Perspectives on Diabetes Care

Highlights of the Virtual Meeting

Aug 10, 2012, 01:00 AM

If you have been following all of the Annual Meeting posts, you may have seen I got to attend the meeting in my pajamas this year . . . and it wasn’t that I had too much fun at the Irish Coffee event the night before-- I attended the Virtual Meeting from the comfort of my home! I have a toddler at home and the Virtual Meeting just worked best for my family and schedules. So after my little one was sleeping or if a patient did not show in clinic, I could start a session online on my own time.

This year all of the general sessions were available for viewing and you could actually see the speaker and also the slides- just like they show on the screens as if you are attending the meeting live. I really enjoyed this format of seeing the presenter speak. There were five educational breakout sessions available. For those sessions, you just saw the slides and not the presenter. Hopefully in the future as technology advances, all the sessions can be viewed more comprehensively like the general sessions. After you attend the session, then you can complete the evaluation to earn your continuing education credit.

My favorite session was “From Mindless Eating to Mindlessly Eating Better” by Dr. Brian Wansink. He shared some pretty amazing research. Our cup shape, glass height, product placement, description, plate color all play into how much we eat. He also has some great websites and resources. MindlessEating.org is the main site with resources for educators in the “Teaching Toolbox.” Then SmarterLunchrooms.org describes his work in cafeterias and getting children to eat the healthier options just by adjusting the placement of things. It’s pretty simple stuff that even schools on a very tight budget could implement immediately and see an increase in sales of the healthier options.

I’d love to read comments from more of you who attended the virtual meeting.