American Association for Clinical Chemistry
Improving healthcare through laboratory medicine
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2/22/2010

IT'S A JOKE!!
One of the most important qualities of an AMOC member is a sense of perspective …. which many times translates into a sense of humor, or maybe a well-honed sense of the ridiculous.  This is a large group of people from some pretty diverse backgrounds, and not all of us have the same sense of what’s funny.  Also, the discussions we have regarding submissions are serious and everyone has a voice in them.  Sometimes it can be a little tense, and that’s when that sense of humor is most vital.  In one of our meetings we even used a little “It’s a joke” card that we could flash.  And honestly, sometimes those little "tension relievers" are helpful, so don’t laugh too hard until you’ve tried it.  Or rather, laugh after you see it.  It’s kind of like an AMOC applause card. 
 
Which reminds me, I've been talking about "AMOC" for two posts now without defining it.  Sorry about that everyone.  AMOC is the Annual Meeting Organizing Committee.
 
Back to the introductions:
 
Paula Santrach Directly under the Chair are the two Vice Chairs, and while they can occasionally actually be found ‘under the chair’ usually ours are hard at work keeping us in line.  Our Vice Chairs are Paula Santrach and Dennis Dietzen (Ladies first, Dennis).  If you know these two, you know that the sense of humor from Mike doesn’t skip a layer here.  If anything, it might degenerate, hard as that may be to believe.  Did I say ‘degenerate’?  Sorry Paula.  I meant that our two Vice Chairs have a wicked ability to sense the ridiculous that even rivals Mike’s.
  
Paula and Dennis are incredibly hard-working.  As Vice Chairs they are the people that vet everything before it gets to Mike.   They work directly with the people under them, and also often handle all the stuff that doesn’t fit neatly into categories.  These guys are the arbiters and the mediators, and sometimes the whip-wielders (and no, I’m not letting either of you get hold of a whip).
Paula’s responsibilities as Vice Chair include riding herd on the Coordinators for the  Short Courses/Workshops, Plenaries, Meet the Expert sessions and the Volunteers.  Dennis keeps up with Coordinators for Symposia, Abstracts and Brown Bag Sessions.   A big part of their jobs entails helping to review and edit the submitted sessions, and direct the activities of their Coordinators.  So far they seem to have been able to direct us effectively without having to drive us.  That’s of course due to their superb leadership rather than our innate drive to get things done.   And although they have assigned people to keep up with, they also are both happy to handle whatever you may throw at them.
 
Dennis For the 2010 AMOC, to me Paula is the “fixer”.  Her competence is encouraging and comforting.  Any problem that comes up, Paula can and will deal with it and before you know it, problem cleared.  But don’t let that responsible nature fool you.   She parties with the best of them.   Dennis is our “court jester”.  And just like a court jester who uses wit and jokes to make his points crystal clear, Dennis has a talent for getting to the issue … while making people laugh as they see his point and then agree with him. 
   
Along with Mike, Dennis and Paula gracefully direct our efforts and keep us focused when necessary.
 
The AMOC’s first meeting as a group occurs in March, a year and 3 months before the meeting we create.  To me, that first meeting involved three major items:  1) All the committee members get to know each other, especially those people who will be working together closely.  2) We learn the basics of how the process works.  We get the time-lines, the organizational structure, the workflow, the expectations and a million other details that seem almost overwhelming at the time, but quickly become part of the process.  3) We also spend that first March meeting selecting our proposed Plenary lecturers and setting the theme and tone for the overall meeting.  More on the plenaries later.  This March meeting is the first time we meet and we begin to learn to work together and begin to build an AM.  
 
So there you are, hopefully starting to get a feel for our group and how an AMOC operates.   See y’all next week!
Posted at 11:34 AM by Patti Jones | Category: February | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

2/15/2010

LET'S GET ABSTRACT!
The deadline is coming!  The deadline is coming! 
 
While not as noteworthy as when the British showed up a couple of centuries ago, the deadline for Abstract submission is worth noting because it’s definitely approaching quickly.   So imagine me swinging a lantern as I ride past, alerting everyone to remember to get your submissions turned in by February 24th.  The link for submissions is just to your left.
 
To continue my introductions, Paul D’Orazio is the Abstracts Coordinator for the 2010 AMOC and like Amy Saenger, our Volunteer Coordinator, his main job starts a little later than those of rest of the AMOC.  Don’t get the idea that Amy and Paul don’t do any work until their respective jobs come up though.   Not only are both very much involved in the discussions surrounding the selection of submissions for the final program, they also help the AMOC by keeping track of details, like:  how many times a given speaker is appearing, whether all the Divisions have submissions represented in the final selection, etc.  It’s as though, not having a specific duty at the October meeting, they get to help oversee the process and keep an eye on the big picture.   Their help and their perspectives are invaluable.
  
Paul is very good at seeing the bottom line.  He’s great at getting to the important Paul D'Oraziopoints without wasted time or effort.  You could say he’s our “reality check” at times.  He’s also an extremely organized person, which makes him an ideal Abstracts Coordinator.  Paul has already been busy, lining up and organizing Reviewers for the Abstracts once submission is complete.  The number of abstracts submitted each year ranges between 900 and 1000.  That’s 1000 times 2 abstracts to be reviewed since every abstract has two peer reviewers.  That’s a lot of reviewers and a lot of details for Paul to keep track of.   He will continue to be busy until the final review and acceptance decisions are made.  
 
Last year was the first time the Abstracts deadline was in February instead of mid-January, and it was February 6th.   This year the deadline for Abstracts submission, February 24th, is even later.  That means that this year all you submitters have almost an additional 3 weeks to get your submissions in, but also means that Paul and his group have that much less time to review them.  Hang in there gang!  You can do it!
 
