The Western Regional Dental Experience—In Person and a Smash Hit!

I’ve always loved dental conferences—in fact I’ve loved everything about them.  I love volunteering behind the scenes, I love introducing the speakers, I love being the speaker!  And along with the great educational opportunities, I love networking and partying with my friends and colleagues, and I love schmoozing in the Exhibit Hall.  In past years it was my great fortune to have been involved with the Greater New York Dental Meeting and the ADA Annual Session.  Now I am involved with the Arizona Dental Association’s Western Regional Dental Experience and loving it!

What a fantastic experience this year’s AZDA Experience was!   I served as an ambassador to two excellent speakers:  Minal Sampat, RDH—a social media genius who has helped me personally promote this website—and Dr. Mark Hyman, an excellent practitioner and educator who has spent a lifetime of helping others to become their best selves.  I love how he challenges his students to get out of their comfort zone and pursue excellence.

But I think the whole point of dental conferences goes far beyond the educational opportunities.  Certainly, is important to rake in those required CE hours–but in-person dental conferences offer so much more.  This year’s conference attracted more than 2700 attendees—and all were excited to be together and—for once—free of Zoom!  While Zoom has some great advantages, it can never duplicate the in-person experience.  It is “virtually” impossible to network and socialize online.

One of my favorite events at in-persons conferences are the Keynotes—and this year’s conference featured two great keynote events.  The Keynote sets the tone for the rest of the day’s events.  On the first day of the event, the keynote speaker was Dr. Richard Madow.  His enthusiasm and wisdom was inspiring and entertaining.  Every member of the dental team was serenaded with original music and humorous lyrics.  His take home message, however, really hit home:  Always strive to provide extraordinary service to patients and go that extra mile.  Show team members kindness and appreciation.

The second day’s keynote speaker was Ross Bernstein, sports enthusiast, and leadership expert.  He has had an amazing career, full of fascinating experiences and risky endeavors.  With more than 50 authored books on sports under his belt, he outlined some common denominators for success (with each denominator illustrated by an extraordinary athlete):

1. Have Passion for what you do. Passion is what really inspires and motivates others.

2. Be Generous. People like to do business with givers, rather than takers.

3. Establish trust: Follow your moral compass.

4. Be humble. As Ross says, “No one likes an arrogant, narcissistic jerk.”

5. Lead with Respect: Your reputation hinges on what others say about you.  As Ross says, “an individual wins games, but it takes a team to make champions.”

6. Be compassionate. Are there people in your network who you could help and support?

7. Build relationships through philanthropy. Good business has to be personal to really connect with people.

8. Take risks. Without risk, there is no reward.  Are you willing to put yourself out there and take some risks in 2022?

9. Be willing to adapt to change. Change is hard!  During the pandemic, we had to adapt to Zoom in order to stay in the game.  Zoom is here to stay (despite what I previously said about Zoom).  Don’t just adapt to change, embrace it!

10. Provide extraordinary service: Always follow through and do what you say you are going to do. Underpromise and overdeliver.

11. Establish a legacy: What will you leave behind when your time on earth is done?  Did you matter?  Did you make a difference?

12. Have Fun!

No doubt you are thinking that these denominators are just common sense.  I believe these important behaviors can never be over-iterated.  It is easy to become so mired in day-to-day tasks and miss the boat when it comes to putting together the whole enchilada.  This website is my attempt to fulfil #11, for example.  It is extremely important for me to leave for others what was uniquely given to me.  This is no easy task and will take the rest of my life to fulfil. This website has mushroomed far beyond my original intentions and continues to challenge me to do more.  This week I will be collaborating with the webmaster to incorporate a forum.  And while I keep trying to make expansions and improvements, I am following point #12 and having a ball.

As previously noted, the Keynote revs up passion and enthusiasm for the excellent CE that follows.  The Annual Sessions Committee, under the direction of Shana Abraham, has spent all year choosing these speakers and preparing for the event.  We did a stellar job this year!   I not only learned a lot, but I was inspired!  Aside from the speakers I introduced as an Ambassador of the conference, there were other extraordinary speakers who inspired me.  One was Dr. Tieraona Low Dog, an expert in the use of supplements and natural medicine.  The depth of her knowledge is incredible!  Another was Dr. Stanley Malamed.  His presentation on emergency medicine in the dental chair was absolutely extraordinary—and while I have heard him speak many times—this particular presentation was the best he has ever given.  Since one of the risks of being a dentist is having to deal with unforeseen emergencies, every dentist should make an effort to attend his courses.

During the conference I met a host of fantastic people and had a blast! I have made thousands of friends from conferences,  and I keep up with them on Facebook.   The cocktail parties and dinners offer ample opportunity to network and make connections; and surprise!–learning takes place in these settings as well.

One more thing.  Volunteering for these meetings has made me a far better person.  I have always felt that whatever you give as a volunteer comes back to you tenfold.  I always leave the conference with renewed passion and inspiration, and I am energized for my practice.  I’m already looking forward to next year’s conference!