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EW SHOW DAILY 6 ASCRS News Today Sunday, May 7, 2017 by Liz Hillman EyeWorld Staff Writer the motion coming at you from every direction," he said. The jug- gler throws and catches, all while making it look easy. This too, Mr. Thurmon thinks, is something oph- thalmic administrators do every day. Here are some key takeaways from Mr. Thurmon's speech: • Delegate: It is difficult to let go of things you know you're good at, Mr. Thurman said, right after he threw a surprise juggling club into the audience, which, fortunately, was caught. • Live off balance—on purpose: Mr. Thurman said that while life bal- ance is an intriguing and desirable concept, he finds it unrealistic. "It's your choice, you decide what's important, you're leading changes," he said. • Practice, don't give up: "You never know how close you are to that breakthrough of understanding," Mr. Thurmon said, describing what he called "intentional strug- gling." • Keep looking up: "It's not about the catches, it's about the throws," Mr. Thurmon said, drawing upon his analogy to juggling. "Un- derstand what it is you want to accomplish and what's going to take you there." • Reconcile your five spheres (work, relationships, health, spirit, and interests): These spheres, Mr. Thurmon said, do not need to be mutually exclusive but should support each other. • If the ball is in your hand, throw it: "In other words, take action when you have the opportunity." Several awards and honors were also presented at the Opening Gen- eral Session. Andrew Maller, MBA, Phoenix, received ASOA's Pinnacle Award for Volunteerism, and the annual Administrative Eyecare (AE) Editor's Choice Award was presented to Keith Casebolt, COE, Medford, Oregon, for his article "BBQ—The Proper Use for Sacred Cows." Donna McCune, COE, Fort Mill, South Carolina, was inducted as an ASOA fellow, the highest and most presti- gious membership status. EW Editors' note: Alcon Pharmaceuticals Franchise of Novartis Pharmaceuti- cals Corporation (Fort Worth, Texas) sponsored the ASOA Opening General Session and its keynote speaker. length of the stage, advanced jug- gling—with balls, what looked like a real bowling ball (to the audience's relief, it wasn't), and knife-like instruments (which were real)—a podium handstand, and riding on an at least 6-foot-tall unicycle, while juggling the sharp tools. Mr. Thurmon used his skills to highlight how members of the audience could apply them to their own lives. "What I'm asking is: What will you do, what are you willing to do, that may be different than what you have done in the past?" Mr. Thur- mon said. The first challenge is to get a grip, to wrap your mind around, just owning the challenge, Mr. Thurmon said, comparing it to the first chal- lenge of a famous juggler who at one point was paralyzed and literally had to practice getting a grip. "You can't always control the outcome but you can control the process along the way," he said. Mr. Thurmon went on to com- pare juggling to what those in the audience do every day. "I think all of you are profes- sional jugglers … managing vast, complex situations in the midst of CRS and/or ASOA can be a mentor or mentee, and it goes for the mem- bership as well," he said. "What makes this relationship so special is we learn from each other." Dr. Koch went on to acknowl- edge the work that goes on behind the scenes with ASCRS and ASOA. One of these examples, Dr. Koch introduced, is ASOAnalytics, an online benchmarking program that, through a series of surveys, will compile data to help better advise practice operations with information on topics like practice demographics and provider productivity. An ASOA member featured in the ASOAnalyt- ics launch video said this program will help her "keep track of the financial health of my practice while also allowing me to compare my practice to my peers." The main highlight of the Opening General Session was an inspiring—and at times acrobatic —performance by keynote speaker Dan Thurmon, an author, president of Motivation Works Inc., and an inductee to the National Speakers Association Council of Peers Award for Excellence Speaker Hall of Fame. Mr. Thurmon impressed the au- dience with a series of roundoffs the "L os Angeles is where it all began," said Laureen Row- land, CAE, Fairfax, Virginia, welcom- ing attendees to the ASOA Opening General Session on Saturday morn- ing, referencing where the idea for the organization began more than 30 years ago. "Here we are many years later," Ms. Rowland continued, adding that over the years ASOA has, and will continue, to grow and adapt with its members and alongside ASCRS, which she said, "continues to be a strong advocate of ASOA." ASCRS Immediate Past Presi- dent Kerry Solomon, MD, Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, took to the stage, emphasizing the importance of the relationship between ASCRS and ASOA. "At the end of the day, as I tell my staff and our members at ASCRS, we couldn't do what we do without you," he said, wishing members a productive meeting. ASOA President William Koch, COE, Dallas, also highlighted the close relationship between ASCRS and ASOA. "What makes this relationship work is that at any given time AS- ASOA Opening General Session inspires audience to live a life 'off balance—on purpose' Dan Thurman used juggling, handstands, and riding a unicycle in his keynote speech to encourage audience to take action to transform their business—and their lives

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