On Thursday evening, I attended a dinner with the Presidents-Elect of 18 other component dental societies (out of the 32 in California). We had a good dinner, and discussed that challenges that we face in our individual components. It is also nice to network with the others who will be president next year. I sat with the Presidents-Elect from West Los Angeles, Contra Costa, Alameda County, and Santa Clara County Dental Societies. It's a privilege to associate with a group of good people like that. We also met the Executive Committee of California Dental Association and the President of the American Dental Association before we ate.
The House began in earnest on Friday. After the first session, we held three reference committee hearings, which were very productive. In reference committee, we discuss the individual resolutions (we ended up with 58 this year), then the reference committees met in closed session to revise resolutions for later presentation to the house. We go by Sturgis' rules of order because they are less cumbersome than Roberts'. We had box lunches so we could work through midday. Following the reference committee hearings, we heard presentations by the two candidates for Secretary of CDA. This was the first contested election in 15 years. I know both candidates, but I know Phil Maldonado, the eventual winner, quite well. We did some behind the scenes work with some of the other caucuses to help his candidacy. As our new Secretary, he will "move through the chairs," and will be CDA President in 2012. I think he'll be excellent. Following the second session, we had a reception for our new CDA President, Carol Summerhays.
Now while I engaged in all the politicking, Heidi went (safely) to the Los Angeles Temple and did two endowment sessions. On Saturday she went again and did initiatories. The temple is just two miles down the street from the hotel. What she did was more important than what I did.
Friday evening, Tri-County Dental Society and spouses went to dinner at McCormick and Schmick's on Rodeo Drive. We had good dinners and enjoyed getting to know each other better. It was good that we had to walk almost a mile to get there. I needed that!
On Saturday morning, we had our individual caucuses to discuss our positions on the resolutions. There were no contentious issues on the agenda this year, although there were some that will prove important to the future of our profession. I led the first part of the discussion, because the President got up late. Next year, I'm the official head of our delegation. In the afternoon, we met for the third session of the house, and it was very productive. I am very appreciative of consent agendas. They help to move things along quickly. We made it through 52 resolutions and two special presentations between 1 and 5. When we adjourned for the day, we had just three resolutions left (three more were added on Sunday), and we felt pretty good about our progress.
Saturday night is the traditional President's Party. In years gone by, it was a formal ball, but our generation doesn't do that sort of thing. The theme was rock and roll, and we were encouraged to dress up as our favorite rock and roll star. Tri-County began a tradition of wearing matching t-shirts, and that impresses everyone else. I dressed up as Bob Dylan, complete with a messy wig, a Levi's jacket, and a harmonica in a neck holder. Everybody loved it.
We're kind of a wild-looking bunch, but we know how to have fun. The buffet was really good. We also had an awesome band to dance to, and Heidi and I danced to the very end.
Another highlight of the night was the auctions for the CDA Foundation (see a previous blog). We had a silent auction and a live auction. I was the winning bidder for the burger special (In-N-Out, Tommy's and Carls Jr.), because I walked by just before the bidding ended. In the live auction, they bid for vacation packages and things like that, which are way out of our league. All told, we raised $158,000 and counting for the Foundation last night! That was a great success!
On Sunday morning, we reconvened for the final session of the house. Heidi went to sacrament meeting in Westwood 2nd Ward. Our new President and new officers were installed by my friend Gordon Christensen (see my San Antonio blog), and it was fun. Always the good missionary, Dr. Christensen mentioned the importance of family a dozen times, and reminded the officers not to neglect their families. He said that eventually, all this (dentistry and the organization) will be gone, but we will still have our families. I'm glad that we were given a message like that.
After the ceremonies, we wrapped up our business, then said goodbye to the Speaker of the House, who is stepping down after six years. We will miss him. Then we adjourned until next year. I enjoyed this house more than the three I had previously attended. I think that is mainly because Heidi was with me, even though we didn't spend a lot of time together. But it is also because I am getting to know more people throughout CDA, and it's fun to have a group of friends like that.
It really is a privilege to serve my profession like this. I would not have imagined the opportunities for growth, learning, and fun that I have had since I began serving. And Heidi keeps telling me she's amazed at the respect people have for me. (No, she isn't amazed that people respect me.) It looks like I will have the opportunity to serve on a CDA Committee in 2010. That should provide for even more fun.
