By Scott L. Friedman
Like every organization and individual, AASLD is facing unique challenges in the midst of a global recession, and thus now more than ever, the leadership has had to think strategically. What does that mean? Simply put, it means, “what are our goals, and how do we accomplish them?”
To address these vital questions, the AASLD Governing Board and staff have been working together for the past year to chart our future in the form of a Strategy Map. This one-page document is the result of an intensive strategic planning effort in partnership with the Palladium Group, the world’s leader in assisting organizations to define and execute strategy. The Strategy Map defines a progression of critical goals and actions that encompass key organizational priorities, allowing us to make better decisions in times of constrained resources and mounting challenges.
In reviewing the map, first focus on the left hand column, starting from the bottom up. The sequential actions read as follows: “by investing in our strategy….we enable the learning and growth of our workforce…and deliver efficient and effective internal processes…that provide value to our constituents.” I know this sounds like typical ‘management-speak,’ but in reality it keeps us focused on what’s really important. It reminds us that we must have financial security, talented professional staff, and efficient operations in order to pursue our mission on behalf of our constituents—our members and meeting attendees, patients, families, and industry partners. Every word on this map was painstakingly compiled to ensure that it reflects our core values and clarifies our vision and actions over the next four to five years.
As Winston Churchill once said, “However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results.” Thus, each of the key objectives contained within the separate ‘bubbles’ on the map are supported by detailed statements and, more importantly, by specific measures that will be used to track progress in every area. These additional underlying components will be incorporated interactively into the website version of the map in the coming weeks. Moreover, the Governing Board meetings are now structured around these strategic objectives to ensure that we practice what we preach. We will share our progress on the Strategic Plan with our constituents at regular intervals, and we expect to be held accountable for our performance.
Over the past three years the quarterly Governing Board meetings made us each feel like Santa Claus by supporting many research awards and Single Topic Conferences thanks to budget surpluses from prudent management, healthy investment returns, and industry support. Now we feel more like Scrooge. However, having a set of clear priorities ensures that we expend resources only on activities that align with our strategic goals and enables us to justify tough choices.
Speaking of tough choices, with the precipitous drop in industry funding for our meeting, the Governing Board has reluctantly imposed a modest $75 attendance fee for those coming to our Annual Meeting this fall in Boston, similar to a policy adopted by DDW at last month’s meeting in Chicago. Please be sure to pay this fee when registering by the deadline of October 2, 2009, in order to avoid a late fee.
We think that both AASLD membership and attendance fees are still a terrific value, and the Postgraduate Course and Annual Meeting program are shaping up to be the broadest and most exciting ever. In fact, last week we received a record number of abstracts for the meeting. In addition to the clinician-friendly course entitled “Keeping the Patient with End-stage Cirrhosis Alive,” organized by Dr. Arun Sanyal, the Annual Meeting will include two Clinical Hepatology Update sessions, an Advances for Practitioners session, a Global Hepatology Update focusing on HCC that incorporates speakers from EASL and APASL, a President’s Choice Lecture featuring Congressman William Cassidy (R-LA), a hepatologist, sharing his passion about advocacy and health care, a Practice Management Workshop organized by Dr. Vinod Rustgi, and a Liver Transplant Workshop organized by Drs. Helen S. Te and Obaid Shaikh addressing controversial topics in organ allocation.
These exciting new programs, along with four State of the Art Lectures (including the Popper Basic Science Lecture by Nobel Laureate Dr. Phillip Sharp on RNAi technology), a Basic Science Workshop, several new Early Morning Workshops and Meet-the-Professor Luncheons, not to mention truly groundbreaking advances in the understanding and management of liver disease, are sure to make the AASLD Annual Meeting the one ‘can’t miss’ meeting in liver diseases this year.
I hope this column conveys my genuine excitement for the future of our Association and the clarity of our mission and vision. I welcome your comments on our Strategic Plan, and encourage you to register and reserve your hotel in early July for the Annual Meeting.
This electronic newsletter is a bi-weekly publication of AASLD and replaces the former bi-monthly print newsletter and weekly e-news. Members are welcome to submit articles and may send suggestions to atracy@aasld.org