ANN OUT AND ABOUT

FPMA Summer | June 4-7 | Bonita Springs, FL

I just got back, er… last week, from the FPMA Summer conference. I had a blast but it did take me a full day of quiet to recover!

While I've attended and worked with countless conferences over the years, including the FPMA SAM conference, this was my first time working alongside the FPMA team to produce the Summer conference.

One of the things I love most about what I do is that every conference teaches me something new. Each event has its own culture, processes, and challenges. By working with different associations and different conferences, I get to experience a variety of approaches to solving problems and I get to test new ideas to make each one better than the last.

Obviously there are always challenges. When you bring together physician committee leaders, staff, volunteers, consultants, venues, exhibitors, and third party contractors, each with their own vision and ideas, there are bound to be a few growing pains along the way. In the moment it seems like a conflict but when you take a step back, you realize that the growing pains are the result of many different personalities – all who care deeply about making this one the best one.

What stands out to me is the FPMA's commitment to building for the future. Associations thrive when their physician leaders provide vision and direction, while experienced staff and partners provide continuity, operational support, and institutional knowledge. Physicians have demanding careers, limited committee and board terms, and evolving priorities. Sustainable – and scalable – progress happens when organizations create systems that allow knowledge and momentum to carry forward from one leadership team to the next. The FPMA understands that.

The Summer conference is special because its designed to encourage connection and that's exactly what happened. Between golf and mixology activities, a welcome reception, dinners with vendors, a birthday surprise pool party, s'mores by the fire, and hanging by the pool with changemakers and titans of this industry… this conference was built to foster the relationships that drive innovation.

Working in and around live events is what makes me better at what I do.

… I'm also blessed to have made incredible friends along the way.

Congratulations to the FPMA staff, partners, leadership, faculty, exhibitors, and attendees who helped make FPMA Summer 2026 such a memorable event.

-Annie