The Day 8,400 Physical Therapists Went Offline
Last week, observant readers of physical therapy blogs may have noticed a slow-down. Students in distance-learning programs may have noticed a lack of input from their instructors. In fact, just about everyone who regularly connects to the internet with a physical therapist, or physical therapy business might have had to endure a week out of contact.
You see, while the APTA Combined Sections meeting was a resounding success, complete with a new brand launch, world class educational programming, increased orgasms (yes, you read that correctly! Link is safe, no worries.), and all the networking opportunities one could hope for, the conference was also without internet access. As a blogger, distance educator, and a person who generally consumes all my news and affairs online, this was an enormous burden! It is incomprehensible to me how a professional conference in 2009, packed full of well-connected individuals, packed full of educators, packed full of business owners, packed full of a profession trying to brand itself as modern and slick, can exist without offering internet access. But wait, you say! There was internet access! Was there?
The Story of APTA's Cyber Cafe
I asked both at the conference information desk, and the APTA conference office about the lack of wireless internet access. In both cases, I was first told that it was the fault of the conference center. When I objected, revealing that if you attempted to log on, the conference center was kind enough to tell you their conference fee for wireless access, both individuals changed their report to, "The APTA opted to not get the wirelss access in favor of the Cyber Cafe."
Cyber Cafe?! In the center of the very crowded vendor area, only open during select hours, 8-10 LAN terminals existed.
Let me break this down: 8,400 people + 10 internet access terminals = ridiculous failure for the members. The Cyber Cafe felt more like the one pictured above, than a real option for connectivity. There was a perpetual line and the access was slow.
Everyone uses the internet to keep contact with the world around them, and not doing so leaves one at the risk of being isolated and irrelevent to the world. So why, as the APTA endeavors to launch a new brand and redefine the profession in the eyes of payors, referral sources, and the public, would they neglect to keep their members plugged in away from home? I even felt bad for the vendors. APTA, I expected more.
So did other conference attendees. While speaking to Paul Mintken, conference attendee and progressive educator, he expressed his disappointment about the lack of access, "I was planning to download handouts during sessions to follow along and make notes, but with the lack of internet access, I couldn't do it." I was personally planning to live-blog the event, but had to cancel plans. For the record, I do have a tether plan for my blackberry, so I was connected, but not reliably or with any sort of bandwith. I wasn't going to pay the $75 room fee for web access that should have been part of my registration fee.
Out of Touch with Members?
Another representative of the APTA told me that to get internet access for the conference would have been upwards of $30,000. I asked why several rooms, or a smaller area could not have been procured. Why couldn't a sponsor have been secured to offer internet access? In the end, it comes down to the fact that those who made decisions about conference planning didn't value internet connectivity. They were out of touch. Contrast this to the recent Annual Conference of the Americal Academy of Orthopaedic Manual Physical Therapists, where the entire conference center was wirelessly connected, and members had a great, productive time.
Looking Forward to a Connected Future
All was not lost, however. I had great conversations with APTA's new, lean and mean public relations staff, who has demonstrated that they value the power of the internet, blogging, and social media. Plans might be in the works to improve connectivity for the next conference, APTA's Annual Confernce in Baltimore this June. There were even suggestions of a blogging event!
Let's go, APTA! Connect us, already!
I'm sure glad to be connected again,
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