My fellow Southeastern North Carolina Pediatricians, it is with great pleasure and a sense of profound responsibility that I accept this self-appointed position as our representative to the American Academy of Pediatrics 2008 National Conference and Exhibition. I can assure you all that as your non-elected servant I will do my best to share with the rest of the pediatric community both the stunning accomplishments and pressing needs of our burgeoning medical community by the sea. I hope that, by way of this blog, you can all feel as though you, too, are here in Boston communing with your peers, eating free shrimp, and going back to the open bar again and again until you can no longer find it. Perhaps I've said too much. So, to change the subject, let's start back at ILM airport.
First off, I've got a free sleeve of otoscope specula for the first person who can identify the following celebrities:
These guys were in line behind me at security, and some German tourists came up and begged to take photos with them. I'm now so old I no longer know or care just who today's youth idolize, but if you're in tune with the young people please, I want to sell these photos to the tabloids.
Upon arriving in Boston I made my way to the Westin Copley Place. The Marriott Copley Place is the official host hotel, but the Westin is $10 a night cheaper, and it's all one big Copley Place, so whatever. There I hooked up with my dad, John R. Hill, MD, FAAP, the actual elected representative of Tennessee. He gets ribbons on his nametag. Mine came with a nice little safety pin.
Here my senior partner Tom Blackstone can see where I got my penchant for pink shirts.
The view from the 34th floor of the Westin. I think that's the Charles River out there.
Dad walked me through the luxury mall to the Marriott to get my official girly-man nylon conference bag in fetching tan and seafoam. The conference theme this year is "More Than A Feeling," referencing an 80's hit by a band I think was popular around Massachusetts.
This year's bag comes with a water bottle to stave off the dehydration that so often occurs after ten hours of lectures on common pediatric topics.
At 6:00 PM the North Carolina chapter hosted a reception for the incoming president, our own David Tayloe. I did get to shake his hand, but he moved on before I could snap a photo. I also saw District IV Chairman Francis Rushton, who gave a shout-out to former classmate Grady Morgan at The Children's Clinic. (Grady, Francis wants to know why you didn't reply to his last Christmas card. I promised I'd pass that on.) Also there was Colleen Kraft, recent AAP Presidential Candidate. Colleen trained Patrick Renton and would like to come to Wilmington to give a grand rounds, I think just to see Patrick as a grown-up pediatric hospitalist.
Colleen Kraft agrees to pose with me for a photo while scanning the room for a security officer.
From there it was on to the grand welcoming ceremony with a live band, lots of food, and more open bar. As I was stumbling around the ballroom I ran into none other than President Elect Judith Palfrey.
Judith Palfrey agrees to pose with me for a photo while scanning the room for a security officer.
So that's it so far. We've been welcomed, fed, and given free wine and beer. I'm expecting more of the same tomorrow, but apparently there are also some courses we're supposed to go to. I'll take notes and post again tomorrow night with all the breaking news from Boston. So far I just have this feeling, but then again it feels like something...more.
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