MEMBERSHIP and LEADERSHIP ACTIVITIES — REASONS TO SMILE!

ADA Sponsors a Luncheon for the ADA Presidents-elect Spouses

at the ADA Presidents-elect Conference 2011

in Chicago, IL, on January 24

1st Row:  Patsy Dumas, AADA Vice President; 2nd Row:  Debbie Torbush, AADA President-elect; Debbie Preece, AADA President; 3rd Row:  Dr. Angela Noguera (DC), Renae Newberger (ND), Betty Nunokawa (HI); 4th Row:  Judy Sebelius (TN), Tana Hopke (NY), Dr. Rekha Gehani (NY), Lisa Stiegler (AL), Barbara Silvius (MA), Mary Kay Calnon (NY), Teresa Theurer (UT), Rose Ann Szarko (WV), Jan Bierschbach (SD), Lynn Charlton (PA), Jane Auld (OK), Karen Kraus (VA), Debbie Vernon (GA), Nancy Sybrant (WY), Trish Rubik-Rothstein, AADA Director

Debbie Preece, AADA president; Debbie Torbush, AADA president-elect; Patsy Dumas, AADA vice president; Pat Cross, AADA student spouse trustee; and Trish Rubik-Rothstein, AADA director, host 17 ADA president-elect member spouses, including Mary Kay Calnon, ADA president-elect Dr. Bill Calnon's wife, in the Alliance office for a short meet and greet and information session about the Alliance. Each guest receives a Dishing Up Smiles book, membership information, Alliance pin, and the current KEY newsletter.

Following the visit in the AADA central office and a tour of the ADA building is the luncheon in the Zodiac Room at Nieman Marcus. Mr. Mike Graham, the ADA senior vice president of government and public affairs in the ADA Washington, DC, office joins the group and is the featured speaker. Mr. Graham reports the ADA has a growing concern for the level of "agency activism" within the current government administration, since they are aggressively affecting oral health policy. He identifies issues such as community water fluoridation, the school based sealant program, and amalgams.

In addition, Mr. Graham invites all spouses to join the ADA legislative advocacy by signing up to receive the Capwiz alerts via e-mail and encourages them to quickly act upon the alerts. Mr. Graham expresses appreciation for all Alliance members' support given in the legislative advocacy arena. He encourages attendance at the ADA Washington Leadership Conference in DC on May 9-11, 2011.

The Alliance hosts agree the luncheon is a valuable connection with the ADA presidents-elect and their spouses!

You, too, can make a difference in the dental health education of students! Here are tips about what you may choose to include in your presentation.

On September 24, 2010, the Alliance of the Georgia Dental Association (AGDA) focused on the students at the Tallulah Falls School in Tallulah Falls, GA, and presented a dental health education program to 260 day and boarding students in grades six through twelve. The school provides tuition assistance for about seventy percent of the students. The presentations included:

• A program on dental health education and overall healthy tips - presented by Shari Carter, AGDA Past President
• A smokeless tobacco presentation utilizing the Dipper Dan model and a DVD discussing the dangers of smokeless tobacco - presented by Molly Bickford, AGDA President
• A PowerPoint presentation on the increasing dangers of methamphetamine with the aid of the Meth Mouth Mary model - presented by Gigi Kudyba, AADA Dental Health Education Council Chair, AGDA Past President
• A dental care kit and poster was given to each student and faculty member - Debbie Torbush, AADA Vice President, AGDA Past President; Sherry Kendrick, AGDA Past President; Mary Ellen Psaltis, AADA Well Being Council Chair assisted in distributing the kits and posters.

(L to R) Molly Bickford, Shari Carter, Debbie Torbush, Tallulah Falls School President Larry Peevy, Mary Ellen Psaltis, Gigi Kudyba

Do your members need a time to "Refresh, Renew, Relax"? Here are some ideas about what you may do at your retreat.

The Queens of the AGDA Wellness Retreat, (l) Janelle Kauffman and Eilene Barrett, AGDA Well Being Chair, organized the first annual Alliance of the Georgia Dental Association Well Being Retreat weekend. Twenty members enjoyed their get together at the Tallulah Falls Resort in North Georgia on September 24-26, 2010.

Speakers taught how to breathe properly, yoga exercises, and how to keep your life in balance†. Plenty of food and beverages. Lots of laughter and chatter, a hike around the rim of the Tallulah Falls gorge, shopping, a trip to a winery and a farmer's market, playing games, reading, napping, and relaxing by the fireplace.  Before the last night was over, they scheduled next year's retreat!

† AGDA member Kat Wilbanks presented the segment "Keeping Your Life in Balance".

