TRICKS OF THE TRADE
Our Experience for Your Use
This website was created created and co-founded by us – Sarah Breymeier and Ann Dosen.
Both of us have spent nearly ten years in the podiatry industry, attending dozens upon dozens of podiatric meetings and trade shows.
Therefore, we want to put our experience to good use!
Below are some helpful “tricks of the trade” from us to you… enjoy!
GOOD ADVICE – PLAIN AND SIMPLE.
No matter if you work in the podiatric profession as physician, vendor, or meeting organizer/planner, utilizing the tips and resources supplied below will serve you well!
Increase your Productivity and Without Getting Overwhelmed.
I read this book cover to cover in just a couple of days. It’s been a few years since I read it, but it always stands out as one that I recommend to anyone that wants to continue to achieve. Whether you own a small business (like a podiatry practice or a device company), it’s easy to get overwhelmed with all the things you should be doing.
The Slight Edge provides practical/doable advice to help you set your goals and break down the activities that must take place to achieve those goals – step by step. By doing a little bit every single day, you will see big changes over time. There’s no need to do everything in one day, one week, one month, or even one year.
Do one action item every single day and the result will show itself!
-SARAH
Every day I listen to at least one podcast episode while I’m driving or working out to give me inspiration for the day. There are days when I wake up and don’t want to do a single thing other than catch up on episodes of Outlander, but after listening to one of these podcasts, I know I can take over the world! No matter what your daily life brings you, every single person on the planet will get something out of listening to these individuals.
John Maxwell Leadership Podcast – a weekly podcast from the leadership authority John Maxwell. This podcast focuses on the principles, practices, and process of becoming a transformational leader. Even if leadership is not one of your primary goals, the principles translate to any project or position you are in. I always come away with new motivation or a fresh outlook on a current project. Each episode comes with a downloadable resource to work through.
Online Marketing Made Easy with Amy Porterfield – Amy Porterfield is considered the GIANT in the online marketing space. She is so inspiring to listen to. Her episodes include expert interviews, mini execution plans, and secrets from her product and service launches; all tied together by her mission to make each episode as actionable and profitable as possible. Every episode I listen to of hers gets me thinking about the next big thing I want us to tackle. Her advice is tangible and for real life.
Rise Podcast with Rachel Hollis – hosted by the best-selling author of “Girl, Wash Your Face”, this podcast is a series of conversations with business powerhouses and personal development leaders where each episode provides listeners with tactical, valuable takeaways.
-ANN
TRICKS OF THE TRADE
Tips for DPMs
CHECK OUT OUR LIBRARY OF DPM DOWNLOADS – CLICK HERE!
Managing Post-Meeting Stress
This month Ann and I took 3 days out of the "normal work week" for the APMA National Conference in Nashville; and I've come up with a new catchphrase... Be Gone For 3 Days and Be Behind for 3 Weeks! (OK, not the best catchphrase on the books) But the struggle is real and I am sure many of you feel it when you are out of the office for any reason. Once you put a "wrench" in your daily routine, it takes a while to get everything back on track; especially when your schedule was already maxed out. [...]
Reflect On Your Meeting Mentality
If you scroll down and check out my Vendor Tip, you'll gain some insight into my sentiment for the podiatry profession and meetings. As I was reflecting on the 12 years I've been working in this profession, one thing became very clear to me. While most of my time in the last decade has been sitting at my desk and staring at a computer screen, it's the time I have spent at meetings that has truly made the biggest impact on my career. Nearly every single individual I work closely with is the direct result of a connection made at [...]
Find Your Perfect Referral Partner
If you've been a "Tricks of the Trade" fan for a while, you've probably read some of my previous blogs regarding niche. If you want a quick frame of reference, here's one from September, 2019: INVEST IN YOUR PASSION I've had several discussions with DPMs about the possibilities of creating a niche practice, as well as the pros and cons. Obviously it can be scary to ditch the "kitchen sink" of foot and ankle care to focus on one type of patient / patient condition. However, if this is something you're thinking about - or are already implementing - find [...]
CLINICAL CORNER WITH DR. RICHIE
Richie Brace® or Custom Foot Orthotic for Adult Acquired Flatfoot? Clinicians often debate whether the initial treatment of the Adult Acquired Flatfoot (AAF) should start with custom foot orthotic therapy or should proceed directly with a custom Richie Brace®. While foot orthoses can be effective in the early stages of AAF, they become less effective when key ligaments in the midfoot have ruptured including the spring ligament. A quick and easy test to detect rupture of the midfoot ligaments is the “single foot heel rise” test. If a patient has difficulty or inability to perform a heel raise with full [...]
