 A recap of AALHA's 2011 Annual Conference
After several weeks of unpredictable weather, Mother Nature rose to the occasion and offered a fabulous day of sunshine for the 2011 AALHA Conference. What could be better than a day packed with education, meeting providers of products and services to our industry, and a fantastic 3-part food service by the wonderful staff of the Chaparral Suites Conference Center!
Even with the traffic issues some encountered, we had over 100 attendees, 41 sponsors and exhibitors and a great group of volunteers. Our Board of Directors greeted people with a warm welcome, helped to direct traffic and answered questions.
Following lunch on the patio, Ken Denton (AALHA President) introduced Ginnie Rowe of DGR Communications and Linda Arters of Arters Public Relations. They introduced the new http://AALHA.org website which will be live very soon (after making a few final revisions). It is imperative that once this site is available to all, each and every AALHA member will have the opportunity to add information about their businesses. What better way to advertise your business to the world than a website specific to our industry?
Perhaps the most exciting part of the day came at the very end when the drawings were made for bingo cards and raffles. See below for our winners!
Each and every year, our conference gets bigger and better. It is through your participation that this event happen. We are looking forward to another success in 2012!
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Thank you, Emcees!
There's nothing that makes an event interesting than a Master of Ceremonies. Following the agenda and keeping everything running on time and setting the stage for what's next are very important. This year we were privileged to have two masters of the game.
Mr. Bob Roth, managing partner of Cypress HomeCare Solutions, began the day. Because he was such a hit at our September 2010 golf tournament, we invited him back. Bob, thank you for opening our event with class, style and professionalism.
Mr. Dan Taylor, CEO of East Valley Adult Resources (EVAR) is very comfortable in this position, and he does it well. Thank you, Dan, for taking the helm for the second half of the day, keeping us on time, and as always, for your polish, presence and your flexibility.
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 Our Speakers
No conference could be considered a success without great speakers and that's just what we offered this year. Our speaker lineup reads like a who's who in Arizona business: Our opening act was presented by Dave Sherman, founder of Dave Sherman Speaks. Dave offered some very useful tips about the importance of networking. The first breakout sessions were presented by: - Jeanette Zerelli, Red Mountain Senior Services
- Andrea Dias, University of Phoenix
- Scott Foster, Wells Fargo Bank
The second round of breakout sessions was presented by: - Dr. Ilene Ringler, Maricopa Community Colleges Small Business Development Center
- Karen Barno, Arizona ALFA
- Robert Leslie, Mutual of Omaha Bank
The post-lunch general session consisted of a panel of experts in the elder care industry: - Allen Imig, Executive Director of the Arizona NCIA
- Larry Martens, Program Manager for the Arizona DHS
- Annie Regan, the Foundation for Senior Living
- Dawn Savattone, Ombudsman for the Area Agency on Aging Region One
And our final round of break out sessions was presented by:
- Corinne Spaulding, Hospice Family Care
- Marcy Maslov, executive coach and creator of e-Factor!
- Kim David Johnson, MD, DirectMD
Our sincere thanks to each of our presenters who helped make the day an educational and enjoyable experience.
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Winners of our Fabulous Prizes
This year, we added a new program - Bingo Cards. This was the incentive for all attendees to visit each of our exhibitors, and it was a big hit. Those who had a full bingo card were entered into a drawing. Winners were:
Barb Gjonbolas of Cedar Sanctuary won the Kindle
Steve Stawisuck of Caring Heart Terrace won the BluRay Disc Player
Our raffle prizes also generated a lot of excitement again this year. The winners were:
Walter Plotski of Medassure, Inc. won the Wii console
Monica Rus of Desert Joy Assisted Living won the iPod Touch
Holly Bower of Bowerhaven LLC won the Home Theater System
Ashly Logan of Smart Scrubs won the HDTV
Congratulations to each of our winners!
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