Fresh voices, new faces, and infectious passion. That's what laboratory conferences hunger for in their preanalytic speakers. Next year, their appetite will become voracious. 

That's because I've decided to step away from the podium at the end of this year.

The photo to the right was taken in 1997, about the time I started lecturing while still employed at University Hospital in Louisville, Kentucky. I left in December of 1998 to start the Center for Phlebotomy Education. At that time, I had no idea the path I was about to do down, or that it would lead me throughout North America and in 10 other countries,

Flash forward to today. Over 500 conference presentations later, 35 this year alone, it's time to focus my time and energies elsewhere. Make no mistake, I'm not retiring. What I do is too much fun to be called "work," so I have nothing to retire from. That makes me one of the luckiest people alive. I was born to do what I do, and there's still a lot of work to be done on prenanalytical education, promoting the phlebotomy profession, and helping other companies succeed. 

I will still honor my existing speaking commitments and may even accept invitations to a few select events like CE Day. But my days as a conference presenter need to be over for many reasons.

• Everything I have to say, I've already said;
• My wife deserves to have me home more often;
• I would like to spend more time in her company;
• My closest airport is now a 2-3 hour drive from home;
• The speaking circuit needs fresh voices, new faces, and infectious passion.

Even though my portfolio of over 25 presentations will be retired at the end of this year, I plan on repurposing my time in ways that continue to impact patient care through advances in preanalytic education and innovations..Instead of spending hundreds of hours every year preparing and updating PowerPoints and handouts, I plan on making great progress:

• updating our videos to reflect the revised CLSI standards;
• creating more short clips for our YouTube channel;
• being more effective with our social media platforms;
• educating more non-laboratory professions that draw blood samples, especially the dental professions;
• helping innovative companies bring products to the marketplace that solve serious problems.

This shift in my focus comes with a price, though. What I will miss the most is the very thing that has made cramped airplanes, grungy hotel rooms, and bad restaurant experiences worth tolerating: seeing what I refer to as "my people."

Because of my extensive travel, my close friends don't live down the street or even in a 20-mile radius of where I live. They live across North America and around the world. It's been that way for 20 years, and I've grown accustomed to being a stranger in my neighborhood but well-known far-away. Conferences are the only place I ever see those I call my dearest friends. You know who you are, and I will greatly miss hanging out with you. 

So it goes.

Unless you'll be at a future CE Day, Global Summit, or CLSI conference, our only connection will be by phone, email, social media and this newsletter. Rest assured, you add value to my life even if we cannot occupy the same physical space. 

I have to share with you that I have a funny feeling inside about stepping away from the podium. I sense that speaking over the last 20 years was preparing me for something else, something different, something more, and something totally unrelated. That's all I can tell you because that's all I know. I could be wrong, but it's a gut feeling that seems more inevitable than fleeting. Rest assured, if it is meant to be resistance will be futile. 

Respectfully,

Dennis J. Ernst MT(ASCP), NCPT(NCCT)
Editor
[email protected]