Since I have been the Director of the San Francisco Immunization Coalition I have had the pleasure of attending the National Conference on Immunization Coalitions three times, 2003 in Scottsdale, Arizona, 2005 in Norfolk, Virginia and 2006 in Denver, Colorado. Of all the conferences I have been to throughout my career I felt the National Conference on Immunization Coalitions was the most dynamic and practical I had ever been to. The reason I believe these conferences were so positive for me is simply the type of people immunization coalitions attract.
In general, the participants at these Coalition Conferences - who came from all over the country and few from Canada - tend to be dynamic, personable, thoughtful, innovative, and generous of spirit. These are people who have a real desire to get out of the standard way public health bureaucracies operate and into the community. They are people who seemed like they wanted to find new ways of doing business all in an effort to better protect people from disease. These were my people. After the first conference I felt a real feeling that I was in the right career.
As a result of these positive experiences in the past with the National Conference on Immunization Coalitions I was very excited when I received a call from the National Conference Planning Committee asking if my Coalition would like to be the host for the 2008 National Conference on Immunization Coalitions. I was even more excited when my Advisory Board agreed that we would do it. So see you in San Francisco in 2008 coalition people!
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Andrew, hats off to you for stepping up to the plate and agreeing to host the next NCIC. This is an important meeting for the immunization movement. The planning committee is torn between keeping this immunization only and opening it up to other health coalitions. What do you think of the advantages and disadvantages of IZ only vs broader issue areas?
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