As Ultradent's Information Technology VP, you probably expect to hear a lot from me about technology.  It’s hard to shut me up on this once I get started, but this time I’d like to share something more relevant for everyone.
 
This past Monday was our Labor Day Holiday in the United States.  Labor Day started in 1882 in New York City as a "day off for the working citizens." Today, it's often considered as the last chance for travel with the family,  a day of parades, and a day of rest.  For my family, it was a great way to wrap up our family vacation at a beach house in San Diego. My wife, our four children (aged ten, seven, four, and three- months), and some of my wife’s family spent a great week enjoying our children and each other.

When I think of the time I have spent working over the last twenty-nine years at Ultradent, it’s been highly rewarding. I enjoy the people we work with and what we do, I enjoy my industry, and I love seeing our growth.  At times, however, it has had a “cost” in terms of family. Before I was married it was common for me to work two to three days before going home for a shower and some sleep – there was and always is too much to do and not enough time to do it in. After I was married, these habits abated slightly, but not by much. It was during a particularly long and grueling project that my wife finally got thru to me on what I was sacrificing. I couldn’t continue to work on a laptop all evening and thru the night, oblivious to her and our children.
 
During that time, I also heard a great piece of advice from a consultant we were working with. His name was Marcel – we were all working together in the office on Saturday, as usual, and it was his wife’s birthday. After working a few hours, he excused himself very courteously by saying “It’s tougher to get a new family than a new job.”

I still enjoy pulling occasional all-nighters and I know there are many people working at Ultradent who make similar or greater sacrifices from time to time.  It’s amazing how much gets done in the quiet hours of the morning without interruption.  However, I often think of what Marcel said.  My young children are growing and changing so rapidly – an infant’s speech and mannerisms change in mere days, and as a responsible, caring parent, I really NEED to build strong relationships with each of my kids so I can be in a position to help as they mature. Beyond that, I ENJOY it – time with my wife and children is time I will treasure to the day I die, and these relationships are at least as important as any others I’ll ever invest in.  

We’ve added “Life Balance” to our Core Value of “Caring” here at Ultradent.  It can be a tough act to pull off. From time to time we all may slip and “fall.”  At the end of the day we’re only human, but we must keep trying.

Are there ways you’ve found to keep your life balanced? Favorite vacations, hobbies, and things you do with your family or alone to recharge your batteries and stay balanced with the other passions and work in your life? I’d love to hear from you…

Last week-end Ultradent hosted a regional Distributor Meeting in Bali, Indonesia…

Quite a nice place to be for a meeting!

This was another stepping stone for the development of Ultradent in our region. One of the great ideas brought up by our genius European partners was a “Marketing Contest”. Each one of our distributors was invited to present his marketing creative artwork, with the opportunity to win a $1000$ check. What a remarkable group of people from around the world, sharing their project with so much passion! Customized T-shirts / catalogues / posters / new sample packaging / advertisements were just a few of the different materials presented.

Our Korean distributor “THEZONWORLD” achieved the breakthrough with an innovative marketing campaign to enlarge his product mix and increase the dentists coming to their booth. The most interesting thing to witness was the real motivation to “move forward”; many of our partners returned to their home country with great ideas to promote Ultradent differently and better!

This meeting wouldn’t have been a success without the involvement of our host Frank at THE MANSION; he truly made us feel like queens and kings: flower necklace on arrival, refreshing serviette, Balinese dancing, local delicacies….

Besides work, we also had some time to discover the Balinese lifestyle. Nowhere else does man live in such harmony with nature. After visiting other islands in Asia, I am struck by how well the Bali people and their culture, blend with the sculptured rice terraces. The ocean breeze, the rich smell of Jasmine flower, Buddha statues and massage was a perfect recipe for a relaxing time.

The theme was "Sharing Success in the Region" and I believe this goal was achieved thanks to all of you who prepared/participated/attended or lectured on that day.

Good stuff!

