Local chapter update: Tips for vendor involvement

Vendors and sponsors often represent part of the educational and networking experience—whether at the annual national conference or at the local level. Vendors interested in working with local chapter leaders to sponsor or provide a presentation for an upcoming event should regularly review this upcoming calendar as well as the local chapter pages on the ACDIS website. While some chapters welcome vendors/sponsors, others keep their meetings educational and informational in nature and limit vendor/sponsor involvement.

Local chapter leaders who do wish to welcome vendors/sponsors should develop policies and procedures around such involvement. Consider some of the following questions:

• Will the group welcome thought leaders from a vendor organization to present on a particular topic?
• If the group wants sponsorship assistance, will it seek exclusive sponsorship or multiple sponsors to provide varying degrees of support (breakfast, snacks, lunch, opening or closing receptions, gift items or other giveaways)?
• Does the group want (or have space for) the vendor/sponsor to have a table outside the educational space to interact with the attendees?
• Does the group provide vendor/sponsors with a list of attendees (what information will be provided)?

There are a collection of sample vendor policies posted in the Local Chapter Leadership Toolkit on the ACDIS website, and for assistance in working through them feel free to reach out to the ACDIS team.

The following is a list of upcoming events for ACDIS local chapters. If you have an upcoming event you would like to include, please email Melissa Varnavas (mvarnavas@acdis.org) and Archibald (larchibald@acdis.org).

July:

• The Kansas City Missouri ACDIS chapter meets Wednesday, July 11, 2-3 p.m. CST, via webinar. For information, contact Angelica Naylor (angelica.naylor@nkch.org).
• The Westchester/Hudson Valley ACDIS chapter meets Thursday, July 12, 2-4 p.m., at Greater Hudson Valley Health System at the Orange Regional Medical Center Campus, with special guest ACDIS Director Brian Murphy. For information, contact Kerry Seekircher (kseekircher@northwell.edu).
• The Washington Evergreen ACDIS chapter meets on Friday, July 20, 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., via webinar. Click here to download the save-the-date. For information, contact the chapter leadership team (evergreenacdis@gmail.com).
• The Michigan ACDIS chapter meets Wednesday, July 25, 12-1 p.m., via webinar. The topic will be “Coding highlights on the horizon for 2019.” For information, contact Susan Fantin (susan.fantin@comcast.net).

August:

• The Massachusetts ACDIS chapter, along with the New England components of AHIMA, meet Friday, August 3, 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., at Baystate Health Educational Center in Springfield. More details to follow. For information, contact Aimee Van Balen (avanbalen@lifespan.org).
• The CDI Educator ACDIS networking group meets Friday, August 10, 12-1 p.m. PST, via webinar. For information, contact M.E. VanGelder (me.vangelder@honorhealth.com).
• The North Carolina ACDIS chapter meets Friday, August 24, for their summer conference at Mission Health in Asheville. For information, contact the leadership team (ncacdis@gmail.com).

Save-the-date:

• The Maryland ACDIS chapter meets on Friday, September 14, 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., at St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Towson. Click here to download the save-the-date flyer. For information, contact Candace Blankenship (evalani3@msn.com).
• The Washington Evergreen ACDIS chapter meets on Friday, September 28, 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., at Trios Women's and Children's Hospital in Kennewick. Click here to download the save-the-date. For information, contact the leadership team (evergreenacdis@gmail.com).
• The Massachusetts ACDIS chapter meets Wednesday, October 17, 1-4 p.m., at Kent Hospital in Warwick, Rhode Island. For information, contact Joyce Williams (JWilliams@Lifespan.org).
• Missouri's three ACDIS chapters meet Saturday, October 20, for the third annual Show Me State conference at SSM DePaul in St. Louis. For information, contact Mariann Dinello (mariann.dinello@ssmhealth.com) or 314-344-6286.