Charles Alexander,
  UNOS president

Speaking on "UNOS Today" sharing history and the future of UNOS from the perspective of his role as president of the organizaiton that oversees organ donation and transplantation in the United States.  Focus is on the committee foundation of UNOS and the role TRIO members can (and do) play in their decision making process.

Lori Brigham, CEO and president of our host OPO, the Washington Regional Transplant Community (WRTC) shared her own personal passion in making a difference in the world before introducing her friend and fellow Maryland OPO president, Charlie Alexander.

Troy Zimmerman
NKF VP of Government Relations
Speaking on "Effective Advocacy" based on his 14 years with the NKF in this role, Troy gave first hand testimony to the effectiveness of individual lobbying efforts, encouraging TRIO members to use their personal story to impact legislative directions both in Washington DC and in their local jurisdictions.

Catch his very creative characterizations of the different personalities you will face in that labbying effort along with advice on how to deal with each type to remain focused and achieve your goal for that visit.

Stenzel twins, Isa & Ana
Speaking via Skype to the summit about Patient Passion Changing the World. 

Using this Skype video conferencing technology, the amazing Stenzel twins shared from California the adventure of their lives overcoming CF with lung transplants and then using that life experience and passion to change the world with their now famous The Power of Two and their upcoming movie based on their Japan tour.  The trailer for the movie was shown via YouTube and attendees enjoyed having conversation with Isa and Ana from across the country.

Latrice Price
Volunteer Coordinator, Living Legacy Foundation (OPO for Maryland region)

Latrice shared her leadership experiences speaking on Volunteer Recruitment, Engagement, Empowerment and Retention, challenges faced by every TRIO chapter over the years.  She gave insight to some creative practices currently in use at her OPO, including offering points for service which can be redeemed by volunteers each year for items of recognition.

Susan Pincus
TRIO Secretary & Facebook support

While Susan claims to not being a social media expert, as the founder of our TRIO national Facebook page and being self-taught in this and other social media applications, she facilitated this session titled, Chapter Growth Through Social Networking, with an insightful presentation followed by open discussion with chapter leaders sharing their own local efforts of outreach through technology.

 (as the official Summit photographer, naturally we have no good photos of Susan, so had to make do with this fuzzy clip capture from the video of her talk)

...some attentive listeners to her talk
(l to r: JT Rhodes, James Mateiko and Lou Reardon, all TRIO board members):

PaulaG
Reaching Personal Potential through Intuitive IntelligenceTM

Paula, a certified life coach, shared her trademarked "intuitive intelligence" concept as something we all have, but too few tune into.  "Listening to our hearts" as it were, there is so much more than just rational intelligence to help us face the many life challenges, especially in the transplanted life we lead.  She offered both a worksheet and a "white paper" to expand on the topic that is highlighted here in this special video interview done for the Leadership Summit.  Paula has many other topics for your viewing pleasure on YouTube, so just Google her name or do a search on YouTube.

(PS: and before you ask, those are bird sounds from outside her office window that weren't noticed as we focused on the recording of this session, but come across surprisingly loud and clear when we listen to this finished interview. ) 

Dorene Kray representing both Akron-Canton and Cleveland chapters alongside XDx' Herb Steward - taking in the concepts . . .

Harvey Mysel
"How can you make a difference, individually or through TRIO?"

Harvey Mysel offers an example of how one person with a passion can make such a  difference.  He founded the Living Donor Network through which he offers webinar based and meeting room sessions to educate about the options of living organ donation.  Harvey is joined by his wife, Amy, in the Q&A session, showing further how this amazing couple works together in support of that mission.

Harvey's talk is followed by three TRIO panelists who share their own passionate endeavors that are changing the world post transplant:
1st, Merle Zuel, heart recipient and author, TRIO board member, founder/president of the TRIO Kansas City chapter talking about his annual MerleJam music event

Russell Breish, M.D.

In support of TRIO's upcoming Primary Care Physician (PCP) campaign to use a grassroots approach to get PCP's to talk to their patients about organ donation, Dr. Breish provides insight into the daily life and workings of the primary care physician and their busy office setting.  He goes beyond that topic to also discuss several other very interesting aspects of organ donation from his unique and very personal perspective.

It is hoped that with this insider view, TRIO members can be better equipped to undertake a proactive role with the TRIO PCP initiative when it is formally launched in the coming months.

Herb Steward
VP Commercial Marketing, XDx

As a marketing professional working in the world of transplant medical professionals, Herb spoke to us on Patient Empowerment, answering the often asked question, "Can I as a patient  be an active and strong voice with doctors and nurses in our  treatment" - especially as it relates to asking questions about new technologies we encounter on the web and in support groups every day. 

That answer as Herb demonstrates with study data, is "Yes."

Listening intently is James Mateiko, donor family member newly appointed to the TRIO board:

This open discussion was a brainstorming to begin  planning for the 2012 25th Anniversary of TRIO. 

Board member and part of the Pittsburgh based founding of TRIO, Pat Folk, despite distance and a busy schedule was able to attend the Summit's first day session and hopefully will provide both history and leadership to the committee that will take up the follow-on formal planning for this special event.  Pat has been active with TRIO since 1987.

While not much in the way of a video (speakers are not often on camera, and thus you have to listen carefuly to catch the suggestions), there were some good ideas shared, such as the idea of hosting some big event in Pittsburgh, birthplace  of the original TRIO chapter. We will be documenting some of the ideas and asking for more from you in the months to come.

Claude Brady of the local NCAC  certainly brings a lot  of TRIO history and experience to the discussion . . .

Jim Gleason
president, TRIO Philadelphia Chapter

Using his many years of corporate and chapter meeting planning and leadership, Jim offered a presentation and open discussion on Conducting Effective Chapter Meetings.  Everyone shared their own both good and not-so-good experiences as part of the discussion, hopefully taking back to their own chapter some new idea to raise meetings to new levels of effectiveness.

Special bonus session:
Sigrid Fry-Revere, J.D., Ph.D.

An unplanned gift of a presentation occurred when Harvey Mysel's guest, Sigrid, agreed to share her recent experiences spending six weeks inside the Iranian transplant centers studying their unique process.  Iran is the only country with legalized payment for organ donation.  It is also the only country that "in some regions" there is a waiting list of kidney donors, and no list of kidney patients awaiting transplant.  While she careful says that what she saw may not transport to the United Sates directly, there are aspects of their process that should be studied as possible solutions to our own excessive waiting list. 

This topic was not on the agenda and given her experience, we offered an impromptu invitation to give us "three to five minutes" sharing of her experience.

Steve Okonek, San Francisco Chapter President, listens intently . . .

Sigrid's topic turned out to be one of the most fascinating of the day as you will see when you watch this half-hour unplanned talk.  Even more surprising was the discovery that in our very tight and carefully reviewed Summit schedule, we had mistakenly left open a 30 minute slot of time, exactly the time her talk happened to take.  Be sure to watch this unique session which she hopes to publish as a book in the near future.  Remember, you saw it here first!