By Jenny Nordine, OTR/L, CDRS
The National Mobility
Equipment Dealers Association annual conference was held in Daytona Beach,
Florida, February 6-8. The weather was
the best it has ever been for the conference!
But we were not there for the weather….we were there for hard work and
reconnecting with amazing industry leaders.
This year’s conference
theme was “Step up to the Plate, Build a Winning Strategy.” I love baseball and couldn’t wait to hear
the conference keynote speaker, Jim Abbot.
His address to the conference attendees was motivational, funny,
inspirational and told of his career as an All-American pitcher at Michigan,
Gold medal Olympic Team member and MLB pitcher including a no hitter for the
New York Yankees.
The Association for Driver
Rehabilitation Specialists (ADED) presented a two day workshop Introduction
to Driver Rehabilitation February 5-6, 2012 with 14 attendees. Some participants came from as far away as
Japan. Two ADED pre conference seminars
included topics related to equipment fitting and working as a team with driving
evaluator and modifier and the complicated task of fitting the client, the
vehicle and their mobility device as related to independent mobility. The Associate Member series was held on
Wednesday and titled Development of Adaptive Equipment Training on a Driving
Simulator.
The exhibit hall is the
center of most activity during the conference and the purpose of our attendance
this year! It is amazing to see the
latest technology available to the industry and the creative individuals
working to enhance driving safety and independence. The exhibit hall had large and small exhibits
with a total of 60 exhibits at the Ocean Center Convention Center.
A new feature offered in
2013 included Manufacturer Product Presentations. This gave each presenter 15-20 minutes to
highlight their products with new features, websites, equipment re-design and
qualities important to the audience.
Following these presentations we were able to discuss further details
with the manufacture in the exhibit hall later in the day.
Our industry lost two
great leaders during the conference. Peter Zarba of Busanni Mobility and Ralph Braun of Braun Ability.
They will be missed, although continually celebrated with their
innovations and dedication to the industry.
Our next conference will
be the ADED conference in Columbus, Ohio “All Systems Go!” August 16-20, 2013. I am always inspired and re-motivated to
connect to old and new friends and revel what we can do together.
