PRESIDENT'S MESSAGES | SPRING 2004

By: Craig Dial, CRT
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In the stock market, some stocks have higher value than others. As an investor, I would consider investing in stocks that give the highest rate of return for the dollar. This is true in any product or service we encounter. As consumers, we all want the best value for our money, and tend to shop around to decide whether or not we are getting the best deal.

The AADMRT organization is also an investment, and we, as members need to evaluate if the value of our membership is giving us a high or low rate of return. Let's look into what the AADMRT does for our dollar.
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First off, our group offers continuing education courses twice a year. These courses not only meet the C.E. requirements that so many of our members need for renewal of their certificates, but these meetings also help us all keep up with our rapidly changing world of dental imaging. It seems that the technology in our profession is changing at an ever-increasing speed, and we are fortunate to have great speakers and access to vendors that help us understand this changing technology.

We also have a tremendous resource through this quarterly newsletter. In this useful and informative publication, we have the opportunity to read and re-read articles that pertain directly to what we do in our labs. Additionally, we learn when companies are offering products that we otherwise may not have been aware of, and we get to read about the latest news and trends that may affect us. This is AADMRT's way of staying connected to its membership all year round though this networking we call a newsletter.

Another valuable piece of being a member is our web site. The AADMRT web site is not one of those sites that you go to once, read the header, and then never come back to because it is always the same. No, our web site is in constant change. From the cover page changing with every newsletter, to the updated list of future events and meetings, our web site can be very helpful, so please visit this site often.

You will also see various ads from different companies displaying their web links every time you come back to the site. Through your personal password; for instance, members can access the past newsletters and e-mail specific articles to dentists. Registering for renewal of membership via credit card is also now available online, and many more new services are in the works. This web site is not only for us; we have people accessing our web site from over 40 countries; it is our window to the world.

The AADMRT membership does not stop there, you also get much more value for your membership buck. We offer discounts to members for meeting registration, discounts on renewal (if renewed early); you have the opportunity to interact with other dental radiographers, radiologists, and dentists that are interested in our field. The AADMRT is also advertising your lab for you. We have created a promotional ad for national dental magazines, and we are paying for the ad to be placed into these magazines for advertisement of the AADMRT run labs. The dentists that read the AADMRT ad can locate your specific lab though our fantastic "find a lab" tool on our web site. (Please see News and Trends in the Spring 2004 Currents for more details).

This is your AADMRT "stock". We all have invested a little, and we continuously received a great return for our future, making the AADMRT a good value. Please forward your ideas and thoughts to the board so we can continue on this upward growth pattern, and lets make this organization the best it can be.