Ad Hoc Corporate Relations Committee Final Report-77DB1D1F
Ad Hoc Corporate Relations Committee Final Report June 17, 2015
Prologue
The Ad Hoc Corporate Relations Committee was enacted by John Hazle, the AAPM President in 2013, within a climate of a rapidly changing healthcare industry, budgetary scrutiny, new advertisement options, rapid growth in the size of the annual meetings of our sister organizations (RSNA and ASTRO), and shifting control of equipment purchases in our industry.
A large fraction of the AAPM budget derives from advertisements and exhibitor booths at meetings. Advertisement proceeds are down slightly due to consolidations of corporate affiliates and possibly due to fewer members taking a print copy of the journal Medical Physics. As compared to other scientific organizations, the AAPM’s journal advertising is strong. While the total number of Annual Meeting exhibiting companies has decreased slightly, from 115 to 108 exhibitors since 2001, the revenue from the sale of booths has increased by 50% in that interval. It is critical to the operation of the AAPM to maintain or grow the revenues of the organization. To do this, the AAPM must diversify its sources of revenue.
The AAPM has historically viewed their affiliate members as sources of revenue rather than as customers. In order for the AAPM to develop the value proposition for its services, it should adopt a model where it treats its corporate affiliates as partners in the field of medical physics. We are in this together. Let’s work together.
Committee Membership
The Ad Hoc Corporate Relations (AHCR) committee consisted of the following members:
John Bayouth (ex officio)
James Goodwin
John Hazle (ex officio)
Angela Keyser (ex officio)
Margaret Lescrenier
Thomas Mackie (Chair)
James Purdy
David Shepard
Michelle Svatos
Several of the members have industrial experience (Lescrenier, Mackie and Svatos) and
all of the others have relationships with corporate affiliates of the AAPM.
Committee Charge
The AAPM relies heavily on revenue streams provided by corporate sponsors especially the exhibits and journal advertising. The growth of these programs in terms of both scope and number has happened in a very piecemeal fashion with little attention given to organization, efficiencies and how the corporate sponsors would prefer to do business with the AAPM. The Ad Hoc Committee was tasked with engaging outside expertise to assist the AAPM in an overall strategic review of how the AAPM interacts with corporate sponsors and to propose a revised Corporate Sponsorship Program.
Items for consideration include, but are not limited to:
Would the introduction of a “Corporate Sponsorship” program that covers a broad area of benefits create efficiencies and drive larger commitments?
There are financial implications based on the financial model for corporate sponsorship. For example, sponsorship revenue may not be taxable income to the AAPM, while advertising revenue is taxable. What is the best model for the AAPM? Would a change to the program that could bring tax advantages to the AAPM have tax implications for the corporate sponsors?
Is the AAPM’s message reaching the appropriate target audience? What other services from the AAPM would be valuable to corporate members?
How can the AAPM best engage corporate sponsors? Would the creation of a committee within the AAPM structure add value?
The AAPM and corporate sponsors mutually impact each other’s success. Is this message understood by both members and corporate sponsors?
The AAPM’s 21 regional chapters also rely on corporate sponsorship. This needs to be considered when crafting a revised program for AAPM.
Advisors to the Committee
At the first meeting, the Committee decided that frank and unhindered interviews with affiliate and potential affiliate members was going to be required in order to determine the collective mindset of our corporate affiliates. The Committee interviewed three consulting firms and selected McKinley Advisors to help the Committee with: (1) designing and conducting in-depth interviews with current and potential corporate affiliates; (2) to do benchmark surveys with the staff of other member organizations on their corporate programs; (3) to survey a sample of AAPM members; and (4) to suggest programs to encourage corporate engagement with the AAPM. Angela Keyser was key to setting the scope of McKinsey’s work and managing the relationship.
McKinley’s main activities were as follows:
Twenty-five in-person interviews with corporate affiliates at the ASTRO Annual Meeting (2013)
Twenty-five telephone interviews with current corporate affiliates and four prospective corporate affiliates
Six interviews with staff from other associations (including ASTRO and RSNA) to discuss their programs for attracting corporations
Two focus groups with current and prospective corporate affiliates at the RSNA Meeting (2013)
Electronic survey completed by 1,559 AAPM members (20% response rate)
Telephone interviews with six benchmark associations to determine the details of their corporate or affiliate programs
Recommended a corporate program model and made other recommendations to the AAPM
This report will be divided into three sections:
McKinley Advisors Findings
McKinley Advisors Recommendations for a Corporate Program Model
Committee Recommendations
McKinley Advisors Findings
McKinley provided a report to the committee on their findings in May 2014. The report provided a snapshot of the relationship of the AAPM organization and industry affiliates operating in the fields of radiation oncology and diagnostic radiology.
