The Day You’ve Been Waiting For: Registration Is Open!

If you’re like most AMWA members, you’ve already pored over the 2013 AMWA Annual Conference registration brochure and carefully planned what you want to take. This workshop, that roundtable. It’s fun thinking about how much you can fit into 3.5 days, isn’t it? Now it’s time to take that next step and register—registration opens today, July 10, at 3 PM (ET)!

If you haven’t looked at the registration brochure, what are you waiting for? The AMWA Annual Conference is the educational event for medical communicators everywhere. Whether you write for the pharmaceutical or medical device industry, lay audiences, or health care professionals, you will enhance your knowledge and practical skills at the AMWA annual conference. And talk about networking! You will be able to attend five—yes, five—networking events with food—all included in the price of registration. Not confident in your networking abilities? Four sessions on networking are offered on Thursday and Friday to help you improve your networking skills. Each session is a different format, so you can pick the one that best fits your needs. Or go to all of them and be a master networker by Saturday!

Another special feature of the conference is the line-up of invited speakers, most notably, the recipients of the AMWA Alvarez and McGovern awards: Gregory D. Curfman, MD, Executive Editor of the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), and Cynthia Baur, PhD, Senior Advisor for Health Literacy, Office of the Associate Director for Communication, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). You can learn more about these two leading authorities in the registration brochure. And there’s nothing to keep you from hearing their award lectures-—no programming competes with the lecture sessions, and again, they’re free!

The outstanding educational program, networking events, and award-winning speakers make the AMWA Annual Conference an exceptional value. If you don’t believe me, check out the materials on the AMWA website that highlight the value of the conference. If you’re a freelance, learn how the annual conference is the best business decision you’ll make this year. If you don’t work for yourself, you can customize a memo to your boss to help gain financial support to attend. Just visit the annual conference page on the AMWA website and click on “Committing to the AMWA Annual Conference.”

If you missed news about the conference in the June issue of the AMWA Journal, this year’s Annual Conference offers a variety of new features as well as the return of some popular events. For example, among the new session formats is the Hands-on Demonstration, where you learn as you follow along on your own laptop or mobile device.

The Quality of the AMWA Annual Conference Depends on You!

This year, AMWA brought the development of the annual conference to you, and you have just a few days remaining to make it yours. For the first time, this year AMWA solicited its members—and beyond—for all types of conference sessions. This means that the quality of the programming at the 2013 Annual Conference depends on you and the proposals you submit!

Whether it’s an open session, a how-to session, a roundtable discussion, a poster, or a new type of session, it’s offered only if you propose it. Whether it’s a session you’ve presented at AMWA before or it’s a new idea, you must propose it. Detecting a theme to this message?

The theme of the 2013 conference is Expanding Your Horizons, to reflect the professional growth you’ll gain from attending the conference. Presenting at the conference will enhance your professional growth, and there’s a program format for everyone.

✭ Are you a seasoned medical communicator with a wide network? Then contact some colleagues and propose a panel discussion on a topic within your specialty area.

✭ Do you have an efficient way of accomplishing a task or process? Why not share your practical advice in a how-to session?

✭ Are you just starting out as a presenter? Leading a roundtable discussion is a great first step.

✭ Do you and a colleague find yourself on different sides of an issue? Get together to present a pro/con debate.

✭ Are you skilled in computer software or applications? Share your skills in a hands-on demonstration.

✭ Have you done research in medical communication? Present it in a poster. (This option is good if you really don’t want to speak in front of a group of people.)

As you know, AMWA represents medical writers and editors in a wide range of work settings. To meet all those needs, we’re looking for a variety of topics. We’re particularly interested in a few topics, such as
• Technology (social media, e-learning, mobile apps)
• Communication theory (comprehension, usability)
• Writing for lay audiences
• Health care reform
• Work relationships (collaboration, team building)
• Business aspects of freelancing