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 just deployed our first CustomerPulse Survey to a segment of our customer base. Basically, it's a quick survey that measures how Ultradent customers perceive our service. We got some really interesting feedback and hope to come up with strategies that will serve our customers better. One thing that was confirmed for us through this survey is that the dental industry is not isolated from the current economic crisis, though we haven't been hit quite as hard as other arenas.

One way we can help dental professionals right away is to offer free or low-cost continuing education. Many offices don't currently have the budget to travel, take days out of the office, etc. That's why Ultradent is offering our first Webinar (online seminar) on March 6, 2009. It's totally free and dentists/staff can earn 2 CE credits for attending. Dr. Dan Fischer will present economical opportunities for dental offices in a downturned economy. We have run an inexpensive, all-electronic marketing campaign about this event and so far, the response has been outstanding. We have dentists, hygienists, and assistants from all over the U.S. signed up to attend. We invite everyone who is interested to register at http://www.ultradent.com/webinars.

Ultradent also offers free CE for some episodes of our podcast. Visit http://learningcenter.ultradent.com/ to learn more.