In interviews with affiliates McKinley found that there was widely different awareness and perception about the Annual Meeting indicating that better meeting sales and management is necessary. The AAPM brand is relatively strong but there is room for focused advertising to current and potential affiliates. Affiliates claim to be very aware of the AAPM’s mission and potential affiliates were familiar with the organization. The years of participation from some companies are high; 29 companies have exhibited at the AAPM more than 15 years. However, 290 exhibited for 5 years or less. Some of these companies may be young, or not in business for many years but it also may mean that companies exhibit for one or a few years and then do not come back to the meeting. In total 391 companies have exhibited at the AAPM in the last 16 years indicating that the AAPM is known to potential affiliate companies. Targeted advertisement of the AAPM to companies operating in the field of radiation oncology or radiology and to those who have exhibited at least once may be useful but will require a larger sales force within the staff.
Some companies interviewed described feeling marginalized due to exhibit hall setup and placement, lack of dedicated AAPM staff, multiple points of contact, limited communications and uncertainty on policies. The AAPM staff was quick to address some
of these concerns and have reorganized its staff to better serve the affiliates and sell them services.
The following are their key categories of findings:
The AAPM as a Gateway
Influence of the Decision Maker
Importance of Chapter Involvement
Dedication to Elevating the Field
Focus on Innovation Through Technology
Preference for Face-to-Face Interactions
Shift to On-Line Interactions
The AAPM as a Gateway
Affiliates are very interested in access to AAPM members in order to sell their products, to offer opportunities for product education and training, and to engage with membership on standards and guidelines. Members say that they purchased products 35% of the time, attended a demo 55% of the time, or talked with sales representatives 74% of the time after being introduced to a company through the AAPM.
Influence of the Decision Maker
The interest in the AAPM by affiliates is strongly related to the potential advocacy of its membership to influence purchases. While affiliates acknowledge the importance of the role of medical physicists, many affiliates feel that the AAPM membership do not self advocate well and has little access to the corporate suite in healthcare organizations where decisions on equipment purchases are made or finalized. Some affiliates thought that medical physicists were only interested in the technical side and not in the business side and this has reduced their influence in purchasing decisions. While it is true that few members (8%) self-identify as the primary decision makers for new equipment purchases, 76% of our members describe themselves as having some or significant influence in equipment purchases and this should be sufficient to keep corporate exhibitors coming back to the Annual Meeting and applying for affiliate status. We should continue to monitor these statistics in our efforts to market ourselves to affiliates, as there would appear to be some perception gap between affiliates and members.
Size matters in the decision of a company to come to the AAPM Annual Meeting. Companies that described medical physicists as their primary target audience tended to be smaller and described the AAPM Meeting as an important meeting for them. Larger affiliates identify other meetings as much more important and some admitted that they come to the AAPM so that they are not viewed as growing weaker in the marketplace.
This is likely also related to the primacy of buying decisions. Larger clinical equipment requires more clinical and administrative oversight than smaller specialized equipment that would be used for quality assurance.
Giving our members more skill in managing equipment purchasing decisions will help both our membership and affiliates alike. Professional symposia on business principles, and softer skills like communication and management may also be important. The AAPM should also find way to get other decision makers to the Annual Meeting if the diminishing role of medical physicists in purchasing decision continues.
Importance of Chapter Involvement
Corporate affiliates and our membership alike feel that the Chapter meetings are excellent vehicles for getting face-to-face access they need for establishing a relationship. Both parties feel that we should increase and certainly not reduce this opportunity (which also differentiates ourselves from ASTRO and RSNA). Members coming to chapter meetings were more likely to talk to a sales person, request materials, and purchase a product than they would at the Annual Meeting. Attendees at Chapter meetings were more likely to be introduced to a company through a social or educational event (35%) than members who were not involved with their Chapter (18%). Smaller companies also appreciated the local chapters for being more democratic in booth placement and size as well as opportunities to engage with their customers.
