NMDA Journal Fall 2019

6 New Mexico Dental Journal, Fall 2019 To quote Ferris Bueller,“Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”If you’ve been look- ing around, you’ll notice that our profession is changing pretty fast too. Some of it is technol- ogy and materials, but that has always been the case. More profound are the demographics of who dentists are. Half of dental students are women and increasingly larger numbers of students represent ethnic minorities. With more“non-traditional”students comes more non-traditional styles of practice. Many of to- day’s graduates will practice as employees for much or all of their careers. Old-timers might bemoan the changes to the profession because that is what old- timers do. Not all the changes seem like they are for the better, but that has been the case for as long as we have been a profession. My dad used a high-speed handpiece for the first time the year after he graduated. I used a curing light my first year. One thing we both have in common is that we have been complaining about insurance companies for as long as we’ve practiced. Change may be normal, but it is never easy. Nevertheless, we have learned to adapt. Our association has to adapt, too. What den- tists want and expect from the association is much more diverse reflecting the increasing diversity of our profession. Dentists are much more mobile than they used to be and it is now fairly likely that they will be members somewhere else before they come to New Mexico. How can we deliver the same rich member experience in our small state that they may have experienced elsewhere? How do they compare their own experience to friends on social media in much bigger states? We’ve spent a lot of the last year and a half “looking around”at a fast-moving dental com- munity in NewMexico. Recognizing the limita- tions of our small staff and resources, how can we deliver the member experience that you want and expect? Obviously, focusing on the needs of members is our foremost occupation. Figuring out how to do that in the best and most efficient way is our challenge. The result is what we are calling NMDA 2.0. It involves both a“hardware”and a“software”up- grade. The“hardware”involves a new staff per- son to act as a member concierge to connect members with the appropriate services and to provide staff support to our local district societ- ies, which we are asking to provide more robust programming and services. We hope that an additional person will help us reverse sagging membership numbers and improve member satisfaction. The“software”upgrade is targeted at creating a more consistent member experi- ence with improved programming and easier access to the services you want. We will ac- complish this through improved collaboration between NMDA and the ADA and between our state association and the local districts. The first change relates to management. Cur- rently, only Albuquerque District is fully incor- porated and compliant with tax requirements. Under NMDA 2.0, all the districts will come un- der the state association’s corporate umbrella. We will provide insurance and accounting ser- vices and include the districts in our tax filings. This will remove the burden of staying fully compliant and protect district activities from liability claims. It also forces us to work more closely together and align our goals and activi- ties. Since none of the districts can afford staff, the state will provide services like communi- cations, meeting planning, and committee coordination with our new employee. Through this cooperative approach we hope to be able to utilize our limited resources more effectively and expand the opportunities available to all members. One change is standardizing the dues. No matter where you practice, we hope you will have access to the broadest range of services and programs, so it is reasonable that all NMDA members will pay the same dues. The second major change involves program- ming. NMDA has focused on Fiesta NMDA, our annual session in Albuquerque, and two small- er single day CE programs in the fall and winter. Several districts have single day events and the only other multiday program is the Eastern Meeting in Ruidoso. These district meetings have generally only been marketed within the districts. Beginning this fall, NMDA will take a primary role in planning the new Enchantment North Dental Conference, which will be held in Farmington on September 27. This meeting will occur annually in the fall with the Northwest and Santa Fe districts hosting in alternate years. We hope that this will be a valuable program for dental teammembers from throughout the state, but especially in the north. Ultimately, this meeting will grow to a format similar to the successful Eastern Dental Meeting. In February 2020, NMDA will begin more ac- tively supporting the Eastern meeting in Ruid- oso. Building on the positive reputation of this meeting, we hope that it will become an event that supports the Southwest District along with Eastern and also begins to draw a more broad audience from throughout the state. By pooling resources, these meetings will provide essential CE to dentists and their teams closer to home. They will provide more opportunities for members to benefit from their membership throughout the year. While our trustees represented their districts at the Board meetings, they had little responsibil- ity beyond that role. Under the 2.0 governance, they are given increased responsibility in asso- ciation decision making with accountability to not only their district, but to the state too. Every change is focused on improving collaboration at all levels to improve our member experience. We hope that as a member you will start to see these improvements through improved com- munication and enhanced access to member benefits. Our leaders are often surprised when they start to discover the great services that are available beyond our CE and advocacy activities. We want your membership to be so valuable you can’t live without it. That is going to take some effort, but that is what NMDA 2.0 is all about. These improvements won’t take place over- night, but they are already underway. Even as we are working at implementing these changes, we are already working on the future. Increased collaboration opens new doors for further improvements. What does NMDA 2.1 have in store? You’ll have to stay tuned to find out. Life moves pretty fast. Take some time to look around NMDA 2.0. You won’t want to miss it. Life Moves Pretty Fast By Tom Schripsema