At AMTC Well & Alive & How Will Your Information Thrive?
Richard M. Obertots, MBA, NREMT-P (ret), CEO

Each year – many of us are fortunate to be well and alive to attend, participate and contribute at our annual AMTC (Air Medical Transport Conference.) That’s my first message. Being well and alive - with the ability to contribute is something about which to be infinitely grateful. We have a duty to those that cannot attend (this year or forever) to take right actions during and after this experience.

We know that each of us are driven to AMTC – primarily to give or gain knowledge, to participate in professional interactions (as individuals directly doing the work or as suppliers and vendors that provide services and products to make the work possible) and to engage in morally rich and robust social activities. Right? Did I miss something? Does anything else happen that I might mention.

For all of those that cannot attend AMTC or for our four distinct categories of critical care customers; What do we do to gather, bring back, organize, disseminate and put to RIGHT ACTION regarding what we have learned, experienced or become infected with? (Meaning “infected” with enthusiasm and know-how!) Here’s a short list;

□ We bring back all the wild stories about who did what under the influence of what or whom at the MASH BASH or other evening exploits
□ We bring back some of the 2.3 cubic tons of brochures, hand-outs and mostly useless promotional gimmicks that normally we leave for hotel housekeeping (so much for “Green HEMS”)
□ We purchase the CDs or Audio-Tapes of half-recorded and mostly inaudible presentations then store them someplace and not give them a minute’s listen until the next AMTC is near - then trash these as “Old News” and buy (or gather) more at the next AMTC to let sit idle for another year
□ We tell a few folks on our shift (and maybe some of those in our four categories of critical care customers) about things that were of interest to us…and only us

What do YOU and your organization do each year after AMTC?

Would it be of value – as an organization that allocates scarce and valuable resources to fund staff to go (and fund staff to cover) to have a process to gather, bring back, organize, distribute, analyze and put to RIGHT ACTION information and intelligence culled at AMTC? If you believe so – the time to prepare IS NOW!

ThinkThroughTools has developed an AFTER INDUSTRY EDUCATIONAL EVENT RIGHT ACTION TEMPLATE we use with our clients to maximize the ROR (Return on Resources) invested. Here are a few of the many recommendations it contains;

□ In advance – be sure you have defined the performance expectations, execution process, dead-lines, measurement mechanisms and consequences pertaining to what is to happen before, during and especially upon the return from the event. In our experience – we see this as where many organizations falter. Often times we hear (from managers especially),

Actual Quote

“Gee – we paid all this money for this person to attend AMTC and all they did was party and sleep in. Then they don’t even remember which sessions they attended and have nothing to share with us about what they learned! See if I ever fund them again!”

As IBM’s former CEO Lou Gerstner said, “People don’t do what you expect – they do what you inspect.” As learning organizations – it is our responsibility to clarify expectations and “inspection” for staff to earn the right to be funded to attend AMTC and to help them to be effective at participating. Then have in place a process to share what was learned.

□ Clarify that staff create a schedule of sessions planned to attend with justification. This must center on, “What are the perceived benefits attending this session (or experience) for the individual(s) or the organization?” Do not just accept this – put it through your Value Justification Process.
□ Once you have approved the sessions / experiences – develop a “Who’s Going to What Matrix.” Use a spreadsheet platform (or on-demand collaboration tool) that graphs dates, times, session titles and individuals attending. Prioritize these! Clarify that all staff are to keep their matrix with them (or maintain on-line access) and comply. Of course permit flexibility so that some sessions / events are outside of your requirement and for fun.
□ If you have more than one individual attending be sure key sessions are not missed. This does not mean you should limit one person per session / experience. In fact – having two can be beneficial as it provides varied perspectives. Just be sure to have individuals “spread out” to cover high priority - justified sessions.

□ How to Organize, Analyze and Package the Information You Have Gathered

You and your team gathered information – brought it back to rapidly complete the process to organize, analyze and package it. Now you can present to staff or each of the four categories of critical care customers with momentum demonstrating your thinkthrough.

From an Outreach perspective – put on an internal and external “Road Show” that summarizes AMTC (or any event / experience with USEFUL information for your organization or your four categories of critical care customers). This can also be an e.RoadShow ™ by providing information on your website, in your e.Newsletter or through your Outreach blogging, VODCASTS, PODCASTS, MySpace, FaceBook, etc.

Finally share all with your resource allocators like Board Members / CEO / CFO / Bean Counters / Investors, etc. This helps to justify and earn funding for the next AMTC!

Many people cannot attend national events. You can bring mission-crucial information to them – to resonate for many months. And differentiate yourself in your market space as the leader at gathering, aggregating and disseminating state-of-the-art information.

Most individuals that attend AMTC and other events do so in the spirit of learning to advance their competencies, take personal right action, improve and share (and perhaps - have a little fun too.) Make this easier for them and more effective for your organization by having an “After Industry Educational Event Right Action” strategy and template in place. Easy – NO – Necessary – only if you desire high yield for your investment of scarce resources.

If you would like more information on how ThinkThroughTools can help you maximize your invested resources in industry educational events and apply this to safety, AMRM or Outreach (safely generating sustainable medically necessary and appropriate flight requests) e.mail info@ThinkThroughTools.com or call 412.670.9906.