It was made clear during a formal discussion at the 2013 Annual Chapter Breakfast that nothing should interfere with the engagement of local chapter members with corporate affiliates, including selection of the meeting topics and solicitation of support of meetings through the affiliates local sales force. However, ensuring consistent quality across chapters and better coordination, e.g., scheduling or meeting coordination; expertise and assistance that AAPM Headquarters could provide could strengthen the Chapters’ meetings.
Dedication to Elevating the Field
In this current environment of uncertainty regarding regulations and decision-making, the top value of collaborations with industry and the AAPM membership was the improvement and creation of standards and guidelines in the field. Members and affiliates say that the AAPM should have a stronger role in setting guidelines for reimbursement and industry advocacy. AAPM members say that corporate affiliates can play a role in communicating the value of medical physicists when they are designing or selling a novel product or service. While the AAPM has been appreciated by its corporate affiliates for setting guidelines for practice, quality assurance, and technical standards, the AAPM has not leveraged this to solicit new corporate affiliates. The AAPM should also sell its importance to its existing corporate affiliates so that such membership is not eroded.
Focus on Innovation through Technology
Affiliates feel that AAPM affiliation provides an opportunity to connect one-on-one with their customer base, not only for business development reasons, but also to educate and train current customers on proper use of products, troubleshoot existing problems, and discuss product development opportunities. The AAPM should seek ways in which these
positive experiences can be strengthened. This should include formal (e.g. exhibit hall talks) and informal (e.g. charitable events) settings.
There is potential for the AAPM to create forums where medical physicists and companies can interact to discuss the innovation of new products and services. Affiliates think that there is an opportunity to better articulate the role of industry in product innovation and refinement. Because the AAPM makes recommendations affecting their industry, affiliates want a stronger voice and respect within the organization.
The affiliates liked the openness of the AAPM. The mission of the committees are clearly stated, the place and times of the meetings are online and the meetings are open to observers. Other organizations are viewed as being more closed. Still there is more that the AAPM can do to encourage participation of medical physicists that work for vendors.
Preference for Face-to-Face Interactions
Whether through the Annual Meeting or the chapters, both companies and medical physicists prefer in-person interactions. Corporations perceive that there are decreasing returns from exhibiting at the AAPM Annual Meeting, but most still recognize the importance of being present to interact with medical physics customers and ensure brand visibility. If significantly more medical physicists attend ASTRO or the RSNA then the value proposition for them will deteriorate further. The greatest value the AAPM provided was for a forum for interactive or hands-on demos and conversations. Medical physicists ranked personal connections to a company through previous experience or personal recommendation from a friend as the most influential factors in making purchasing decisions.
Shift to Online Interaction
Although in-person interaction is preferred, corporate affiliates want more online access to members including webinars, emails lists, list-servers, online education, and web advertising. This may also be useful to members as long as it is remains unobtrusive (56% of AAPM members said they would use virtual education opportunities). The website at the time of interview was said by affiliates to be hard to navigate. Since that time, the website has been modernized considerably.
Other Significant Findings
Affiliates described feeling marginalized. The management of relations with the AAPM and affiliates can be improved in areas such as exhibit hall set up and placement, providing more dedicated AAPM staff with better coordination of the points-of-contact, and better discussion and communications of policies with AAPM executive team members and members with an interest in corporate relations. Greater sensitivity to the costs and needs of companies in the selection of the site of the national meeting would be greatly appreciated. Since the interviews, significant changes to the meeting have already been made in order to address the affiliates who are customers of the AAPM.
Affiliates want better effectiveness or shorter overall exhibit hall hours, more or longer unscheduled break times and other exhibit hall programming to increase the number of members visits to the exhibit hall.
Some affiliates asked for greater AAPM/ASTRO coordination, including a possible merger or joint meetings, to help corporate partners and members cut down on costs and build a stronger community.
McKinley Advisors Recommendations for a Corporate Program Model
Many professional associations have corporate affiliate programs that bundle benefits into tiered packages or add-on programs. This provides encouragement for the affiliates to take advantage of offered services rather than purchasing each one à la carte. This may simplify sales for the AAPM but such a program must provide a value to the affiliates as well. It is also critical that AAPM capture not only the current financial support provided by the à la carte method, but maximize the opportunity to grow the revenue base.
