Adelaide is sunny and fine and lovely. I am here for the ADS-ADEA conference which officially kicks off tomorrow.

Today, the Roche Educators Day – is a program of practical sessions which, according to the program notes, ‘aims to determine and understand unmet needs in diabetes from the clinician’s perspective.’ The program also promises ‘Experts in the field of diabetes will share to you their clinical experience and knowledge on various topics in relation to diabetes management.’

It is a great program with some incredible experts. And me pretending to know what I am talking about and trying to not be a trouble maker.

The day kicked off with Professor Jane Speight’s plenary session – ‘Adherence and Motivation: Dealing with the elephants in the diabetes consultation’. Jane’s talk was, as expected, full of practical tips. She challenged the people in the room to think about what their expectations are and if they meet the expectations of people with diabetes.

I presented next, delivering an hour long session on ‘Diabetes in a digital world’, where I put a spotlight on how social media can be – and is being – used by people with diabetes and healthcare professionals to connect, support and enhance care. Plus, I used cartoons and cat pictures. Because I was talking about the internet. I will be doing the same talk later this afternoon and I hope the audience is as receptive as this morning’s audience.

I’ve also had a look around the Exhibition Hall and while I will tell anyone who asks that it is because I am interested in the latest and greatest in diabetes management, the real aim for today was to find where the best coffee can be found. Head to the Novo stand, people. The English barista from Sydney has shattered all of my Melbourne-coffee-snob-bias and bangs out a bloody good latte!

Other important priorities for the day included avoiding conference hypo syndrome (failed miserably AFTER mentioning it in my talk), tweeting the bejeezus out of all the sessions (except my own, because although I can multi task like a boss, I’ve not yet learnt how to tweet while giving a talk), and trying to remember that I can’t take photos of…well…pretty much anything.

Looks like it is shaping up to be a great conference. Follow along at home on Twitter: #ADSADEA2015 (and for today’s Roche Educators Day: #RED2015)

Oops. Broke the 'no photographing in sessions' rule.

Oops. Broke the ‘no photographing in sessions’ rule.

DISCLAIMER

I am here as an invited speaker. Roche has covered my travel, accommodation and conference fee costs. There was no arrangement for me to write about the day – I’m just doing it because it’s been very interesting! I am very grateful to Roche for putting a consumer on their speaker panel today. It is terrific to see industry engaging in such a meaningful way.