2016 Travelers Conference Re-cap
Travelers Conference 2016 was essentially a celebration of the freedom and the adventure that the travel healthcare lifestyle brings – no wonder it was in Las Vegas! 3 days of seminars, networking, schmoozing, wine-and-dining, and of course some all night parties! Despite all of the shenanigans, we would leave the conference inspired by our fellow rehab clinicians, more motivated to help change the false perception of travel therapists that still persists.
We were blown away by our fellow rehab clinicians who have found a balance between the often selfish pursuit of adventure and providing unbelievable patient care.
Our first time at the Travelers Conference started out with an afternoon poolside under a cabana with the core of a group that we would later refer to as the “Rehab Wolfpack.” We were a small contingent of PT’s, OT’s, and SLP’s connected through one of the leaders in travel healthcare, our friend Julia (https://thetravelingtraveler.com/).
After a few hours of dipping our toes in the cool water, and sipping on colder drinks, we headed off to our room to get ready for dinner sponsored by our recruiting agency.
Hosted by our recruiter from Core Medical (message us for specific names of recruiters we recommend), and two of his colleagues from the nursing side of the agency, five of us met their team at Beauty & Essex. Beauty & Essex is a speakeasy that specializes in unique pairings served family style. Whether it was the booze, delicious food, or our awesome new friends, Im not sure but we had such a good time that we all headed off to the casino to keep the good times going long into the night.
The following morning was our first day of the conference. There had been special sessions the previous day for “newbie travelers” only, but for the majority of the attendees, this was going to be the first day of the conference.
The main features of the conference included a huge convention center filled with booths representing many of the various recruiting agencies passing out schwag and raffling off an assortment of prizes in hopes of acquiring a few new clinicians for their rosters. Some of the more creative and attention grabbing tactics included agencies hiring Elvis impersonators, street magicians, including photo booths or a money grab machine, and even puppies were brought to one booth in hopes of trading cuddles for email addresses. It was all overwhelming, and given my uncontrollable urge to talk with everyone, we wouldn’t make it to everyone until the final hours of the conference the following day.
While all of the craziness was carrying on in the main room there were a variety of lectures and seminars being held. While a few were clearly aimed at the nursing crowd only, most had valuable information for travelers of any profession. We attended a few that we found particularly valuable:
- “Understanding Tax Homes” and “Multi-state taxes” were two sessions lead by Joseph Smith of http://www.traveltax.com/ that were both very useful for clearing up some of the confusing details that come from living a transient lifestyle year-round, and frequently changing the states of employment.
- “How to work and negotiate with multiple companies” – Laura Latimer from http://www.nomadicare.com/ dropped some serious bombs on a few of the attendees here. As we have written (here, here, and here) it is very important to work with multiple companies and learn to negotiate effectively. Laura, very succinctly and effectively explained how to do so without burning bridges or hurting feelings, all while still being able to get what you need out of an assignment.
- “Raising the bar for healthcare travelers” – Tanya Scott threw down a hefty challenge that should be echoed to ALL clinicians. Striving to not just get by in a new setting or new job, but to thrive and be a catalyst for systemic change. Lots of pearls here that will likely get written about in some of our upcoming articles. Very thought provoking.
- Round tables – these were 25 minute mini-sessions that served more as question and answer opportunities. A few of the topics include:
- Housing Details
- Ask a Recruiter
- Resume Building
- RV Living
- Understanding Contracts
These are just a few of the highlights spanning the two days of lectures. All of the sessions were helpful, but these were the most impactful.
Striving to not just get by in a new setting or new job, but to thrive and be a catalyst for systemic change.
After our first day of sessions, Total Med was generous enough to sponsor an Allied Health dinner where the “Rehab Wolfpack” and a few other therapists could help answer some of their questions about our field and how they could better serve the Allied Health clinicians. Again, we had a killer time and afterwards headed to another casino to do some gambling.
Now, I have never gambled before so we made it a point to at least try our hand a something. Sitting down to a roulette table El and I almost instantly burnt through a good portion of our pre-determined allowance, all while our buddy Sugi tripled his money. Stealing a few pointers from him, we were able to claw our way back into the black, stepping away from the tables with a $30 profit! Not bad for two rookies! We would have likely ended the nights gambling right there but while waiting for a different friend to wrap up at the craps table (she would eventually go home with an extra $500 in her pocket so it justified our wait) I made the mistake of sitting down at a dollar slot machine. In an alarmingly short amount of time our profits dwindled to a mere $7 so I bailed out figuring that at least it is still more than we walked in with. That night would run long into the morning. Sharing stories, drinks, wins and losses with our “pack” – it was great to have such a supportive group of like-minded therapists who could give advice and let loose and laugh all the same.
The final day started slowly….I said it was a long night.
We wrapped up the conference by hitting up the booths we had missed the previous day. Overflowing our bags with schwag and networking with the various recruiting companies for most of the day. As they day wore on attendance dwindled as everyone sped off to go prepare for the semi-infamous afterparty sponsored by a few of the top tier recruiting agencies.
The afterparty was held on the 53rd floor of The Palms. Essentially it was a rooftop club with magnificent views of the Vegas strip and Las Vegas Mountain Range glowing under the moonlight. True to form the Rehab Wolfpack had to get the party started out on the dance floor, and we were soon joined by a rowdy mass of nurses who were waiting for someone to have the guts to come break the ice.
While the 2016 Travelers Conference was three days letting loose and indulging in a taste of the Vegas experience, it was also three days of building relationships with our fellow rehab clinicians. We were blown away by our fellow rehab clinicians who have found a balance between the often selfish pursuit of adventure and providing unbelievable patient care. Challenging ourselves and each other to continue raising the bar for travel therapists. Building relationships with our “wolf pack” was easily worth the price of admission to the conference, and we are already planning for next year.
Written by: Stephen Stockhausen
