My first priority as President of the SNDS should be to recognize the outstanding work of my predecessor, Stephen Rose.  Every year the SNDS seems to move further ahead, and under Steve’s stewardship, this was certainly the case once again.  Thanks, Steve, for handing me the keys to an organization that’s up and running well.

As President, I want to build on the progress that’s all ready been made.  Our society has grown so much over the last few years!  Our membership numbers are at an all time high, which is very heartening in light of the economic slowdown these days.  I’m proud to report that we have well over 600 members.  Of course, our work is cut out for us in recruiting the many dentists who have not yet joined, but we have an excellent membership committee, headed by Dr. Owen Justice, that is hard at work on just that. 

Along those lines, we are also strengthening our relationship with the UNLV School of Dental Medicine, especially the dental students themselves.  This year we’re hoping to partner with the school to underwrite the cost of ASDA membership for the fourth year students. We subsidized the travel of the ASDA representatives to attend this meeting.  We’re also providing them a home on the internet by giving their chapter space on our SNDS website.  Log on to www.sndsonline.org to see the progress!  Our mentor program should be better organized this year, and we’re hoping to expand it as well.  If you’d like to be a volunteer mentor for a fourth year student, let us know!

Our access committee, headed by Dr. Richard Kohlmeyer, had a banner year as well.  Our Give Kids A Smile event is getting some national attention, and we’re told that it’s one of the largest in the country that is providing restorative work in addition to oral health screening.  Our 2008 event was documented and made into a DVD that has been sent to every state assembly representative, state senator, and the Governor, in addition to every member of Nevada’s delegation to capitol hill in Washington, DC.   We want our legislators to know how much southern Nevada’s dentists give back to the community.  In fact, besides Give Kids A Smile, our 1DAY Program is thriving, too, meaning that there is not just a one day “splash,” but an ongoing volunteer effort.  In the last three years, these two programs, Give Kids a Smile and 1DAY have provided over $500,000 worth of donated dental services in southern Nevada!

In the last year we have also been able to recruit and train a new Dentist’s Health and Well-Being committee, with Dr. Franson Tom as Chairman.  This important committee has a goal of being up and running in the fall of 2008.  I particularly appreciate the committee members who took a week of their own time to attend the University of Utah for further training. 

Dr. Joseph Wineman has done a magnificent job as Chairman of the Peer Review Committee.  It is functioning very well, with new committee members being mentored by those with experience.  In 2007 this committee handled 54 cases, and so far in 2008 has about 18 cases.  7 of those are currently open.  We look forward to the new leaders, now being developed, taking their places and providing our members and the community with this important benefit.

Our Continuing Education Program has been very successful, both in terms of quality and profitability.  Through the survey taken by the NDA earlier this year, we know that our members look to us to provide solid continuing education, and we are responding, with a great series of speakers, but also new initiatives, new CE opportunities and new formats.  Again this year we will off another free CE course in June to all of those who have subscribed to the entire series.  You can watch the website and upcoming issues of the PrezFax for details.

Our dinner meetings have grown, and this year we’re going to be upgrading the menus, and we are committed to upgrading the speakers.  We want our member dinner meetings to be the centerpiece of a growing list of member benefits.  We’ll be kicking off our new season with our third annual Community Night on Tuesday night, September 9.   We expect approximately 50 or more exhibitors that night, and we certainly hope to see you there.

As you can see, the SNDS is alive and well, and maybe, like me, you’ll feel that as important as these programs and initiatives are, even more exciting is that we’re able to pay for these programs and benefits with no increase in fees or dues for another year!  This is because of our aggressive development of non-dues revenue.  Besides increasing our funding, this process has increased our networking abilities, and our ability to draw interested parties into partnerships in supporting our members and, as always, putting a smile on southern Nevada.

Is the glass half empty or half full?  They say that how you answer that question tells whether you’re an optimist or a pessimist.  For me, when I look at the calendar and see that we’re in mid summer already, I have to ask myself if the year is half over, or just starting!

To see the activity around the SNDS office, you’d sure get the feeling that we’re gearing up for a flurry of activity!  Our CE series is set, now we need to create the fliers and get those in the mail.  Same with the fliers for Community Night, only we have one flier for exhibitors and one to use for inviting non-members to attend as our guests.  There are also planning meetings, such as for our Mentor Program.  The bottom line is, the rest of 2008 is going to be busy, active, and above all, responsive to your needs as members!

The theme this year is adding value to your membership.  Along those lines, we’re expanding our CE offerings, and providing different formats and making CE even more flexible for you and for your office teams.  Expect a solid slate of speakers at our dinner meetings, with more relevant topics.  We’re also working with the Gold Coast to provide more varied, upgraded menus.  We’re also going to continue our new tradition of offering a fifth CE seminar in our series, free to members who subscribe to the whole series.

We are working with the UNLV chapter of ASDA, to help the dental students, especially the fourth year students, feel more a part of organized dentistry.  If you’ve visited the SNDS website lately you’ve seen that ASDA now has a page there.  We hope they’ll see what we do, and that you, too, will feel more a part of their lives.  Fourth year dental students who are in the Mentor Program will also be invited to our dinner meetings, so long as they attend with their Mentor.  We hope you’ll make them feel welcome, since they represent our future!

Membership, Peer Review, and Dentist Health and Well-being committees are all meeting over the summer, following up on plans that have been in place since late last year.   We all know that that’s one secret to success, to plan your work and work your plan.  The SNDS is working in a consistent manner even over the so-called “lazy hazy” days of summer!

With so much happening, new technology, new initiatives, keeping in touch is ever more important.  Watch for the PrezFax, check the website, feel free to call or e-mail the office for details as they develop.  But the best way to add value to your membership is to get involved.  Look for opportunities to volunteer for the 1DAY program, or Give Kids A Smile, or the Mentor Program.  You’ll feel more connected to your society, to the dental community at large, and you may even feel as though you’re making a difference.

Is the year half over?  I’d say we’re just getting started