Happy March, INANE Colleagues,

Lots of information for this first-of-the month update. Our biggest news is the announcement of the winners of the Suzanne Smith Mentoring Editors Awards. This is a new initiative for INANE and I am very pleased with the way the program is evolving. Brief bios and pictures are posted here; consider leaving a comment or word of encouragement to the award winners in the comments!

Carol A. “Pat” Patsdaugher

One idea that came to me after the awardees were selected was to pair each winner with and mentor-editor. Pat Patsdaughter had planned to attend the conference with her student and protégé, Suha Ballout. Pat’s untimely death on January 26 made that an impossibility so I asked Lucy Bradley-Springer to step in in the role. With that in place I thought, “Why not do the same for the others?” Thank you to the mentors who enthusiastically accepted my invitation and congratulations to the winners!

The Mentoring Editors Awards are funded by donations to the Suzanne Smith Development Fund. As of today we have raised $2510 and expended $1980 on this year’s awards, leaving a balance of $530. That’s a start for next year! I believe this is a valuable program that honors a very special colleague and I hope we are able to

Suzanne Smith

continue it for years to come. If you have been planning on making a donation but haven’t quite gotten around to it, don’t dilly-dally any longer! The average donation is ~$80–a modest amount but looking at the winners you can see it is a worthwhile investment. As a point of information, there were a total of nine applications for the Mentoring Editors Awards this year. The Planning Committee was challenged to select four as all of the applications were of extremely high quality. If you believe in INANE and the value of mentorship to nurture those who will follow in our footsteps, please make a donation today.

Margaret Comerford Freda

While I’m on the subject of awards, a reminder that applications for the Margaret Comerford Freda Award for Editorial Leadership in Nursing are now being accepted. Established in 2012, this award recognizes excellence, innovation, and sustained contributions to knowledge dissemination through nursing publication. Previous winners are Margaret Freda, Joyce Fitzpatrick, and Shirley Smoyak. We are looking forward to adding a new name to the list at INANE 2014. Please consider nominating a colleague who you believe exemplifies excellence and is worthy of this award. Applications are due by April 15, 2014. By the way, the winner will not be publicly announced until the presentation of the award on August 5th which is different from last year. Personally, I think this heightens the anticipation and adds to the prestige of the award.

Publisher meetings are being scheduled! Monday, August 4 from 9 am to 1 pm was set aside as dedicated time for Publisher and Editor Meetings. As of today, three publishers: Lippincott, Williams, and Wilkins, Elsevier, and Wiley have taken advantage of this opportunity and scheduled a meeting. Details regarding rooms and exact times will be posted when I have this information. I am sure that the publishers will be contacting their editors directly with meeting agendas and so on. Still, I wanted to make sure everyone was aware of these scheduled events so they can keep this in mind when planning travel. Remember, the Regency is offering the discounted room rate to INANE attendees on Sunday August 3rd. Monday will be a full day with meetings, the Discover Portland Trolley Tour, and our Opening Gala and Speaker. Arrive on Sunday, give yourself the evening to unwind, and then plan on diving into a very busy and exciting INANE conference first thing Monday morning. Or–if you arrive early enough, consider booking a tour with Maine Day Trip, another INANE partner!

I have been asked if there are other hotels near the Regency. Yes, there are but word is out that the Regency is “offline” for the days of our conference. As a result, neighboring hotels are raising their prices knowing they can get reservations from guests who would normally select the Regency as their first choice. In doing some informal checking, I have been quoted rates of over $400/night for an average king room at other locations. While the Regency might seem a little spendy, believe me when I say it is best bargain in town for the week of August 3rd. I encourage everyone to make their reservations now to guarantee price and your preferred room selection. Remember, there is no financial penalty to make an advance reservation. You will not be charged until you arrive at the hotel and can cancel anytime up to 48 hours in advance.

The complete, final conference program has been available for a month. I have gotten some great feedback on the variety of sessions and presenters. If you have been waiting for the final program to register, wait no more! Also, just a reminder: all presenters must register to attend INANE 2014. Our modest budget does not allow us to pay honoraria or offer complimentary registrations to the conference. If you are scheduled to present a breakout or poster session and haven’t registered, please do so at your earliest convenience. Thank you!

Last but not least, INANE 2014 has gone mobile! We have partnered with Guidebook to create a mobile app for the conference and believe me, it is terrific. This is a benefit to all INANE attendees. When you register, I will send the code to download the INANE guide. Wondering what Guidebook is, or what our INANE guide looks like? Click here for more information.

I think that sums up all the information I wanted to share today. As always, if you have questions or comments, use the Feedback form to get in touch with me directly. I will do my very best to get you the information you need as quickly as I possibly can!

Looking forward to welcoming my colleagues to Maine in August,

Leslie

For the Planning Committee: Peggy Chinn, Margaret Freda, Shawn Kennedy, Lisa Marshall, Jean Proehl