It is important to study other healthcare fields for examples that can give guidance. For example, ASTRO has an Ambassador program (2015 price of $65,000/yr) that includes privileged services and volume discounts above the normal corporate membership. An example of an even more exclusive corporate offering is the CHIME Foundation. This Foundation is a not-for-profit organization created by The College of Healthcare Information Managing Executives (CHIME). They have four levels of membership; Premier at $75,000, Standard at $40,000, Junior at $20,000, and Affiliate Subscription at
$10,000 per year. McKinley studied the corporate program models of six associations;
American Society of Association Executives (ASAE)
Association of School Business Officials International (ASBO)
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA)
American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO)
Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS)
Radiological Society of North American (RSNA)
A summary of the corporate offerings of these associations is listed in http://www.aapm.org/CorporateAffiliates/2015_CorporateOfferings.pdf. McKinley recommends that the AAPM adopt a corporate program whereby an affiliate would get some basic services for joining but have three additional partner options from which to choose. Their suggested program is based on increasing affiliate membership and encouraging the affiliates to be involved in partnership activities called Event Partner, Industry Advancement Partner, and Innovation Partner.
McKinley suggested the following benefits be offered to all corporate partners:
Connection
An invitation to participate in the annual AAPM Industry Summit that convenes industry, members, chapter and national leadership, and a rotating series of thought leaders from both within and outside the field.
One exclusive invitation to an AAPM Board dinner.
Visibility
Increased visibility through submission to AAPM's advertorial series.
The company's name featured prominently on conference and event appreciation signage.
Information
Exclusive insight into data and trends in a bi-annual "State of the Industry" webinar that provides highlights of AAPM's own research studies.
The opportunity to submit one customized question to AAPM's annual research effort.
One year of corporate membership, which provides access to all of the traditional AAPM member benefits for one primary and one secondary point of contact at the company.
Service
Dedicated AAPM account manager for the company.
One-on-one annual planning meeting to build a schedule of activities and choose a package that that meets each company’s unique goals.
Bi-annual webinar that provides tips and cautions to ensure that each company is gaining the visibility it seeks before medical physicists.
An annual "report card" that provides details on each company's overall involvement, the value of benefits received, and ways the company could increase its return-on-investment.
Committee Recommendations
Throughout the tenure of the Committee, the Committee was engaged with the AAPM leadership and EXCOM. As information was gathered changes were implemented. The following recommendations which are supported by the Committee, have already been implemented by EXCOM and AAPM staff:
Partners in Solutions program is in its second year:
Partners in Solutions offers a convenient means for physicists and vendors to interact on the exhibit hall. Vendors provide physics-level applications training classes in a special-purpose lecture room located on the exhibit floor. Knowledgeable customer users and vendor employees offer practical information for the clinical physicist from the people who know their systems in depth. Hard sell by sales and marketing is not allowed at these forums.
Topics for 2015 are:
Imaging: Tools for Collecting and Analyzing Patient Dose Metric Information from Imaging Equipment Therapy,
Deformable Image Registration, Contour Propagation, and Dose Mapping.
Complimentary Wi-Fi for customary use is now offered to the affiliates. If exhibitors need dedicated, highly secure or special Wi-Fi services for operation of their software
they must provide these themselves.
More time for members and vendors to interact together in the exhibit hall during the busiest part of the day:
Coffee breaks were extended from 30 to 45 minutes in 2014,
Visit the Vendors (90 min) dedicated session on Wednesday morning with no concurrent sessions. Attendees are encouraged, by signage and slides during earlier sessions, to visit the vendors,
The practice of providing lunch boxes on two days of the meeting and beer on one day at the meeting will continue to be offered in the exhibit hall to attract membership.
An Exhibitor Site Visit is organized by the AAPM staff giving a chance for vendors to visit the host city to tour centers and hotels. A reception for the visitors occurs the evening before the tour and a breakfast before the tour begins. This also gives more face-to-face time for AAPM staff and vendors to engage and establish a relationship. The visit is held in the January time frame and all exhibitors are invited. This program is in its third year.
A monthly Exhibitor Newsletter has been implemented to provide information to all exhibitors beginning in December 2014, in preparation for the 2015 meeting. Early indications are that this has been well received. The issues have been posted on the AAPM website (http://www.aapm.org/meetings/2015AM/Exhibits/default.asp). There is an opportunity to put more content in the newsletter to inform vendors about the field of medical physics.
