ASHP Affiliate Presidential Officers and Executives, ASHP Board members and staff participated in two Presidential Officer Retreats in November in Chicago and Dallas.  Fifty-five officers and executives from 27 states attended these leadership sessions.

Several of the main objectives of the Presidential Officers Retreats are:

• To enhance leadership and association management skills of elected affiliate officers.
• To provide a forum for discussion and feedback among elected affiliate officers and ASHP's officers and staff.
• To encourage the sharing of best practices among affiliate leaders through open discussion and networking.

The Retreats opened with a presentation on the landmark American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) study on Decision to Join and the impact that the study results could have on state organizations.  Carylann Assante, Vice President of Development for ASAE, presented a summary of the study on why people join associations and discussed how organizations can use the information to influence their membership strategies.

During the afternoon session, all of the affiliate leaders and executives participated in an engaging discussion on building consensus on the hospital pharmacy practice model.  Participants discussed why there was high interest within ASHP in re-examining the hospital pharmacy model and moving to an integrated team-based approach.  Breakout groups included discussions on building consensus on the new model; core principles to be included in the model; current IT systems' impact on patient-care activities; and challenges in developing consensus on the practice model.

The final session of the retreats included a forum for discussion and feedback among elected affiliate officers.  The discussion topics included major issues such as financial support/industry grants; membership recruitment and retention; leadership development; technician memberships; local affiliate chapters; and innovative member services.

Several of the participants noted that "this meeting is useful, well-designed, and informative" while many participants felt that the discussion time with other affiliates and sharing information allowed "excellent networking and sharing of best practices".