First Day Reflections – AADE 11

I am in Las Vegas, NV for the 2011 AADE (American Association of Diabetes Educators) annual meeting. I was invited out by a great group that I write for, Diabetes Care Club. A huge “thank you” to them for making this trip possible (disclosure: they are covering my travel, conference admission, and lodging).

I wasn’t in the hotel more than five minutes before I started bumping into people I knew. It was a very real reminder that the diabetes world is pretty small, and that relationships are important. It makes me feel good to know there are so many great people working hard to improve overall diabetes care.

The feeling of “small” was completely contradicted as I made my way to the registration desk. I was in this same hotel/casino/convention center late last year for the 2010 BlogWorld Expo. AADE has complete wings and floors of the convention center that I didn’t even know existed. This convention makes BlogWorld look tiny.

When I entered the exhibit hall I let out a little chuckle of disbelief. I have never seen anything as massive. Single display booths almost as large as city blocks. Huge overhead displays drawing attention from anywhere on the floor. The aisles have street names. The exhibit hall alone is so big that I would not be surprised to see those bike taxis shuffling people between booths. It felt so huge.

But as I continued to bump into people I knew, there was a real sense of togetherness and community. I liked that feeling, and hope to soak in as much as possible over the next few days.

Tune in to the twitter feed (#AADE11) to get bite-size updates on the conference.

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Scott K. Johnson

Patient voice, speaker, writer, and advocate. Living life with diabetes and telling my story. All opinions expressed are my own and do not necessarily represent the position of my employer.

Diagnosed in April of 1980, I recognize the incredible mental struggle of living with diabetes. Read more…