With any session proposal submitted for an Annual Meeting (AM), one of the most important points to remember is that the proposal be complete, complete, complete!  Can you hear me stamping my foot in time to that?  I cannot stress that enough, and it’s as important for Abstracts as it is for Symposia.  A second important point to remember is to follow the rules for submission that are found on the AACC website and submit a proposal which contains all the aspects that are specified in the rules.  Proposals that are submitted completely and in the desired format are sooooooo much easier to judge for content, and that makes them more likely to be accepted. 
 
The Abstract Reviewers will be looking for well-designed studies on topics which are important to the medical laboratory field, that demonstrate reliable results and that are well-presented.  Essentially, they look for scientific validity, quality and consistency.  Unique topics are of interest, as are new studies on the latest technology or the newest assay for the latest biochemical markers of health or disease.   Also, while new instrumentation and new assays for existing instrumentation are important topics and are welcomed, the commercial aspects should be kept to a minimum.   The Abstract Submission Instructions / Information can be found under the "Submit an Abstract ..." link to the left.  This document clearly delineates format and content requirements and also presents information on abstract awards for which the submitter can apply.  Currently the AACC Divisions give 16 awards to abstracts in their areas of interest.  To apply for these awards, simply check the appropriate box or boxes during the on-line submission process.
 
All submitted Abstracts are scored by two independent Reviewers and given a final score. High scoring abstracts are also eligible for other awards and programs.  These include the NACB Distinguished Abstracts program and the Genzyme Student Research Awards.  There are also travel grants available, details of which can be found in the document in the above link.
 
So, the deadline is coming up fast.  Get those Abstract submissions in quickly and we’ll see you all at the AM.
Posted at 8:26 AM by Patti Jones | Category: February | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

2/1/2010

THURSDAY MORNINGS ARE REALLY AFTERNOONS!
Welcome to the new AMOC blog!!   
 
In case this is your first time ever reading a blog, ‘blog’ is short for ‘web log’.  A ‘blog’ is simply a diary …. that the entire Internet Universe can read.   This blog is meant to be a fun and eye-opening romp through what it’s like to put together an Annual Meeting, from the perspective of one or more of the ‘rompees’.   And I should say up front that although I will include as much information as possible to make it useful, often it will be my personal take or opinion. That’s what they get for letting me do this.    In case you don’t agree with something you read here though, you know who to come looking for.  Oh! Didn’t I say?  I’m Patti Jones, the blogger, and I’ve been called worse.
   
Anyone who has ever served on an AMOC knows exactly what this somewhat strange title means (thanks, Shannon, for the title idea).    I’m going to make an assumption that there will be people reading this blog out of curiosity who haven’t ever been on an AMOC, so I’ll be explaining things along the way.  This title is one of the first pieces on “AMOC wisdom” you learn when you start.   I’ll point out others as we go along. 
 
This piece of wisdom has to do with the length of the sessions.  Every day except Thursday, morning sessions are 90 minute, two-speaker sessions, and afternoon sessions are 150 minute, three-speaker sessions.  On Thursday morning, that’s different.  There are no afternoon sessions on Thursday, and the morning sessions are longer.  In effect, Thursday morning are really afternoons.    We schedule longer, afternoon sessions on Thursday morning.
 
One of the things I want to accomplish in the early posts to this blog is to introduce you to the 2010 AMOC.  I’d like you to get to know the people I’ll be talking about as we go along.  AMOCs are BIG committees, so I won’t introduce you to the whole group at once. I’ll do the introductions over the course of the first several posts.  That also allows me to talk about each position and the current person or people filling it.   I simply cannot resist making a few comments as I go.  It’s my compensation for writing this. 
 
Our esteemed Chair is Mike Hallworth.  We figure that by about June we’ll be able to completely understand whatever language that is that he’s speaking.   Maybe.   Seriously, Mike is a huge asset to the AMOC, in terms of his knowledge of people, places …. and things we didn’t even know we didn’t know.  Mike’s sense of humor and his grace under fire are his most valuable assets, and have let him steer us to some great efforts and through some interesting times already.  
 
Mike Hallworth, PhD, Chair, Annual Meeting Organizing CommitteeAs the Chair, Mike’s job is MASSIVE.  He has to read everything, and edit everything, and sign off on everything.  Yes, of course the people below him in the organizational hierarchy do these things too, but ultimately, it all funnels upward to Mike.  This is why Mike has to be able to trust everyone on the Committee to do their job  - so that his job isn’t too awful. 
 

Mike has a couple of interesting phrases that we’re learning to enjoy.  One is “Crack on”  . . . which I’m pretty sure means, let’s get on with what we’re doing.  This one threw us all the first time Mike used it.  I was ducking in case there was a whip in evidence anywhere.  Another one, and one I’m hoping to hear him say more is, “Ah, a plan with no drawbacks!”   That one’s a good sign.

 

I hope you follow along each week as the current AMOC and I give you a behind-the-scenes peek and tour at what it’s like to plan and create an AACC Annual Meeting (AM).   The AMOC and I hope that by seeing how we operate, what we look for in submissions and how a meeting is organized, everyone will gain a better idea of how to put together outstanding submissions, and in the process make life easier for the both the submitter and for the next AMOC.

 

See y’all next week!

 

Please feel free to comment, especially if I’ve just been inaccurate about something.  I’ll answer and I’ll encourage the other AMOC members to answer and to comment.

Posted at 6:06 PM by Patti Jones | Category: February | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (6)

Patti Jones, Annual Meeting Organizing Committee Member

Patti Jones
Annual Meeting Organizing Committee Member