It’s Day 2 from the North American Veterinary Conference and I’ve been experimenting with fresh technology that enhances the conference attendee’s experience: an app! The NAVC app was brought to my attention the day before the conference started by way of an email welcome announcement from NAVC. This free download was designed so that you could leave your copy of the official program in your room, or perhaps go green. I think this is a fabulous idea, but was surprised when the 1-inch thick program was pre-packed in our conference goody bags. With the implementation of an app, I would hope to see fewer programs printed next year, perhaps allowing attendees to pick up a hard copy, if they want one.
 
The NAVC app features the following functions on the dashboard:
 

• General overview of the NAVC
• The complete scientific program, which allows you to build your own program schedule gives you control over creating a custom program schedule for each day of the conference.
• A speaker list that is completely searchable by name, with photos and biographies.
• An exhibitor list that is completely searchable by name, giving you a complete index of vendors with one-touch connectivity to their websites and a map location of where to find them in the exhibit halls.
• Maps of each exhibit hall and program rooms for both the Gaylord and the Marriott.
• Social media connectivity allows users of the app to post to their Twitter or Facebook feeds directly from the app.
• A news feed pulls all Twitter posts with the #navc to the app for a convenient one-stop view of who’s posting what, live from the conference.
• Surveys for each session are built into the app, giving you the power to submit your feedback for sessions in a more convenient manner.
• Extras include FAQs about the conference center, recommendations for places to eat, information about the hotels, and an on-call button that puts you in direct contact with an NAVC staff volunteer if you have a problem.
• Your user portal gives you access to the digital proceedings and your session attendance records, which are tracked digitally.
• An attendee list, which is searchable by last name. If you gave permission to publish your email address, the app allows you to connect directly with other conference attendees.
• Messages can be sent to you from the NAVC through the app.

My goal has been to streamline my “baggage” throughout the day. I have been able to carry just my iPad for taking notes and my smartphone with the app to keep me on schedule and guide me through the day. The app does tend to crash on occasion, but overall I have been very pleased with its functionality. My hope is to see this option available at other major conferences, as I see real value in this tool.

One of my favorite bloggers is Chris Brogan. I subscribe to his e-newsletter and try to keep up with his blog posts. He also wrote one of my favorite social media books Trust Agents, with Julien Smith.

Today, I received an email from Chris that I found inspiring at this time of year and it simply planted three little words in my subconscious. His message was, find three words that you can connect with in the coming year—-three words that sum up how you will focus in the coming year. After about half an hour of thought and coming back to the email a few times, I chose my three words: Balance, Believe, Celebrate. Read the rest of this entry »

No matter what kind of year 2011 has been for your practice, as managers and owners it’s that time again—time to set goals and budgets for the coming year. I can’t imagine any practice not setting growth goals, and laying plans for how they hope to accomplish next year’s growth. How many of you plan to strengthen the pillars in your practice? How many of you need to create new pillars in order to grow at all?

What’s all this crazy architectural talk about pillars, you ask? Look at the success of your veterinary practice from an architectural standpoint. A strong foundation is created when you have a cohesive, complimentary owner-manager team. This foundation is the base for all future growth, but without pillars the walls and roof will be weak. In this analogy, the walls are your team and the roof is the amount of production the team can handle. Without pillars, your walls may crumple under the weight of the roof. You need pillars for stability and growth! Read the rest of this entry »

Several weeks ago, the Broad Ripple Animal Clinic and Wellness Center’s Facebook page passed the 2,000 “likes” mark. It has been a slow and gradual process where we have nurtured the fire we kindled a few years ago as part of our social media strategy. It seems like just yesterday that we passed the 1,000 fan milestone, but it was actually a little more than a year ago.

What are my thoughts on Facebook for veterinary practices after doubling our audience? Quality beats quantity every time, and we must all remember that we are merely “leasing” space on Facebook. Read the rest of this entry »

It was about this time last month that I was heading to Spain with my family. It wasn’t your everyday family vacation, though—-I had been invited to speak at the VI Foro Pfizer Animales De Compania 2011 in Valencia, Spain. My topic? Social media for veterinary professionals. When I published my book earlier this year, I had no idea it would take me to Europe a few months later.

The speaking venue happened to be the Oceanografic aquarium; the largest aquarium in Europe and just one component of the Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias (City of Arts and Sciences) in Valencia. My daughter, who happens to be an “aquarium-freak”, began begging to go with me when she found out about the invitation. Luckily, we were able to make it work and the three of us (my husband, daughter and myself) headed off to Spain without much more than very rudimentary Spanish phrases to rely upon. Our most frequently used phrase ended up being: “Anglais, por favore?” Read the rest of this entry »

One of my newest “promoted-from-within” managers just experienced the dreaded sound of silence. You know the one…..it’s where you walk into a busy room at the clinic (like the treatment area) and the room falls to a hush. Everyone stops what they were talking about because “someone in charge” just walked through the door. This used to really, really bother me. It was actually one of those things that made me question whether or not I truly wanted to continue down the path of management. Read the rest of this entry »

On the road again….it seems like I just got home from a whirlwind trip to Sacramento and Reno in less than 48 hours, just last week. Oh yes, that was just last week! Here I am on the road again, and I find myself in Washington, DC attending BlogPaws 2011. This is my third BlogPaws experience and this time, I am a speaker and panel member for the VetTrack. This trip began with a call from United airlines canceling my flight as I was driving to the airport….not a good start to anyone’s travel plans. Their solution was to get me to my destination a day late….which doesn’t work when you are scheduled to speak first thing in the morning! Read the rest of this entry »

Coleen Ellis opened the first standalone pet funeral home in the United States, Pet Angel Memorial Center, here in Indianapolis. I met Coleen several years ago when she visited Broad Ripple Animal Clinic to discuss her new business. Right away, I felt that Coleen was doing something very special, and that she herself was unique. Not only was she bringing a new way of looking at pet loss and grief counseling to us, but she truly cared about our thoughts, as well as our struggles as veterinarians and pet caregivers. Read the rest of this entry »

Opening your practice up to the idea of social media is like opening up a can of worms. You’ve started your practice’s Facebook page, you’re using Twitter and things seem to be running smoothly. The next thing you know, you’re opening a “friend request” from a client….now what? Read the rest of this entry »

Let’s take a peek at Typical Animal Clinic to see the day-to-day operations from an owner/manager/leader perspective! Dr. Control spends his days doing what he loves….caring for pets. But, he’s got a lot on his mind because he also happens to be the practice owner. To help him run the practice, he has a Practice Manager, Frustrated Frieda. Frieda spends her days putting out fires and running every decision by Dr. Control for fear of making a mistake and/or to make sure he approves. Meanwhile, Typical Animal Care continues to wallow in the throws of constant staff turn-over, searching for the next “perfect Associate”, and the person who appears to be running the show is Gossiping Gail from the front desk. How do we inject a little leadership into this practice? Read the rest of this entry »