By: Sarah Van Orman, MD, MMM
ACHA Vice President and Coordinator, Annual Meeting 2013 Leadership Program

ACHA members gather each year at the ACHA national meeting to learn new skills, wrestle with the important issues, reconnect with old friends, and meet new colleagues. Despite coming at the end of a hectic academic year, we also find time to organize and plan much of the work for the coming year of ACHA’s affiliates, sections, committee, coalitions, and task forces. Through our efforts as volunteer leaders the work of the association is done. 

Every ACHA member is an ACHA leader, whether it’s sitting on the board, participating in a coalition, or simply joining in the discussion at the national or a regional meeting. Becoming more involved, however, can seem a daunting task. It may be overwhelming to think about adding more to an already busy professional lives, it may seem that all the volunteer roles are filled with leaders already, or it just may seem hard to know where to start. 

Last year in Phoenix, a group of new and veteran leaders were asked to share their wisdom about what they had learned about being an ACHA volunteer leader. Together they created a short list of advice that may help new leaders looking to get started or veteran leaders looking for new opportunities.  

• Mentorship: Be and find a mentor. You are a resource to others and you have something to offer.
• Take the plunge: Push past your reluctance, take a risk and get involved. Don’t be afraid to volunteer. When you come in a room, sit by someone you don’t know and introduce yourself. Go to committee and coalition meetings that interest you.  No matter what your position at your health service you can be a volunteer leader
•  Know your resources: Collaborate, collaborate, and collaborate. Our strength is as a multidisciplinary organization. Ask others for help and advice. Delegate and reach out to others – share the workload. Get to know the ACHA national office staff. 
• Make sure you’re having fun. Maintain a good balance and know your limits. Share your passion and it comes back 10-fold. 
  

Whether Boston is your first, second, tenth, or thirtieth meeting, I want to encourage each of you to think about your role as a leader and how you may want to get and stay involved. Together we can achieve our common goal of improving the health of college students across the nation.

ACHA 2013 Annual Meeting 

By: Kristen Roget
Senior Meeting & Event Manager, Experient

If you are looking for a few hours of fun outside the hotel, be sure to check out the Sam Adams Brewery just a few stops down the T at 30 Germania Street (from the Marriott, take the Orange Line from Boston Back Bay towards Forest Hill and exit at the Stony Brook Station).

Once there, sign up for a complimentary tour which leads you through the brewery. Experience what it takes to make these award winning beers. From touching and smelling the hops, to seeing the giant barrels at work, to enjoying the end product—there will be laughs along the way and a tasting glass to take home as a keep sake!

Brewery tours start at 10:00 a.m. and continue till the last tour at 3:00 p.m., lasting about 45 minutes (not open on Sundays). They will showcase a local charity and a $2 donation is suggested.

ACHA 2013 Annual Meeting 
Sam Adams Brewery

By: Chad Henderson, MBA, FACHA
Chair, Program Planning Committee

Along the Freedom Trail and docked at the old Boston Naval Shipyard in Charlestown, Massachusetts, the USS Constitution is my favorite “go see and don’t miss” in Boston. Authorized by George Washington in 1794, she was built with timbers felled from Maine to Georgia, copper fasteners provided by Paul Revere, and armed with cannon cast in Rhode Island. Launched in Boston on October 21, 1797, she was first put to sea in 1798. Having remained a part of the U.S. Navy since that day, Constitution is the world’s oldest commissioned warship afloat.

Having read about her in school and having written a paper on her defeat of France’s HMS Guerriere as she scored her first in a grand succession of victories in the War of 1812, I became personally associated with her in the mid 1970’s as a young Navy Lieutenant engaged in closing of the Naval Hospital in Chelsea and attempting to plan for the health care of her crew who would remain stationed in Boston. I recall walking her decks and engaging the crew who serve with honor aboard her leading tours and providing ceremonial units for special occasions.

In the mid 1990’s I assumed command of the Naval Hospital in Newport, Rhode Island which had responsibility to support the health and wellness needs on the Constitution and her crew. I had the absolute privilege to get to know the crew on a very personal level. During that time the USS Constitution was undergoing a major overhaul in Dry Dock #1 at the shipyard. The overhaul involved craftsmen and women of all ages from across the nation. I received the “walk the dock” honor, was able to view and touch the keel, and privileged to sign a replacement copper sheet being installed on the hull.

In July 1997, the USS Constitution was placed “under sail” on a cruise to Marblehead, Massachusetts to mark her 200th birthday. I led a very small medical contingent placed aboard to provide emergency care to the crew and distinguished guests including Senator Edward “Ted” Kennedy and Walter Cronkite.  When I retired from the Navy that August I was privileged to have my retirement ceremony on her foredeck and the ship’s  bos’n “piped me ashore.” The lid of my retirement sea chest is held in place with 13 wooden plugs cut from scrap removed during that overhaul. 

So while you are in Boston please don’t miss the chance to be part of history!

ACHA 2013 Annual Meeting 
USS Constitution

I’m willing to bet by the time you’re reading this the Cheers theme song is playing in your head. It’s hard to see those five words strung together and not instantly remember Gary Portnoy’s infectious melody and those quirky, loveable characters of the 80s and early 90s. Even though the show’s original run ended on May 20, 1993, the show lives on in Boston at 84 Beacon Street and inside Faneuil Hall.

In the early 80s, producers Glen Charles, Les Charles, and James Burrows hatched the idea of Cheers, a show about a neighborhood tavern that functions more like a family. They liked the idea of the show taking place in a bar since it provided a continuous stream of new people. After considering a handful of far flung locations such as Barstow, California, and Kansas City, Missouri, the team settled on Boston for a location. Then they had to find a local muse. 

Cheers Beacon Hill, formerly the Bull & Finch Pub, is the original inspiration for its TV counterpart. The shows creators picked out the Bull & Finch at random and used the exterior for the series’ establishing shots in the opening credits. While the inside of Cheers Beacon Hill looks nothing like the Cheers bar, it’s still a hugely popular attraction in Boston. The Bull & Finch eventually changed its name to Cheers Beacon Hill in the early 2000s. In 2001 a replica of the interior Cheers set was constructed in Faneuil Hall. This location allows visitors to experience the set as they had seen it on television. 

Whichever location you choose – the original, the replica, or both! – the menu stays the same with yummy food for any appetite. From “Sam’s Starters” to “Woody’s Garden Greens” to those “eNormous Burgers,” visitors are sure to get the full Cheers experience. 

ACHA 2013 Annual Meeting 
Cheers Boston