I don’t know why, but somehow over the past few days at the CME Congress I have found myself several times saying things along the lines of, but there’s still a need to pass along knowledge, even if it doesn’t result in behavior change. And I do believe there is, because that’s where behavior change starts—you can’t do better if you don’t know better. But, of course, just because you know better doesn’t mean you will do better. There are further steps you usually have to take, and all kinds of reasons (both within and without your control) that can prevent you from making that change.

Behavior change usually is a multi-step process, but you do have to start somewhere, and often that somewhere is learning, even if it doesn’t immediately lead to anything else. I don’t think anyone struggles with that. It’s keeping the process moving so learning does eventually become action that can be difficult, right?

The ABCs of Accredited CME, which offers 10 short modules (most less than a half hour) on everything from who all the players are in the CME game to educational formats to PI-CME and, of course, ensuring your activities are fair and balanced. Developed by the American Academy of Dermatology and The France Foundation, both ACCME-accredited providers, the idea, according to the Web site, is “to clarify that the intent of the ‘rules’ is that accredited CME be based on the principles of adult learning and be independent of industry influence.” It was easy to sign up for, and it looks like it’s free of charge. I know what I’ll be doing this weekend!

To further strengthen his point, he exhorted the audience to “be meeting managers, not meeting planners. Be in on strategy, not just execution.” In short, he said, you need to put yourself in a position to get the proverbial seat at the table. And you can if you understand the value you bring to that table, including:

* You are the compliance gate-keepers. Whatever the company’s policies, you are the ones to ensure they are carried out.

* You own and can leverage the relationships on which this business still runs.

* You can help the company deliver the most benefit at the least cost, while still ensuring that the meeting’s, and the company’s goals, are met.

Shawn Seipler showed us a short video and explained how he and Paul Till decided in 2009 to form a 501(c)(3) organization to collect and recycle soap and shampoo products discarded by the hospitality industry, and distribute them to those who, because they don’t have access to the products necessary for good hygiene, now die from poor-hygiene-related illnesses around the world daily.

How many times have I looked at that barely used soap bar and thought about what a waste it was to have it just thrown out, but it never occurred to me to take it to the next level, as Shawn and his partner did. It was just astonishing to see how much good they could do out of what didn’t look like a slick operation: Just boxes of used soaps, some machines to disinfect and melt the soap and reshape it into new bars, and a group of volunteers eager to scrape the outer layer of yuck off the soap so it could begin the process, and assemble bags of donated hygiene-related products for distribution to shelters. (I’ll post some pics when I get them downloaded from my camera. It’s really pretty amazing.)

The whole thing was fascinating, and, as my first real CSR (corporate social responsibility) event, I could see how we started to build some relationships with each other as we scraped and bagged. I got a little too into it and had to finish filling up our last box of packaged bags, so I missed the final total of what we had accomplished, but I did get a hug from the staff person I had been working beside as I dashed after the group to get on the bus, which felt better to me than having hard numbers to talk about.

P.S. We also had the chance to do a quick site of the Gaylord Palms, which in addition to all the glorious meeting space it already had has recently opened a very cool sports bar that can be bought out for events, and an soon-to-open water park that looks like every kid’s wildest dream.

P.P.S. Many, many thanks to our hosts at Hyatt for the lovely food, music, and company last night. It was the perfect way to end an all-around great pre-con day.

He set the stage by citing just how bad it is in the U.S. (32 percent of patients say they’ve experienced medical and/or lab errors, more than a slew of other countries he listed, and our readmission rates are pretty dismal). And costs are seriously out of control: U.S. salaries have increased 38 percent over the past 10 years, while healthcare costs have soared 131 percent. If milk had that inflation rate, it would cost $48 per gallon. Yikes, anyone! While the cost of care in the U.S. is double that of other Western nations, they’re also experiencing ridiculous (my word, not his) healthcare inflationary rates.

But while things like healthcare reform, CMS’ PQRS, Maintenance and Certification and likely soon, Maintenance of Licensure, and ARRA and HITECH, and other acronyms I think I missed as we whizzed through the slides, are aligning, there are still misalignments, he said.

Quoting Don Berwick, he said, “You can’t fatten a pig by weighing it repeatedly,” meaning that while it’s great we’ve put work into measurement and reporting, it’s now time to focus on improvement.