Booth Traffic Tracking of the 2014 meeting was used to gather information about attendance in the exhibit hall. At a cost of $40,000 this is not warranted every year but will be repeated every three years. The data shows that traffic is heavier than many vendors had thought. For example, 97% of attendees visited the exhibit hall. A higher percentage than is typical for a 4 or more day convention visited the booth on four days (22% vs. typical 10-15%). The last day decline in exhibit hall visitation was less dramatic at the AAPM meeting than industry standard (27% decline rather than industry standard 40-45% decline). The information also revealed that the L-shaped layout of the exhibit hall caused lower attendance in the arm of the L and such exhibit hall shapes should be avoided in the future. A webinar describing the complete details of the booth tracking was held on January 12, 2015 and is available online for exhibitor viewing (http://www.aapm.org/meetings/webinars/ExhibitorTrafficMonitoringWebinar2014A M.asp). The booth traffic mapping revealed that there was significant drop-off in member booth traffic after 5 pm. The exhibit hours for 2015 have been reduced by one hour and the exhibit hall will close at 5 pm.
Corporate Partners Reception - 7-9 PM on Sunday evening beginning at 2015 Anaheim Meeting. A reception was chosen over McKinley’s suggestion of an appreciation dinner. Prominent AAPM members and the leadership team (EXCOM, Council Members, Ad Hoc Corporate Relations Committee members) and two or three members of the corporate leadership of the affiliates will be asked to attend and no other AAPM events including AAPM committee meetings will be held at the same time. The corporate affiliates will also be given the opportunity to nominate AAPM members to attend the reception. The purpose of the event is to engage the corporate
and AAMP leadership and members of importance to the affiliates so that the AAPM can be more responsive to the needs of its corporate partners.
Exhibit Hall walks will be implemented for 2015 meeting. This is a way to introduce younger members to the vendors. This will take place during a quieter time of the meeting when the exhibit hall is not as busy.
A Comprehensive Meetings Calendar has been implemented (http://www.aapm.org/meetings/calendar.asp). The AAPM Headquarters will continue to encourage Chapters to send the details of the chapter meetings and this can only be successful if the Chapters comply.
Empowering members to communicate as decision makers. A leadership-focused Summer School is planned for 2016.
New Programs or Changes to AAPM
The AAPM needs a full-time staff member responsible for corporate relations and marketing with a sales staff to support advertising. This will require moving publishing and advertising in-house but a good part of the extra cost will be recouped by not paying outside agencies (AIP) for sales commissions. Once hired, the full-time staff member should engage a corporate attorney proficient in not-for-profits to get an opinion of strategies to limit tax liability exposure to the AAPM and corporate sponsors. This staff person should evaluate all of McKinley’s suggestions listed under Service (listed above). Ideally, this individual would be hired by Q3 2015.
A Tiered Program for Affiliate Sponsorship. The details must be worked out in conjunction with the new full-time responsible staff member. We expect that this person will utilize aspects of the McKinley recommendations on which to base their program. Roll-out of the program should aim for board approval in 2016 with introduction for 2017. The following are suggestions for opportunities which would be attractive to vendors to join the more preferred ranks of affiliates:
Depending on the level of support, the company's name would be featured prominently on conference and other event signage,
Sponsored Charitable Events: Potential conflict of interest constraints have made vendor-sponsored parties problematic. However, the AAPM may organize charitable events for the vendors to benefit philanthropic endeavors of the AAPM such as the Education and Research Fund. Vendors will send the names and emails of AAPM members that they would like to see attend their Charitable Event and the AAPM will send out the invitations. For vendors who want a larger non-exclusive party, there will be an opportunity for attendees to apply for a ticket to parties at the time of AAPM Meeting registration that will include a nominal donation to the AAPM Education and Research Fund. Vendors may also buy extra tickets to their event from the AAPM to hand out to their booths prior to the event. This process gives the vendors a better ability to plan and control the attendance numbers,
Exhibitor Lounge: Exhibitors often take customers or business associates to cafeteria tables in the exhibit hall that are not attractive or private. For more casual conversations restaurants or hotel suites are often not convenient. The Exhibitor Lounge will give a place for such meetings with non-alcoholic
drinks and light refreshments served with more privacy than an open table in the exhibit hall.
The exhibit space assignment process will be revamped with the tiers in mind while still honoring long-standing affiliates for their loyalty,
The high level tiers will make available more data needed for their marketing campaigns. Details must be worked out when the full time staff member responsible for our corporate affiliates is hired.
