IDN Summit offers a lot of opportunities for attendees, from educational sessions to networking to meeting with new or existing business partners.

A lot of excitement and optimism was generated when the 2011 Fall IDN Summit took place recently in Phoenix. There was enthusiasm in the air, as evidenced by the great questions and interaction occurring time and again in the educational sessions, and the many meetings and conversations generated though the Reverse Expo and networking opportunities.

Through the general session program and Relief! Reception, attendees also recognized the hope for the future that has sustained the staff of Mercy's St. John's Regional Medical Center and the steadfast dedication of the staff of ROi, Mercy's supply chain division, as they have continued to weather the aftermath of the tornado striking the community of Joplin. Hearing firsthand from those heroes of St. John's, attendees to the Summit responded generously, donating more than $40,000 through a silent auction and individual contributions to aid the workers of St. John's.

It's also wonderful to hear stories about the work others are doing to help this community. I recently learned that 20 employees from the VHA Mid-America office will volunteer in Joplin for a Community Day volunteer effort on Oct. 11. They'll be helping to sort and distribute supplies for the AmeriCorps Emergency Response Team.

Meetings and events can provide much-needed inspiration, interaction and insight. Too often, though, it becomes easy to come home from an event and get caught up in the day-to-day challenges and tasks at hand. Before you know it, you've lost that momentum, you've let some of those new ideas drift away and you aren't seizing all of the business opportunities that exist from the groundwork you laid only weeks earlier.

Don't let that happen to you. IDN Summit is focused on helping you get the most out of your Summit experience. That means, not only while you're at the Summit, but we want to ensure you have the best chance of putting all those good ideas and interactions to work for you and your organization once you're back home.

One way IDN Summit wants to help you make the most of your Summit experience is by providing copies of presentations from the Summit's educational sessions. In an effort to continue to deliver an exceptional education program for attendees, the 2011 Fall IDN Summit featured 33 speakers who were entirely new to the Summit, representing 66% of the Fall speaker lineup. You can view and download many of the presentations from the breakout sessions and general sessions here. Presentations are listed by track and time, so you can easily gather details from the presentations you heard or browse concurrent sessions and download the presentations you missed.

Beginning next week, audio and video of the educational sessions will begin to become available as well.

I hope you keep the excitement and enthusiasm of the recent IDN Summit going in the months ahead, and reap the full benefits a Summit experience has to offer for you and your organization.