Among his recommendations:

* Get to know the national performance improvement initiatives (NQF, NPP, etc.) Join them.

* Adopt NQF and NPP recommendations as a framework for what you do.

* Facilitate national and local discussions between measurement improvement groups, CPD groups, and HIT groups. As he said, the other two groups already are starting to come together, and “You need to get into the dance.”

Once we learned the conference’s Twitter hashtag (#acehp12) and how to pronounce ACEHP ( “a-sep,” according to one poster. “Think antiseptic”), and got an update on the weather forecast—“fluorescent and 70 degrees”—we dove into lessons learned/favorite experiences from past Alliance meetings. These included:

• Don’t feel you have to stay in a session that you’re not getting anything out of.

• Don’t worry about missing sessions in favor of hallway conversations. These conversations, and the relationships that can come out of them, are some people’s best conference experiences.

• It can be empowering to look around and realize how many others in the room are in the same boat as you.

• Keep an open mind. “Some of my best ideas came from conversations with people who disagree with me,” said one person. I can’t agree more.

• It’s great to be able to meet people we previously had only known virtually.

• Know that those who preach adult learning principles don’t always practice what they preach.

• Make dinner reservations ahead of time.

• Don’t let the faculty off the hook if they start glazing over the details. Be empowered as a learner.

When it comes to preparing, most are following @theCMEguy’s blog post suggestions, particularly going through the abstracts and making a list of first-, second-, and third-tier choices for each time slot; and setting up meetings. Being a bit of a techno-geeky group, we’re also loading up on apps, such as Tweetchat and Streamboard for meeting tweets, setting a time for an in-person tweetup (Monday at 6 pm), debating whether to tweet to the main #acehp12 hashtag or use the session-specific identifiers (use both as separate hashtags I believe was the consensus), and placing wagers on the total number of tweets to come out of the conference this year.

But just going through the abstracts doesn’t necessarily mean you’re going to get what you need. How do you find out which sessions may have sounded better on paper than in reality and vice versa? Some rely on the Twitter stream for thumb-ups and –downs. Others hover in the doorway before committing to a session. Others rely on tried-and-true presenters who they know will do a good session, though I personally am always torn between going to a session whose faculty I know is great and looking for the fresh voices and fresh ideas that this community needs to hear.

The sessions people are looking forward to most seemed to depend mostly on whatever their biggest challenges are, from performance-improvement CME to updates from the Accreditation Council for CME to anything to do with grants. The on-site technology help station also is getting some interest from folks, as are technology sessions. What we all hope to get out of the conference varied too, with one recently unemployed poster looking to network and the rest of us hoping to rustle him up a job. Others are looking to make new contacts, and learn more about MOC/MOL, future trends, grants, and technology.

Among our collective goals for this year’s conference?

* Spend at least one meal as a mentor and at least one meal as a mentee.

* Find new ideas, fresh voices, and better ways of doing things. Make connections, learn, speak, share.

* Spend at least one session sitting next to someone you’ve never met.

* Spend more time at meals downstairs than up in your room checking e-mail.

• Participate! Engage, share, be an active learner.

I hope to see you in Orlando!

We will share highlights of the results in the January/February issue, and study participants who provide a valid e-mail address will receive the full data analysis upon request. I know it’s a little unnerving to talk about compensation, but the result will be worth it. And of course, your info will remain confidential; we’ll only use the data in aggregate.

It’ll only take about five minutes to complete. Please take the survey now! Thanks in advance for your participation.

You have a bit longer—until October 14—to get in your application for the Alliance’s Distinguished Member/Fellow Awards, which, says the Alliance, “are offered to members through numeric points accumulated for a variety of services within the association. The application can be downloaded and saved to your computer and is formatted to automatically calculate your points.”

The Center for Business Intelligence and Medical Meetings are now accepting submissions for new workshops and sessions for the 8th Annual Pharmaceutical Meeting Management Forum, March 2012 on the East Coast. Do you have an idea for a session that would help pharmaceutical, biotech, and medical device meeting professionals, independent meeting management company personnel, and suppliers to the medical meetings industry better comply with relevant regulations or help them meet the other challenges they face? To be considered, the session must be free of commercial content and specific product endorsements.

Please include in your proposal the session’s goal or objective, primary audience, title, presenter names and bios, preferred format and length, and a 50-word description with three learner outcomes.

Submit your proposals to Brendan Emerson by August 1, 2012.