What was your favorite part of this conference?

Written comments:

 10:30 session; meeting others  Afternoon general session  Being inspired and motivated.  Break out groups  Break out sessions  breakout sessions  Breakout sessions  Breakout sessions  Breakout Sessions  breakout sessions were very good  Breakout sessions.....great info and also networking opportunities  Closing General Session  Closing session - Frates.  Closing speaker!!  connecting with colleagues  Educational components, I attended two great break out sessions.  End-note speaker  general presenter  general session, networking, expo  Getting to know many of the players in the field of elder care.  hearing how effective the Freitas family was in increasing awareness. That you can make a difference  I enjoyed the sessions....I thought they were well thought out.  I took something away from every session I attended.  Innovative session  John Diffey session  Keynote speaker- I thought that the content was great and applicable.  Keynote speakers  Learning more about dementia  Listening to how Brookhaven went about their expansion.  Lunch networking  meeting and discussing issues with some of the remarkable attendees  Meeting new people as well as connecting with those I already know.  Morning session and closing session.  Mrs. Frates and A1 session.  Ms Frates  My favorite part was the seminar on Understanding Behavior as communication and also the Pete Frates story from his mother  Nancy Frates  Nancy Frates  Nancy Frates  Nancy Frates  Nancy Frates  Nancy Frates Session  Nancy Frates!  Nancy Frates! Incredible story!  Nancy Frates. Wow.  Nancy Freitas  Nancy Fretes  Nancy Fretes talk  networking  Networking  Networking  Networking  Networking  Networking and connecting with those I hadn't seen in a while. It is good to get out from behind the desk and see people, it is re-energizing.  Networking and Nancy Frates  Networking and seeing colleagues  Networking break, talking with other administrators.  Networking with friends of 30+ years  Networking with others  Networking, general session  no "favorite"  Reconnecting with colleagues  session  Session A1  Session A1  Sessions attended and the networking opportunities.  Sessions, getting CEUs  speaker  The breakout sessions  The Closing Session!  The closing speaker  The Closing Speaker  The educational seminars  The end session with Nancy Frates. It was inspiring and engaging. How lucky we were to be able to have her speak.  The exhibits, the keynote, and last session  The first breakout session I attended was very interesting.  The first breakout session I went to and the last general session.  the first general session  The general sessions. Both were inspirational!  The last speaker.  The morning breakout session on engaging a person with dementia.  The most moving were the ALS videos & thinking of how I would respond to this diagnosis if it were my son.  The people in attendance, the sense of community/camaraderie  The session that I attended and meeting new people.  The speakers  the speakers  Three favorites - as a new member -Meeting other LeadingAge members, importance of having an innovation dept vs. individual and overwhelmingly inspired by Nancy Frates which tied the Be The Voice Theme beautifully! Well done!  Vendors  Workshop on engaging with people with dementia How do you think this conference could have been improved?

Written comments:

 a/c in rooms was too high and vendors were all medically oriented, not relevant for my organization (independent housing)  Additional speakers for breakout sessions if possible to recruit  Area where breakfast was held was too small. Consider having breakfast where morning break was held. Also, consider having morning break and lunch break in the vendor area.  at the end when raffle prizes give, very disorganized  Better break out sessions, shorter exhibit time  Better opening speaker, less time during lunch- there was more than enough time to see all vendors, eat lunch and network and then still at least 30 mins leftover  break out group sessions could be described with a little more detail to help in the decision making on which groups peak interest  Coffee and Drinks out all day  Consider your speakers and how their content can be applied to leaders in eldercare. As I mentioned before, it's not always about who delivers the information but how the information is delivered. I still remember last year's speaker and how incredible he was.  Different Intro speaker  Each year I learn new things continue to look for innovative sessions  Enhanced descriptions of the educational sessions the titles may not always line up or explain content presented.  exhibit hall with more product vendors. Some sessions about new trends, such as age friendly communities.  General Speaker idea was great - but this speaker was so self-promotional that I found it hard to sit through the 1.5 hours.  Greater variety of break out sessions. Maybe do 3 sessions, I wonder if there seemed to be a smaller attendance because the variety of break out sessions seemed smaller this year.  Have every moderator/presenter invite people to write something for the "When I am old" board, and then somehow find a way to show the results at the end.  he keynote speaker needed to stay more on point.  hold it closer to Boston  I like the Verve location better.  I like to leave a conference with concrete take aways and I didn't feel that happened.  I really am not sure. The flow was organized and things were timely.  I think having a dynamic beginning to set the tone which means a dynamic speaker to kick it off.  I thought the keynote was a bit self-centered and less applicable for the audience.  I wish Mrs. Frates had been the keynote speaker.  If you had had Rob Schreiber do the General Session in the a.m. Also, the rooms were too cold until Sue fixed the thermostat, and the food left alot to be desired. I've said for years I dislike wraps, but that's what you always have. The salad was fine.  I'm beginning to wonder how having vendors at our conference truly benefits the attendees or the vendors. It seems that attendees tend to be focused on having lunch and reconnecting with colleagues rather than visiting vendor booths other than to enter a raffle.  Is it time to rethink the location?  It was a great day. I know these things are hard to control, but it was extremely cold in the hotel.  Keynote should instruct as well as inspire, so we have something to "take away" from the session and put into practice.  Less time for lunch  Less time given to the luch break, a longer registration time starting a little earlier  Maybe allow a bit more time at end of breakouts for questions. Both my sessions the presenters used the entire time and discussion/questions were limited.  Maybe finding ways to help facilitate conversation during the "free time" by creating moments of cross hybridization after the breakout sessions. Lessons learned, people from different elements of senior living (CEO, Construction, consultants, etc...) or areas that are labeled with topics where you can stand and eat/drink. A master planning zone, a dementia zone, etc....  Maybe have Nancy first and Liz last.  More applicable keynote speaker, structured networking activities, better food, more variety of exhibitors  More dynamic morning speaker to really get us pumped up!  More practice and execution of innovations Less emphasis on motivational speakers  more specifics on innovations in lst 10 years  N/A  Need to offer some advanced work - perhaps tap into colleagues from other states who are doing leading edge work.  Needed someone a little more energetic at the beginning but ending with Nancy was smart to keep people there.  New location  new topics each year are always enticing  no suggestions  not a thing  Not so cold  Not sure, I like the one full day format and the location works as it is fairly central for most everyone in the state (sorry western MA).  Once the temperture in the rooms was adjusted we were far more comfortable.  Opening session more relevant to our industry.  Possibly a breakout session for memory impaired in the long term setting.  Pretty good in all aspects  Shorten lunch break by 1/2 hour.  Shorten the lunch and vendor period.  Shorten the lunch/exhibit time and have the conference end a little earlier. Due to the travel time for most attendees.... it's a very long day.  Shorter key note.  Shorter session, ability to attend more session.  Shorter time at lunch.  Snacks during breaks Reduce lunch time break or add another breakout session option  The air conditioning could have been turned down?  The seating in the big room, Keynote and Closing session. They are so uncomfortable and adjust the a/c! Too cold in the big room.  There seemed to be a lot of time for lunch and the exhibit hall given the number of people.  There was too much time in between sessions.  There was way too much time for lunch. Nobody wanted to wait for two hours for the next session to begin so I think you lost a lot of people during that down time. One hour would be more than enough time.  This was my first time as I am a new member. I felt the conference went very smoothly.  Turning down the A/C!! It was freezing!  very well organization, varied session topics  very well organized  Y'all did a wonderful job! Well-organized breakout sessions, good signage, plenty of time to network. What type of organization do you work for?

