Hi Everyone,
Since ideas are being tossed around about how to better the attendance, 
participation, and enjoyment of the COA conventions, I would like to 
throw into the mix an experience that I had this year that might offer a 
potentially useful perspective. I am a local chapter officer and a 
national committee member of the worlds largest peer to peer support 
group for heart disease patients and their families/caretakers- Mended 
Hearts. We have more than 300 chapters across North America reaching 
more than 460 hospitals. Our organization, like most, has traditionally 
held an annual education/training conference at various locations around 
the country. For many of the same reasons that the COA faces for 
declining attendance- aging membership, reduced mobility, financial 
constraints, attendance at our annual event has also been on the decline.
So this year it was decided to hold smaller "On the Road" conferences at 
six locations throughout the country. The first conference was held here 
in my area in the late spring and the final meeting will be held in 
October in Alabama. They have been in the East, Midwest, Northwest, 
West, and South. They are being held in smaller venues and for a couple 
of days only. This makes them very affordable even if you stay at the 
hosting hotel since it is a short stay. If you live in the area you can 
come for the day, do all of those things you want to do, but can go home 
to your own bed and return the next day to all of the activities. The 
success of these smaller regional conferences has been so positive that 
the organization has decided to start implementing this approach every 
other year.
It is certainly not an unreasonable idea to consider for the COA 
gatherings a similar path. Instead of relying on your people to come to 
you, go to them instead.
Cheers,
Randy Bridges

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