chance to read that the DDS program funding goal has been met. Dr. Chuck Squire made that announcement on a post in the KDA Network yesterday afternoon. So with that, I give the first ever daily.briefing Social Networking Award to Dr. Squire for making that post.

We were also out and about in the community yesterday for the Emergency Dental Care funding gift made yesterday to the Topeka Community Foundation.

Finally, I said it was a slow news day, you might notice that on the new KDA website, you will see the "recommend" button at the top of every story and a "Retweet" button in the header. These tools make it easy for you to share individual stories from the KDA website to your other social networks. By doing this, it also highlights those stories as "Recommended" to others visiting the site. So while the technical aspects of that might be difficult to grasp, just remember that if you are a Facebook user recommend those articles you like. You can also "follow" the daily.briefing by clicking the "Follow" button over there, just above those little photos of Angela Holladay and me.

Have a great weekend and I look forward to talking with you again next week.

July 8, 2010

2010-07-08T07:38:00.000-05:00

We're heading off later this morning for the Marian Clinic gift presentation. We'll cover the event on Twitter live and we hope to stream video if possible. If you aren't already following us on Twitter, you can always read our Twitter feed by visiting our Social page on the KDA Website.

If you have joined The KDA Network as a KDA member, you should have received a message to join your "District Society" through the network yesterday. If you haven't already joined your network, we encourage you to do so. We'll be rolling out some new features in the upcoming weeks and will use those groups as part of our strategy to provide greater opportunities for engagement.

There is a fairly good chance that you are reading this on a mobile device. The new KDA website has a mobile counterpart to it that offers a lighter graphics version. The content is the same across both platforms, but you may find that the mobile site is easier for your "on the go" needs. Simply visit www.ksdental.org/m and bookmark the page on your mobile phone. We'll be adding more mobile applications in the future to allow you greater connectivity to the KDA.

Watch for more information later today or tomorrow for a story on the Marian Clinic gift presentation here in Topeka.

July 7, 2010

2010-07-07T09:15:00.001-05:00

Ok, so what's with the sandals and the starfish on the KDA website? While most of us use Google as our primary search engine, I will often visit the Bing search engine, simply to see what photo Microsoft has chosen for the day. So is it a cheap ploy to get you to visit our website more often? No, no, certainly not. Okay, maybe a little. But once you are there, we hope to keep you there and returning often for new stories and updates, and oh yeah, new designs and images.

I mentioned a story yesterday on an urgent dental care program. That story is up on the KDA website for you to read. The program is designed to assist some adults with funding for dental services using federal funds from federal grant dollars through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The story also includes a list of Frequently Asked Questions.

Tomorrow, we'll be attending an gift award presentation at Topeka' Marian Clinic for a lead gift by the Capitol Federal Foundation and the Topeka Rotary Foundation to establish the Shawnee County Dental Care funds at the Topeka Community Foundation. These funds will assist with emergency dental care provided by Marian Clinic Dental for current and future Health Access patients. We'll cover the event live on Twitter and we may provide some streaming video of the ceremony.

Thanks for reading and we'll be back tomorrow with an update from the Marian Clinic and a few other things we're working on.

July 6, 2010

2010-07-06T11:02:00.001-05:00

It's been a while since I've written a blog here at the KDA. It's not that I've been at a loss of words; it's just that I didn't really have an angle to write from that I thought brought any value to your membership in the KDA. Now, this may not reach that level either, but I do think that there is some value in bringing the blog back to you. I hope to showcase some of the things were doing and to give you a heads up on some of the things you might expect to see here at ksdental.org in the near future. We'll be short, to the point, and timely - Think of it as your daily briefing from 5200 SW Huntoon.

So what's going on today? First, we hope you've had the chance to check out the new KDA website. There are a number of new features we've built into the website and I'll explain some of those features in the upcoming days. We're working on a story on the new state Urgent Dental Care Program which you may see later today at ksdental.org. Also, if you are in the 2^nd or 4^th Congressional Districts, check your email for some political related announcements that went out earlier today. Finally, I hope you've had the chance to see the 2011 KDA Annual Meeting announcement from Dr. Gene McGill. If not, you can watch that here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnCTxTQQz-4,

I'll be back tomorrow. Let me know what you think of the new blog and suggestions of stories you'd like to see us cover in the future.

--Greg