The American Association of Sleep Technologists sponsored a State Sleep Society Leadership Conference on September 17-18, 2011, at the AAST national office in Darien, Ill. More than 50 participants representing 26 state sleep societies attended the conference.
The conference provided educational information and resources to assist attendees in the management of a successful membership organization. Sessions addressed topics such as:
- Association Operations
- Membership
- Meeting Management
- Financial Management/Fundraising
- Quality of Care
- Working with Dental and Behavioral Sleep Medicine Practitioners
- Licensure and Certification
- Communications
- Advocacy
“The AAST recognizes how important it is for sleep professionals to unite at the local level to achieve common goals,” said AAST President Melinda Trimble, RST, RPSGT, LRCP. “The conference gave state sleep society leaders an opportunity to broaden their understanding of association management, and it also allowed them to learn from one another as they exchanged ideas, shared advice and discussed ongoing challenges.”
Since 2008, the AAST has collaborated with the American Academy of Sleep Medicine to help establish a sleep society in every state. The purpose of the initiative is to empower the sleep medicine community to respond with a collective voice to local legislative and regulatory issues that may affect the practice of sleep medicine and sleep technology. Since the beginning of this effort, the number of state sleep societies has increased from 18 to 46.