CCRC 28.13% Nursing Home 23.96% Assisted Living 16.67% Residential Care 14.58% Housing 11.46% LeadingAge BA 10.42% ASAP 9.38% Adult Day 3.13% Hospice 3.13% What is your main function at work?

CEO/Exec. Dir./Administrator 46.34% Nursing 13.41% Sales and Marketing 13.41% Financial 9.76% Social Work/Social Services 9.76% Trustee/Board Member 3.66% Activities 2.44% Facilities 1.22% Dining/Dietary/Catering 0.00% Please add any other comments you'd like:

 As always - it was wall organized, respected attendees' time. Breakout sessions I attended were excellent this year. Were relevant and well presented.  Because my property is independent living, a lot of the vendors do not relate to me. However, it is fun to go around and talk to them and put my name in for the raffle prizes.  Enjoyed the day  Every LeadingAge conference and event I've attended has had excellent advance planning and wonderful presenters and topics. Congrats and a big thank you.  Great job on getting so many venders in the exhibit hall. Also, lunch was great.  I enjoyed the day and took home some good information from conversations with others.  It was a very good meeting. Well worth attending. I felt the breakout sessions were very informative.Thank you for another job well done.  It was more than 2 hours travel to and from Boxborough from the South Shore. That is too much travel time for the limited CEU's and lack of relevancy for Fiscal.  Just want to tell Elissa, Sue and Don what a great job you do all the time, and every year with these conferences.  N/A  Overall I thought it was a very worthwhile experience and I'm looking forward to the next one.  Overall, a good conference and worth the day away from the office.  Overall, the conference was good. very cold in the breakout rooms. The coffee there still leaves a lot to be desired  Thank you for a great day- please keep the incredible work shops coming!  Thank you for a great first MA Leading Age conference!  Thank you for hosting this conference  Thank you for organizing such a wonderful program every year. It is so informative and inspirational! Thank you all.  Thank you for organizing!  Thank you!  THANK YOU! I'm really looking forward to attending the National Leading Age Conference in Boston.  Thanks for all of your hard work!  Thanks to the committee for putting on another well organized event.  The exposition had some great vendors, very willing to speak to me. LOTS of medical equipment that didnt' apply to my site, but otherwise helpful.  Truly feel honored to be involved with Leading Age!  Very good conference. Very Worthwhile  Well done to the team at LeadingAge and look forward to seeing you all at National!  Would there be an interest among members in having an Innovation Workgroup to allow for organizations working on innovations to meet occasionally, share experiences and successes, and discuss what did and did not work in their organizations? Please indicate the top three topic areas you would like to see LeadingAge Massachusetts have future education sessions on:

Innovative Programs/Models of Care 37.61% Leadership (Staff) Team Development 33.03% Current & Future Consumer Needs 32.11% Culture Change Needs 28.44% Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) 25.69% Wellness/Life Enrichment Programming 23.85% Strategic Partnerships 22.02% Aging Facility/Campus & Renovation Needs 20.18% Fundraising 19.27% Workforce Recruitment/Retention 18.35% Diversification of Services 14.68% Policy & Regulatory Issues 14.68% Board/Trustee Development & Roles 13.76% Technology Needs 13.76% Green/Sustainable Alternatives 12.84% Risk Management 12.84% Social Accountability 12.84% Marketing/PR 10.09% Occupancy Issues 10.09% Expansion & Development Needs 6.42% Financial Management 6.42% Obtaining Financing 0.92%