Joe Blaes, DDS
Editor
e-mail: [email protected]
On Sunday, I returned from Las Vegas after attending a very successful dental meeting. The meeting was the two-day Cosmetic Dentistry 2000 seminar hosted by Dental Economics. More than 600 people enjoyed an information-packed weekend at this second annual event. Even the weather cooperated as afternoon temperatures reached the 70s.
Meetings like this do not just happen. They take a tremendous amount of time and planning by many behind-the-scenes people to be successful. At Dental Economics and at our parent company PennWell, we have many great people, starting with Lyle Hoyt, the publisher of the dental division`s magazines. Lyle was the genius behind this meeting. He kept track of all the many details that go into the planning of a meeting of this magnitude. Like most great leaders, he delegated duties. Vicki Cheeseman handled all the details involving the meeting site, and Rhonda Hunt was in charge of the speakers and all of their idiosyncrasies.
A constant theme from the speakers at the meeting was the importance of the attitude of the people who staff a cosmetic practice. One of the hallmarks of CD 2000 was the passionate attitude of the people who worked at the show. Their goal was for attendees to have the best possible experience. The feedback we received indicates that they accomplished their goal. So I thank the staff members at Dental Economics and RDH for their role in making the meeting possible.
The speakers at CD 2000 were very well-received. Our lineup of speakers had something for everyone. The most disappointed people at the meeting were the dentists who came without their teams. Our speakers included Drs. Roger Levin, Bill Dickerson, Nate Booth, Jim Carlson, Larry Emmott, Chris Pescatore, Paul Homoly, Bill Blatchford, Mike Maroon, Joe Massad, and Anthony Vocaturo.
Bob Maccario, MBA, and our special hygiene speakers Trisha O`Hehir, RDH, Dru Halverson, RDH, and Beverly Maguire, RDH, rounded out our team of speakers. They were all outstanding, and I want to take this opportunity to say thank you to all of them.
These days, no one can put on a meeting without the help of sponsors. Special thanks go to our Gold sponsors, MicroDental Laboratories and Kerr. Andy Hites of MicroDental and Steve Paskin of Kerr committed early to being Gold sponsors. Another thank you goes to 3M Dental, American Express Company, Bisco Dental, and the Matsco Companies for sponsoring all that great food that we had for breakfast and lunch each day. Thanks to Zenith Dental for providing all the paper for taking those all-important notes at the meetings, as well as to Omnii for the pens for writing those notes.
And thanks to all of our exhibitors - we sincerely hope that this meeting was a positive experience for you as well.
At Dental Economics, we believe that we are an information company. We sponsor these cosmetic dentistry meetings as a way to get information to you, our readers. For those of you that missed the excitement of CD 2000, mark your calendars now for February 2-3, 2001 for Cosmetic Dentistry 2001! We will have another outstanding meeting in Las Vegas with another great group of speakers to bring you the best information on making cosmetic dentistry an important part of your practice. Come join us for another fantastic experience and don`t forget to include your team!
I must end on a sad note. I have lost another dear friend. Jim Beauchamp died last month at the Yankee Dental Meeting in Boston. Jim and I were friends for more than 25 years, and he was the general manager of SciCan.
He had a great love for dentistry and each time I saw him at a dental meeting, he would have another new product that he wanted to show me. He always had a smile on his face and a positive attitude about life in general. I always walked away with a smile on my face after talking to Jim. He will be missed in the dental industry and by all his friends. Our sympathy and prayers go out to his family.