Nothing is so contagious as enthusiasm; it moves stones, it charms brutes. Enthusiasm is the genius of sincerity, and truth accomplishes no victories without it. Lytton

I work for a healthcare hero…

Ultradent was selected as a Health Care Hero by Utah Business Magazine in the category of corporate achievement  Nominees were selected for excellence, innovation and achievement for health care in Utah.  I know this award holds special significance for Dr. Fischer considering the level of importance he’s placed on Ultradent and The Diversity Foundation’s efforts to give back to the community.  Locally, we’ve partnered with the Sealants for Smiles program to provide oral health education, dental screening and the placement of dental sealants for 2^nd and 6^th grade students in Title 1 schools.  We’re also an underwriter of the National Children’s Oral Health Foundation.  These small but growing non-profit organizations have made great strides towards improving oral health care for the underserved.  I think we need to be reminded of how much one program can make a difference. 

Internally, our HR department has made a tremendous impact by design and implementation of a health program that includes 18 “get healthy” events including a 5k marathon, health fair, and a variety of health and fitness seminars. 

It is rare that you see an organization that actually “walks the talk”.  These achievements stand on their own in representing the type of organization one could call a “hero”.

We had another great group of Ultradent Elite offices in town last week. Dr. James Jesse and Dr. John Flucke were both there to lecture and we were lucky enough to snag them for some podcasts…video this time!

What total professionals! Both were so gracious and accommodating. We were a little late getting started with the recordings because of a meeting conflict, so Dr. Jesse hung out in R&D and Dr. Flucke “talked shop” with some engineers who were doing some durability testing on an upcoming product (but you’ll just have to guess what it was…my lips are sealed). Also, if we ever do an outtake reel, you’ll see Dr. Flucke having to do multiple takes because a moth kept flying in front of his face. In the end, though, these two doctors produced some excellent episodes for our podcast. You'll love hearing them talk about endo, composites, and light curing technology.  Stay tuned; as soon as Keith (our awesome A.V. guy) gets them edited, we’ll push them out to you…likely with CE credit available.

On the down side, I really wanted to record an audio podcast with two of our conference attendees -- Drs. Schuck and Flack from Minnesota -- but we didn’t finish the video podcasts until too late and I missed them. I was really excited about it because they were going to share some tips about serving patients whose insurance you don't accept. Maybe we can catch them over the phone sometime.

Are any of you passionate enough about a dental-related subject to record a podcast with us? Post your ideas in a reply to this post and we'll hook up!

Last week, I flew to Atlanta for the 5th Annual Customer Feedback Week. I represented Ultradent in speaking about how we use and collect customer feedback. I always knew Ultradent focused on customer needs, but I didn’t realize the extent to which this is entrenched in the organization until I started putting together this presentation.

One of the more obvious ways we do this is through the Allegiance system, which allows customers to be anonymous while giving us feedback, if they choose. The cool part about it is that since it’s a third-party system, customers can enter their email address, but still maintain their anonymity since the address is masked to us at Ultradent. Then we can respond through the system and take care of the customers’ needs, without them having to reveal their identities. Such an improvement to the anonymous letter, which may bring up excellent points, but which can never be resolved to a customer’s satisfaction since we can’t contact them. Try it out. You can access it through clicking "Contact Us" on our Website or by clicking here. You are, of course, welcome to send compliments as well as complaints. ;)

Then there is our new product development task force, which Dr. Fischer explained so well in his blog a few weeks ago. Everything in product development is focused on making dental “jobs” more efficient, cost-effective, or higher quality. Now, PermaFlo Purple is a product that came out long before this task force was assembled, but I think it perfectly fits the spirit of the new process. Some of the members of Roots thought it would be great if there were a colored composite to indicate the pulpal floor in case of endodontic retreatment. That’s how PermaFlo Purple came about (and in return, we donate a portion of the sales to Roots).

Ah, the Ultradent Elite. They are always so open to sharing ideas with us and we always solicit ideas from them when they come to town. Did you know that it was because of their comments that Ultradent perforated the tray packaging for Opalescence Treswhite Supreme? Now patients can whiten one arch at a time without worrying that the other tray will dry out in the package. We are so lucky to have such inventive minds among our customers and even luckier that they are willing to share.

There were a lot more things I shared at Customer Feedback Week, such as Lynne’s presence on the Dentaltown boards (always so helpful), the customer surveys we send out occasionally (look for more in the future), and our branding research…but this post could get really long, really quickly.

Suffice it to say, I’m so proud to work for a company that cares so much about its customers and not just the bottom line. Do any of you have experiences with my co-workers that reflect this? I’d love for you to post them in reply to this message so we can all pat them on the backs!