Prepare for Your Vendor Experience
We always preach planning for your upcoming meetings in an effort to help you maximize your experience. It's been two whole years since we first created our "My Meeting Exhibit Hall Plan" DPM Download. So, this is a helpful reminder to utilize this tool (and our other downloads) to prepare your experience beyond CME... and into the exhibit hall where you will find the corporate partners to elevate your practice. It's important to remember just how important the industry's exhibitors are for your continuing education. Exhibitors are investing thousands of dollars to make you aware of their products and services at [...]
Break Out of Your Social Media Shell Plus a Special Interview with Dr. Sarah Haller
Last month's "Tricks of the Trade" for focused on utilizing your time at meetings to the MAXIMUM. One of the ways this is possible is to use all of the unique situations you're in while you're on site for social media. The main message was: "EVERYTHING IS CONTENT." Click here to go back and check out last month's tip. But, a social media presence doesn't come as naturally to everyone as it does for others. If you didn't join us for PodiatryExpo last August, first of all - shame on you.... ? but, second we want to share one of [...]
TRICKS OF THE TRADE
Ideas for Meeting Planners
Surprising Real Estate: Toilet Talk
Several years ago I was exhibiting at the No Nonsense meeting in Ohio and I was, initially, none-to-pleased to be placed right by the bathroom. Until I realized just how amazing it is! In fact - here's a photo of me enjoying myself in that very spot (with the world's largest cup of coffee apparently). Sure, I had to block out the never-ending sound of constant flushing, but the foot traffic was epic. Last month I wrote a blog about how meetings should be set up so that DPMs are only in one of three spots: the lecture [...]
More Traffic Please! Remove the Hallway Desk Escape Route
In life we know that two things are inevitable - death and taxes. As a meeting planner, you know one thing is inevitable - complaints about more exhibit hall traffic. This is ALWAYS top of the list when it comes to satisfying your exhibitors and there is no magic button, but hopefully you have discovered that Ann and I are consistently working on trying to help you find new ideas to overcome these challenges. So here goes... There should only be three places DPMs can be found once the exhibit hall is in motion: (1) Lecture Hall (2) Exhibit Hall [...]
Adapt and Evolve
Reflecting on the last three years, I feel that 2023 was as close to "the good 'ole days" (pre-Covid) as we've had in comparison to 2020, 2021 and 2022; meaning in-person meetings were not bombarded with heavy restrictions and the process/flow felt "normal" again. However, it's also safe to say that there has been an irreversible impact that we simply have to face and make necessary adjustments; not only to the meeting landscape, but to the makeup of the DPM. So what do we know? There are a lot of factors, but let's talk about a few biggies. Let's start [...]
A “Heads Up” Can Go A Long Way
A handful of our previous meeting planner tips has a central focus about competition and/or the perception of competition with other meetings. Check this out: https://podiatrymeetings.com/2022/08/30/what-are-you-competing-for/ With that in mind, it can really go a long way within the profession to give other meeting planners a heads up when it comes to scheduling your next event. We all know that most meetings run around the same timeframe each year, which is helpful, but here and there we see the meeting collision and someone ends up getting "miffed." Last year we had a colleague alert us about an upcoming event so [...]
Just Say No
As I was typing up the Featured Meeting article at the beginning of this newsletter, I took special notice to: *All KSUCPM continuing medical education is offered 100% in-person. There is no virtual offering for this event. It got me thinking about conversations I've had throughout the last couple of years with meeting planners and organizations that, for the most part, don't seem to want to provide online credits, but are continuing to offer hybrid meetings. So, now I'm asking, why??? If you don't like the idea of having online credits - then don't. If your organization's leadership is in [...]
Elevate Your Meeting by Experiencing Meetings
If you've read the DPM and Vendor Tips in this month's newsletter, you've noticed that I am strongly encouraging all of us to get out of the house and get to a meeting. But wait, you're a meeting planner. Why would you go to a meeting? We don't know what we don't know, right? There are so many exciting events going on outside of the podiatry space that we aren't even aware of... but that doesn't mean we have to keep it that way! Consider going to a meeting that isn't yours - whether it be within the podiatry space [...]