Is anyone going to Pittsburgh?

It will be interesting to see the vendor support (or lack of) since ANNA won't be there.

I won't go because the two of them are not together

While the choice is yours, what difference does "the 2 not being together" make?

Would you be willing to go, and you or your company be willing to pay (at premium cost)for your attendance at a meeting over the Memorial Day weekend at Disney World?

I unfortunately cannot go but my company is sending quite few staff. Not for the venue but for the very good educational opportunity provided by the program, at a resonable cost.

Well if "the 2 being together" is so important to you, I guess you'll just have to wait until next year.

The problem I have with it is that along with the same boring "educational speakers" that NANT has, it is just as important to speak with the vendors and exchange thoughts with both the nurses and technicians. Do you think the vendors are going to go all out for 300- 500 technicians or go to ANNA for the thousands of nurses? I think it is important for NANT and ANNA to join forces and keep the meetings together. All those people involved will benefit from it. Also, my job would send me anywhere if it would benefit me and our unit regardless of the cost. The money can be made up in making deals and contracting good prices from the vendors. I guess the technicians will have a hard time this year with little or no interest from the vendors.

So basically what your saying is you go to hang out in the exhibit hall. Well I suppose then you'll be going to Orlando.

There are probably less than one thousand NANT members now. There will probably be only a little over one hundred in Pittsburg. You have to ask when does this stop being an organization. What have they accomplished for the members over that past year? It seems to me they need a new focus. They need to attract new members and also get back some of the old ones. New management would be a step in the right direction as they are stagnant with the management that they have now.

You are right on! This has been a "wannabe" organization for years. I mean no dis-respect to the members, but the groups management is not adding value to the members on the same level as other organizations (AANA, AAMI, etc.)

I think there is value in attending the NANT conference whether it is with ANNA or not. I think there are definately some good educational opportunities that will be presented. Even though some topics may have been covered at previous conferences, review of them will not hurt. Whenever I go, and unfortunately I am not going this year,I really enjoy the interaction with all the other dialysis technicians. There are so many ideas out there I always leave knowing that I have learned something that I did not know in my previous 22 years in dialysis. The exhibit hall is a great place to pick the brains of all the dialysis vendors, and you just can't help coming away with something new. There are some great people oozing with lots of great dialysis knowledge that can help you run your technical department safer and more efficiently. It is true that this year there won't be as many people attending, but it maybe it will be more focused. NANT has helped elevate the stature of dialysis technicians in my opinion, they are more educated than ever before. It would be nice to have more support for the organization from the dialysis unit administration, and send more of there technical staff to these function more frequently. ...Next year I am going, see ya then!

Let me take one step back and ask, "Why are they separated this year anyway? Who's decision was this, and why?"

From what I have heard (don't know if its true or not), it was NANT's decision because they could not afford and most technicians or their companies wouldn't spend the money to be in Disney over the Memorial Day holiday.

Chuck I believe your right. The decision was economic. The cost of producing a conference at Disney World is very expensive. And with it being over the Memorial day weekend compunded the problem. I remember a survey a few years back asking members if they would be willing to attend a conference over a major holiday. From what I heard most people responding said no.

This idea that the management company is somehow responsible for all of the organizations problems is old news. They do have a Board of Directors and they are the people responsible for the decisions and direction of the organization. Some members are always complaining about things but when the time comes to elect new officers most run away like rats leaving a sinking ship.

NANT has failed to thrive because there are a minority of technicians that support the organization while the majority remain oblivious to its existance. In the middle are the "rock throwers" who constanly whine and complain, pander old rumors and go to great lengths to disparage the organizaton and those affiliated with it.

This is too bad, we technicians it seems are our own worst enemy. An organization like NANT will only get marginal support from the industry as long as it gets only marginal, at best, support from the people it represents.

Nant chose to decline the memorial day @ disney because it didn't think the site/date would encourage attendance.

Anna chose the date/location in the belief that the holiday and location would increase attendance because people would be more likely to bring their family and stay an extra day or two.

One organization sees an opportunty, the other sees a problem.

Part of the problem (IMO) is that PCT's do not typically have input into a buying decision like Dr's or Nurses do. Because of this, it is difficult for NANT to get the same industry/vendor sponsorship that ASN or ANNA can get. This was different 10 years ago when NANT was focused on chief techs as their main membership. Now that they focus on PCT's, they have diluted their power/influence with the industry vendors (IMO).

Vendor,

While the nimber of PCT's attending is on the rise (most likely due to mandatory certification and pending legislation), a very large percentage of the attendees are either CT's or MT's who's reccomendations and opinions are highly regarded by the companies (especially the non-corporate).

Since it is the PCT's who have the most hands on experience with equipment and supplies, it's only logical to think that they are the ones who you want to direct your marketing towards.

I have JUST returned from the NANT conference and must say that I was surprised at the number of vendors that were there (aprox 25). While the displays were very much scaled down, they were still there and very eager to talk to the technicians.

I for one will remember who was and was not there!

I will pose a somewhat inflammatory concept. Once upon a time there was AANNT, but a very small group of the nurses felt that in order for the organization to grow and truly benefit the RNs, the techs had to go . . . hence NANT. NANT has had good times and bad, and although I feel it is a worthwhile organizaiton, it membership had never approached more than about 10% of the actual tech population. Why is that? There are probably a dozen decent answers to that question, but they would have to include the horrendous apathy on the part of the technicians themselves. I have been involved in trying to establish three different NANT chapters in the greater L.A. area. This area could easily support three or more different chapters, but a consistant lack of sustained support on the part of the techs doomed all attempts to failure in less than a year. Is it time for ANNA to again include techs so that it represents a broader specturm in the dialysis industry rather than the somewhat narrow "nurse only" scope? I'm talking FULL membership here, with voting rights and board elegibility. I can't think of an area of medicine more dependent upone technology than dialysis. RenalWeb is full of articles about the nursing shortage but there does not seem to be a corresponding investigation into alternatives. Waiting five years for people to decide to become nurses, become trained as nurses and maybe decide to go into dialysis is not the solution. Greater utilization of well trained, competent techs seems like a more reasonable approach. I invite (dare) techs AND nurses alike to respond to my query.

NANT does have a BOD. They also have a management company that they are responsible for. If you are not getting the results you want like increased membership, you change management. If you do not get results in other areas, you also change management. Over the years NANT has had some very strong and dedicated people. Where are they now? NANT needs to listen to the industry and provide for the technician an organization that meets it's needs. Somewhere there is a disconnect. I think what they need is a new focus. To increase membership will require a team that they just do not have. I also agree with Martin that they also need to integrate into the whole dialysis field. They should be working much closer with ANNA. They need to have a voice that only comes with numbers.