WHY WE ATTEND MEETINGS

Recently I've had a few dentists contact me with questions about whether or not they should bring their teams to the 2025 Transform Dental Sleep Symposium in Scottsdale, AZ. Their questions weren't focused on whether or not the content would be applicable to their teams. It certainly is. Instead, the inquiries centered on how they can ensure their teams get the most out of the meeting so it pays dividends for the team members' professional development, the practice's well-being, and the future of the dental sleep business. I wrote the following letter and shared it with a couple dentists that found it very useful. Now I'm sharing it with you. I hope it helps.

"Attending meetings is an expensive undertaking. The costs include tangible expenses such as tuition, lodging, airfare, and meals but also lost productivity because we’re out of the practice. That means we must be selective about which meetings we attend, who goes, and what benefit it will provide to the practice. The potential upside must be substantial to sacrifice the previously listed expenses.

So, why do we attend meetings? Simply stated, we’re there to learn new ideas and skills that will help us grow personally and professionally. Whether it’s a new process, procedure, or professional relationship, all of these can better our business.

Oftentimes, these meetings are held in desirable destinations intended to lure attendees. That’s great. We should have some fun, but we need to clearly identify our objectives beforehand. For someone in the front office, this may mean learning new ways to streamline new patient appointments, improve the patient experience, or capture more reviews before patients leave. For an assistant, this might entail novel bite techniques, improved case presentation approaches, and new scanning technologies or appliance designs.

This information can be gleaned from multiple sources at a meeting. It might come from lectures, from vendors, or from insights provided by other attendees. You’ll need to interact with various people, ask questions, and take notes. To optimize the team’s presence at the meeting, you’re strongly encouraged to divide and conquer. Don’t sit together. Don’t eat together. Sit between strangers. Introduce yourself. Ask questions about how they do things related to your role and skills you’re trying to obtain.

It's paramount that you be professional at all times. You needn’t suppress your personality which is a large part of what’s put you in the position to attend a meeting. However, you must remember that you are representing our practice at all times. Propriety begins with attire. Dress professionally and appropriately. Practice proper etiquette. Do not over-indulge in alcohol. Again, you are representing our practice the entire time—during the conference, at dinner, during happy hours, and at all social events related to the meeting.

It is recommended that you develop 5 questions related to your role that you want answered before the meeting. The onus is on you to get answers to those questions from the aforementioned potential resources. The entire team should share those questions with one another. If you do not get answers to those vitally important questions, the meeting was a poor utilization of our scarce resources. When you do get answers, download them with the rest of the team, put them into practice, and watch your value within the business grow alongside it. That’s a win-win for you, for the practice, and for the patients.

We’re in this together. Do you want to go to a meeting?"