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Re: Michael Osterholm / new Foreign Affairs article
A few comments regarding this thread:
Dr. Osterholm's FA article is written for their readership: Decision-makers and pundits who need opinion and facts quickly. The average FA reader is not us. Heck, if someone put out "Bird Flu Weekly," we would all subscribe! One could say that the scientific journals and publications coming out pretty regularly now constitute a magazine substitute for us junkies.
That having been said, Osterholm's words give us ammunition to use when dealing with the reluctance of decision-makers to do the right thing. He is a master of the quotable quote and the sound byte, which we all need to frame the debate about preparedness. He is decidedly on our side.
I enjoyed the heck out of the CIDRAP Conference. It was an extremely well-done, professional event. The CIDRAP Conference was geared primarily toward companies and not individuals. They had to pay airfare, hotel and meals for their speakers (saving some money by having Margaret Chan attend via recorded video) and other expenses. Travel and expenses for the individuals who spoke was not cheap, I am sure.
I put on an association conference in Orlando not too long ago (Spring 2005), and it is not cheap. Remember, this occurred "in season" in Orlando. The first conference was in Minneapolis, and the organizers learned a lesson. Meals alone cost a fortune (by my estimate, at least four hundred dollars per person for three squares on Monday and two squares Tuesday, plus snacks). Plus, the cost of audio and video recording, post-production and duplication are very expensive. Each attendee will receive a DVD of the entire event. Chan's appearance alone is worth the cost of the DVD if charged separately. It is impossible to be noncommittal about influenza pandemic preparedness and planning after watching Dr. Chan's mesmerizing twenty-minute speech, delivered forthrightly while sitting in front of a television camera.
CIDRAP gets a cut of any profits, and who among us would deny them that opportunity? Also, the private company that put on the conference gets a cut. So $1800 for a corporation to send attendees and the $900 rate for government was steep, but let's not forget that it was not aimed at us as individuals. It was aimed at a specific corporate audience still getting an education about bird flu. I can absolutely tell you, and I think so would Florida1, that we on this board have forgotten more than the overwhelming majority of attendees knew about bird flu and pandemic preparedness before they arrived.
Maybe CIDRAP can do a conference geared toward governments, individuals and non-profit organizations in the future. I have suggested that to Dr. Osterholm, and we will see if that can be judged to cover expenses.
In the meantime, I went up onto that other summit's Website (New Fields) that is in Arlington this week. A great lineup, to be sure. It is clearly geared toward the medical researcher and government planner/health department official. And I agree with Yuma that the paltry $90 "break" for government people is ridiculous. I also have to chuckle at the person who gave the prison speech at their February event. County jails will all try to foist all their sick inmates on state systems. A State expert has to give that presentation. I know; I have given enough of them and my presentations are referenced by DoJ's Institute of Corrections and the Corrections Technology Association.
A few comments regarding this thread:
Dr. Osterholm's FA article is written for their readership: Decision-makers and pundits who need opinion and facts quickly. The average FA reader is not us. Heck, if someone put out "Bird Flu Weekly," we would all subscribe! One could say that the scientific journals and publications coming out pretty regularly now constitute a magazine substitute for us junkies.
That having been said, Osterholm's words give us ammunition to use when dealing with the reluctance of decision-makers to do the right thing. He is a master of the quotable quote and the sound byte, which we all need to frame the debate about preparedness. He is decidedly on our side.
I enjoyed the heck out of the CIDRAP Conference. It was an extremely well-done, professional event. The CIDRAP Conference was geared primarily toward companies and not individuals. They had to pay airfare, hotel and meals for their speakers (saving some money by having Margaret Chan attend via recorded video) and other expenses. Travel and expenses for the individuals who spoke was not cheap, I am sure.
I put on an association conference in Orlando not too long ago (Spring 2005), and it is not cheap. Remember, this occurred "in season" in Orlando. The first conference was in Minneapolis, and the organizers learned a lesson. Meals alone cost a fortune (by my estimate, at least four hundred dollars per person for three squares on Monday and two squares Tuesday, plus snacks). Plus, the cost of audio and video recording, post-production and duplication are very expensive. Each attendee will receive a DVD of the entire event. Chan's appearance alone is worth the cost of the DVD if charged separately. It is impossible to be noncommittal about influenza pandemic preparedness and planning after watching Dr. Chan's mesmerizing twenty-minute speech, delivered forthrightly while sitting in front of a television camera.
CIDRAP gets a cut of any profits, and who among us would deny them that opportunity? Also, the private company that put on the conference gets a cut. So $1800 for a corporation to send attendees and the $900 rate for government was steep, but let's not forget that it was not aimed at us as individuals. It was aimed at a specific corporate audience still getting an education about bird flu. I can absolutely tell you, and I think so would Florida1, that we on this board have forgotten more than the overwhelming majority of attendees knew about bird flu and pandemic preparedness before they arrived.
Maybe CIDRAP can do a conference geared toward governments, individuals and non-profit organizations in the future. I have suggested that to Dr. Osterholm, and we will see if that can be judged to cover expenses.
In the meantime, I went up onto that other summit's Website (New Fields) that is in Arlington this week. A great lineup, to be sure. It is clearly geared toward the medical researcher and government planner/health department official. And I agree with Yuma that the paltry $90 "break" for government people is ridiculous. I also have to chuckle at the person who gave the prison speech at their February event. County jails will all try to foist all their sick inmates on state systems. A State expert has to give that presentation. I know; I have given enough of them and my presentations are referenced by DoJ's Institute of Corrections and the Corrections Technology Association.
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