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New Mexico Dental Journal, Winter 2016
President’s Message
Michael Law, DDS
C
olleagues, I hope everyone has had a wonderful past year. As we begin a new year,
I want to give you a brief update as to what we have been doing for you. All of
our local components are in the process of revising their bylaws, to make them
compatible with the New Mexico Dental Association’s bylaws as well as the American
Dental Association’s bylaws. This will add continuity to all of our processes to make
programs work better.
One such program that we are in the process of rolling out is our 1-on-1 recruitment
program. As you may know, our association’s membership market share has started to
decrease. One reason for this is due to an influx of dentists moving into our state. The
fact that new dentists are relocating or coming back to our state is a great thing, but if we
don’t reach out to them when they arrive, they may never see the benefits our membership
brings to them, and they may never join.
A big portion of the 1-on-1 recruitment program is providing a personal relationship with
these new dentists. To do this, all you need to know is to be friendly. I know it sounds
corny, but let me explain even further. When you learn of a new dentist in the area, reach
out to them and invite them to lunch, dinner, coffee, etc. You don’t need to talk to them
about NMDA at this visit. Just get to know them and let them get to know you a little bit.
After you do this once or several times, invite them to attend a component meeting or social
event as your personal guest. People are more likely to attend functions when they can go
with someone, or when they know other people attending. These social events or business
meetings are where they can find out about NMDA’s benefits—they can join at that time
if they so decide. If you don’t feel comfortable reaching out to new dentists, not a big deal,
but I will ask that when you do hear of a dentist whom has moved into your area, please
contact your local component societies membership chair or other officer. They will have
a network of people who are willing to reach out to them.
If you are not aware—in the process of re-branding and making ourselves more consistent
with the ADA—we have updated our NMDA website
(www.nmdental.org), and created
webpages for all of the local components. We are one of the first states to do this. The new
site has some great new features. One—which will be active shortly—allows you to sign up
for, or renew, your membership electronically. This has been a much-anticipated feature,
that we’re glad to be able to offer for our members and potential members.
leadership
1-on-1
recruitment program