McKinley suggested a bi-annual "State of the Industry" webinar that provides highlights of AAPM's own research studies. This suggestion should be evaluated by Science Council and Professional Council,
Virtual Library Corporate Affiliate - Vendor Presentations: The opportunity to capture vendor presentations at the AAPM Annual Meeting was offered for several years, with minimal interest. This program should be re-evaluated as part of the revitalized corporate partnership program.
Preferred rate for affiliate access to the Alexandra AAPM Headquarters conference room for corporate events or retreats,
The opportunity to submit one customized question to AAPM's membership survey (such as an addition to the AAPM Annual Professional Information Survey),
The AAPM will arrange for focus groups of medical physicists and other allied professionals. These can take place at the Annual Meeting, the AAPM Spring Clinical Meeting, the RSNA, the Alexandria Headquarters or at another time and place chosen by the affiliate,
ESTRO has a number of awards sponsored by corporations including Varian, Accuray and Nucletron. The AAPM has had sponsorship by corporations for travel, research and fellowships. The staff should determine if there is sufficient interest to include such awards in the tiered packages,
The following suggestions by McKinley should be evaluated further for their inclusion in the tiered program:
§ Institute an AAPM Industry Summit that convenes industry, members, chapter and national leadership, and a rotating series of thought leaders from both within and outside the field should be evaluated further by the Corporate Relations Committee (see below) and the full-time staff member responsible for Corporate Relations,
§ Institute an AAPM's advertorial series in the AAPM Newsletter. This should be discussed first in the AAPM Newsletter Editorial Board.
A program is needed to encourage the large radiology companies to attend the AAPM and have bigger booths when they do come. This needs to be driven by the medical physics leadership armed with data on the importance of the AAPM to the field (e.g., more than 400 abstracts on diagnostic radiology were received in 2014) and the importance in addressing the growing use of radiology equipment in the field of radiation oncology.
The AAPM staff should develop best exhibiting practices resources for exhibitors to help corporate partners deliver meaningful and measurable results and update and expand their company’s exhibiting knowledge base. “Exhibit marketing” is not typically included in the curriculum of university market programs. RSNA provides
such information to their exhibitors.
Perhaps the corporate affiliates are as motivated by the attendance numbers for the AAPM Meeting as is the AAPM. They are also significantly impacted by travel and the cost of the city. The AAPM should reach out to affiliates to appoint their employees to the Meetings Committee in order to get there input into AAPM meeting locations.
The AAPM needs to harmonize with ASTRO on exhibitor booth rules. Harmonization is important because many vendors take portions of their AAPM booth to the ASTRO or other meetings. At one time the AAPM and ASTRO booth rules were harmonized but ASTRO has changed its rules. For example, ASTRO now permits their booth walls to come up to the boundary of their booth whereas the AAPM still requires an offset and this may require a modification.
Encourage employees of affiliates who are Full or Emeritus Members of the AAPM to be members of AAPM task groups and committees (recusal rules to handle potential conflicts of interest).
One of the reasons why ASTRO and RSNA have become the most important meetings for the fields of radiation oncology and radiology, respectively, is that they attract large number of international attendees to their meetings (40% of the delegates at the RSNA are from outside the US). The AAPM needs to encourage more international attendance at the AAPM meeting.
A permanent committee under the Administrative Council, called the Corporate Relations Committee that would have membership by corporate employees and non- corporate employees with an interest in corporate matters would add value to the AAPM and its corporate affiliates. The goal of this committee would be to maintain good relationships with the corporate affiliates and to suggest changes to the AAPM or its meetings that would be in the interest of both the organization and its affiliates.
Also under the Administrative Council, the AAPM should form a Chapter Meeting Committee. This must take into account that the Chapters are technically independent but have a mandate to help and promote the AAPM. Like the Corporate Committee it would contain representations of members who were both corporate and non- corporate employees interested in improving the quality and effectiveness of AAPM Chapter Meetings in the following ways:
Encourage the improve the consistency of Chapter Meetings but do not interfere with local autonomy (perhaps a Best of Chapter Symposium at the AAPM meeting),
Encourage the AAPM Chapters to have differential pricing for AAPM affiliates to encourage more affiliations.
Note: an alternative option would be to empower the Regional Organization Committee under Administrative Council to take charge of establishing and maintaining best practices for Chapters. If this approach is taken, membership should be broadened to ensure that members with corporate affiliations are brought into this committee.