It’s hard to know where to even begin with the Power conference week! It was motivational, educational and a lot of networking went on with our vendors. A lot was geared to lymphatics which should prove to be beneficial as we become more deeply involved in that area.
Ramona, Lisa and Tiara took an 8-hour educational class that went toward our continuing educational credits (ceu’s). We were blown away by that class as it is the best one we have attended in 25 years! Amoena put that on with two of their best staff members leading the way. It covered so many topics and issues we face as fitters and increased our knowledge in getting better outcomes for the patients we serve.
That evening we went to the gala event which gave us a chance to network with our peers in the same industry, as well as be with our group.
It was enjoyable to have round table discussions with various ones in the industry, as far as, vendors and other boutique owners.
The CEO of Amoena, Oliver, who lives in Germany, spent a lot of time with our group in discussions. After he visited our shop in July of last year, and he went back to Germany, he said he was so excited to tell headquarters in Germany all about STN in Greensboro NC! He said we are the rock stars of the industry, and our shop is well known at Amoena headquarters. He said he wrote a 22 page report about Second To Nature ( STN ) and all our protocols and how we conduct ourselves and our business! He said we are the Gold Standard for this industry. I said “I want to read that report!”. It’s all in English, too! It was such an enjoyable discussion!
Kevin, the President of Amoena USA, said he has now been promoted by Amoena (largest breast prosthesis company in the world) to cover both Canada and the USA. He made STN part of their Retail Advisory Panel. We have 4 virtual meetings a year and 2 in person meetings a year in different cities with their top 10 retailers. We have had one virtual meeting so far. The in-person meeting will be in April at the USA headquarters in Atlanta. They will fly me there, the third week in April. So, it will be in a different city in 6 months.
Amoena has always been very good to us.
The Trulife Rep, Kristi, was there along with Bryan, who heads up USA Trulife division. You all know Bryan from our virtual meeting with him when they did a wonderful customer appreciation zoom meeting and sang our praises. They also feel like STN is one of the best in the industry. We gave them a lot of feedback on how to be successful and tips he can pass on to others in our industry. I met with them a couple of times to offer and receive feedback. It’s humbling for me to know that our efforts for the past 25 years have not been in vain. We weren’t really trying to be the best, but we just did what was in the best interest of those we are serving, and it resulted in a gold standard business.
I was able to give a Dr Chrono (EHR) demo to a shop owner and her employee from Pennsylvania. They do no electronic health records. Everything is still done by writing out long hand and all paper clinical note taking. They were so appreciative to know about Dr Chrono!
All in all, the trip was a huge success as far as I am concerned! We had a LOT of fun too! I work with the best and the top-of-the-line people! I just want to say thank you all for being who you are always giving your best! It means the world to us, and this trip helped in securing the continuing effort of serving the needs of our customers and employee’s also.
I was able to give a Dr Chrono (EHR) demo to a shop owner and her employee from
Pennsylvania. They do no electronic health records. Everything is still done by writing
out long hand and all paper clinical note taking. They were so appreciative to know
about Dr Chrono!
All in all, the trip was a huge success as far as I am concerned! We had a LOT of fun
too! I work with the best and the top-of-the-line people! I just want to say thank you all
for being who you are always giving your best! It means the world to us, and this trip
helped in securing the continuing effort of serving the needs of our customers and
employee’s also.
-Ramona Hertzell