You have to come to these events. They're a blast!

Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs, March 9th, 2011

One of the best parts of my job is the speaking assignments.  Often they are small groups of interested owners and managers looking for solutions and eager to participate in discussions on practice management.  Usually the event is held at some cool location.  Once I did a talk at a casino and everyone got 50 dollars to play in the slots when the meeting and dinner were over.  Sometimes, we all congregate in a conference room at a specialty practice.  But the venue doesn’t always have to be grand, not more than a month ago we all just met at a good restaurant.   The locations are the icing on the cake; the real fun is getting together with other interested folks, exchanging ideas and making friends.

Last night was a whopper though.  Under the sponsorship of Pfizer and Vetstreet, twenty of us went to The Rustic Kitchen located at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Wilkes Barre, Pa.  Wilkes-Barre who?  Wilkes -Barre, Pa, smarty pants, and wipe that smirk off your face.  I have to tell you,  you don’t know what you’re missing. 

The Rustic Kitchen is a cooking show!  The room is set up just like a stage, in arena style with the kitchen in the sunken center and all of the audience seated around the sides and front.  Pfizer led a great discussion on changes in the OTC market, Vetstreet told us about some pretty snazzy things it does to help us promote our business and I ran on at the mouth in my usual fashion, but at least got everybody pumped up and exchanging ideas.   

But the best part was to come.  Now that we were all loosened up and more like friends, the wine started flowing freely and the cooking show began.  It was just like sitting in a studio audience.  While the upbeat, pert chef walked us through the preparation steps of a vegetable terrine, a fish dish in parchment and a fantastic velvet cake cupcake, the rest of us dined on the very same food, served just as the ‘show piece’ was ready to go into the oven or onto the serving plate.  A total home run of a night.  I’m attaching a clip of my presentation so you can get a feel for some of the stuff we discussed.

Oh, BTW NE PA, make sure that you contact Susan Weber if you are interested in joining the management group she is organizing.  Her email is susan.j.weber@pfizer.com.  Look for our next meeting; we'd love to have you!