Hello from festive New Orleans, where nearly 900 members of the healthcare continuing professional development community gathered for the Alliance 2024 Annual Conference. Against the spirited backdrop of Mardi Gras, #Alliance24 attendees engaged in cutting-edge education, took home valuable insights and had dedicated opportunities for making true connections. Check out a few highlights from our time in the Big Easy!
Get in the NOLA Spirit
After celebrating the 2024 awardees at the annual award ceremony, the New Orleans Second Line Band entered the general session room, ready to lead attendees to the opening night reception. Everyone was dazzled by the music, and the band set the energy for the first night of making connections.
On night two, conference attendees gathered for a NOLA-themed reception while taking in the latest posters research. Tarot card readings, photo booths, gumbo, education and connections were the perfect combination for a night in NOLA!
The fun did not stop inside the conference space! By venturing just outside the home base of the Sheraton New Orleans Hotel, attendees could catch a number of Mardi Gras parades while on their way to checking out New Orleans’ culture, music and food scene.
Education First
The #Alliance24 schedule was packed with innovative education tailored to all learning domains and levels. Monday featured four pre-conference sessions for participants who wanted to start their #Alliance24 experience early. Tuesday and Wednesday began with the opportunity to visit the Conference Concierge for a personalized learning pathway to jumpstart the day.
With so many concurrent sessions to choose from, each morning began with a keynote session presented by thought leaders in the healthcare space. In “Stride the World as a Titan of Learning,” Carol Cohen discussed how the last few years have accelerated the change we had resisted for so long. Cohen reminded us to put the learner at the center of all we do, focusing on the change they must make in their performance to achieve measurable success. Don’t forget Cohen’s formula: A + B + C = D — Audience + Behavior Goals + Content = Design Effectiveness.
On Wednesday, Dr. Colin West presented “From Burnout to Thriving: Education as a Restorative Force for Well-being in Medicine.” West, who is the director of the Mayo Clinic Program on Physician Well-Being, shared his working definition for well-being, which is: “The state in which an individual can achieve their greatest desired potential as a complete human being.” He emphasized that the educator is a leader, whose critical role is to establish learning environments within which healthcare professionals can thrive.
Finally, Sonia Narang, an architect of change who has over two decades of experience in organization effectiveness, learning and development, and executive coaching, closed the conference with “Let's Amplify Our Capabilities: Practical Solutions to Build Our Capabilities, How to Change Them and What Can We Do Differently to Disrupt the Pattern.” Narang shared how climate and culture are at the center of leadership, people, work processes, rewards and structure. She encouraged attendees to map out their network of supporters who they turn to for personal needs, work purposes, social reasons and more to help amplify their capabilities and lead to disrupting patterns. Among many other memorable and amusing, relevant anecdotes, Narang reminded us to have hope, because “if cauliflower can somehow become pizza … you, my friend, can do anything.”
Next Stop, Sunny Florida
Have you heard? The Alliance 2025 Annual Conference will be soaking up the sun in Kissimmee, Florida. Mark your calendars for Jan. 8–11, 2025, and prepare to “Expand Perspectives, Inspire Possibilities.” Abstract submissions and the call for reviewers open in March. Check out this article about learnings from the 2024 abstract submission process as you begin planning yours for 2025. We’ll see you at the Gaylord Palms Resort and Convention Center!
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