Presidential Letter to AACE MidAtlantic Members

posted: February 12, 2019

President’s Update

Dear Friends,

I am pleased to have served as the Chapter President of Mid-Atlantic AACE for 2018 – 2019. It has been a pleasure working with a dedicated, hard-working, and forward-thinking group of Officers and Board of Directors. They’ve supported AACE’s original missions of advocacy and education for clinical endocrinologists, locally and nationally, for many years.

In August 2018, national AACE informed us that they would no longer be involved in the management of Chapters. Many long-time employees dedicated to Chapter support were fired. We were instructed to select a Management Association before January 1, 2019. On that date, AACE national would terminate all support, including Chapter insurance coverage.

During the subsequent months we interviewed multiple management companies. We would have preferred to stay with AACE national, given the institutional memory of their former staff. After many phone conferences, followed by research and deliberation, the board voted to contract with WJ Weiser & Associates, Inc. (Weiser) of Chicago, Illinois.

Although the majority of other local and regional Chapters selected Weiser, AACE national would not vet them as Weiser was not their selection. Nonetheless, Weiser has an excellent reputation managing other societies. Since signing with them, I’ve been impressed with their attention to detail, as well as their guidance during an abrupt transition. With their help, we’ve obtained insurance coverage for the Chapter and the Chapter’s officers.

We expect that going forward, the change in management to a for profit company will result in a significant increase in Pharma presence at our meetings.

This is regretful, but unavoidable given the changes imposed by AACE national.

As discussed at our 2018 annual business meeting, the AACE Mid-Atlantic Board is concerned about the new direction of AACE national. Our concerns are shared by many other Chapters. We will continue our dialogue with AACE national to make them aware of this.

Please mark your calendar for the next Mid-Atlantic AACE Annual Meeting, on Friday and Saturday, September 20 and 21, 2019. It will again be held at the College Park Marriott. The topics and speakers are impressive. I hope to see you there.

Wishing you and your family a happy and healthy 2019.

Sincerely,

Michael A. Dempsey, MD, FACP
President, Mid-Atlantic Chapter of AACE