ADA MEMBERSHIP RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION CONFERENCE

March 18-20, 2010, Chicago, IL

Johanna Manasse	Debbie Torbush	Patsy Dumas	Trish Rubik-Rothstein

Alliance of the American Dental Association (AADA) members (left to right) Council on Membership Chair Johanna Manasse, Vice President Debbie Torbush, District 4 Trustee Patsy Dumas and AADA Central Office Director Trish Rubik-Rothstein attended the American Dental Association (ADA) Membership Recruitment and Retention Conference in Chicago along with about 150 attendees. Interacting with state association leadership proved invaluable to Johanna, Debbie, Patsy, and Trish.

Following welcoming remarks by ADA Executive Director Dr. Kathleen O'Loughlin and Chair of the ADA Council on Membership Dr. Terry Buckenheimer,the conference was off to a great start with Patricia Fripp as the keynote speaker. Mrs. Fripp entertained the attendees with her humor while effectively teaching how to sell membership value. Her presentation covered the following topics:

1. build your membership
2. persuasively describe your benefits
3. communicate persuasively with impact
4. identify to whom you need to sell your benefits
5. maximize participation and support
6. connect emotionally and intellectually

Mrs. Fripp reminded us there are three categories of members to whom we need to market:  current members, those we attract with our advertising, and those we strategically target. We need to ask ourselves "why are we unique" and "why is our organization worth joining".

In addition, the key to connection is conversation and building relationships. The best way to sell AADA is to say "you would enjoy membership because __________" rather than saying "I belong because __________". Her final suggestions included having fun; making other feel appreciated; showing others that you are interested in them; not giving up, because 'no' does not always mean 'no'; and trying to talk so that you will be remembered and repeated.

BREAKOUT SESSIONS

Johanna, Debbie, Patsy, and Trish split up to take advantage of all the sessions offered.

• Leadership and Collaboration Session:  Both Dr. Terry Buckenheimer and Dr. Thomas Sullivan, AADA's previous liaison from the ADA, made remarks about how the Alliance is an untapped resource for the dental profession.
• Dental Students and Recent Graduates Session: It was brought up that many of the new dentists are not joining, because it is not stressed in dental school since many of the faculty members do not belong. Another issue with which the ADA is dealing  is that in some states, as high as 50% of state association and ADA memberships are retired members.
• Leaders may be Born, but Great Leaders are Molded:  Greg Fine, who presented this session, stated that there are generally many generational groups within organizations, so one size does not fit all.  He also stated that leaders focus on the team, thus inspiring others to strive to achieve a common goal.
• Tripartite Collaboration: A Win/Win/Win:  ADA Membership Outreach Director Steve Rauchenecker presented how collaboration among the Tripartite can be a powerful means to achieving membership success, a new process the ADA is testing.
• Social Media One Year Later: Can it Work for Your Dental Society?:  California Dental Association Membership Administrator Conor McNulty and ADA Membership Outreach Manager Elizabeth Bronson posed the question as we reach out to members and potential members that it is important our outreach strategies integrate various channels of communication, such as websites, Facebook, You Tube, and Twitter.

BEST PRACTICE IDEA SWAP

Johanna Manasse represented the AADA during the Best Practice Idea Swap. She explained the marketing strategy for increasing, both the dentists and their spouses, awareness of the Alliance. She highlighted an example of the Alliance updating their image with a new logo and tagline for the purpose of recruitment of potential members and retaining current members. AADA logo postcards and a basic informative fly were distributed to all attendees.

TRIPARTITE ROUNDTABLE MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION EXCHANGE

The topics included:

• How access to care has impacted your community and mid level providers.
• How the downturn in the economy has impacted the membership in your dental societies.
• How has the number of retired dentists impacted membership in your dental society.

Some statistics included:

• 66.3 years of age is the average retirement age today.
• 59% of constituent members are 55 years or older.

Each group approached the topics from different angles, some providing solutions and grassroots responses, and others addressing the philosophical and logistical issues in problem solving such complex issues. The brief reporting time only skimmed the surface, but there was universal agreement that the ADA needed to expand beyond "doing things in the same old way".

TIPS: RETHINKING HOW YOU SELL YOUR ASSOCIATION and HOW TO DO MORE WITH LESS

The closing session speaker, Neil Dempster, suggested that membership success occurs when

• organizations dream a bit
• are not afraid of failure
• do what they say they do
• think differently
• even move slowly

ONE FINAL BENEFIT FOR EACH ATTENDEE

Each attendee received a pen with a USB in the barrel. The USB contained a wealth of information on all of the submitted recruitment strategies!