By 8:30 this Friday morning, one inch of the APhA Annual Meeting was complete! I sat in the staff office at the convention center in Washington, DC, and thinned out the binder that contains schedules, scripts and "continuities," contact information, presentations, and background information. Hundreds of functions occur in what to an outsider may look like a cacophony of activity, but in reality is a well-choreographed set of events whose planning started years ago.

For me, the first on-site meetings began on Wednesday. By this morning, I was able to take an inch of paper out of my binder, which serves as my "bible" through the roughly 7 days of meetings.

Our Board of Trustees meeting is complete, and our work with state associations is well under way. It is so energizing to associate with so many motivated and innovative pharmacists. While we're beating last year's attendance numbers, I wish we could get every pharmacist in America to attend. We could cross-pollinate best practices so much faster if more pharmacists congregated, engaged, and networked in forums like this one.

For APhA2010, the train has left the station. All the planning is done, and now we execute! In what will seem like a blur, the meeting will be over. We will review everything that happened so that APhA2011 can be our best Annual Meeting ever!

If you are reading this, and you are not here in Washington, make your plans now to be in Seattle on March 25–28, 2011. And make sure you attend your state association meeting this year! The wealth of information and networking opportunities available at pharmacy meetings are a great way to recharge your professional batteries and stay current in your practice. I'll see you at many state association meetings this year and APhA2011 next March!

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