Hello Mr. Snider,

We are pleased to invite you to speak at the AADE15 Annual Meeting & Exhibition of the American Association of Diabetes Educators (AADE) in New Orleans, LA, August 5 – 8, 2015.

I assumed this email was sent by mistake. I couldn’t have done anything to earn such an invitation. But when I read on, the phrase “Patient Community Advocate at Symplur” popped up along side a link to my #dayofdiabetes post I wrote for Symplur last Spring.

It may sound silly as I’m writing this in a public blog, and you’re reading this, but it still comes as a shock to me when I find out that people actually read what I write (or listen to my podcast). This isn’t some kind of reverse psychology mentality or a plea for praise. I just assume there are better patient advocates out there discussing the same thoughts I have, but with more eloquence and effectiveness.

But I’ve done my best to make positive contributions, however small they may be, to the diabetes community. After six years of fragmented sentences, it’s pretty neat to get recognized and sought out.

Now the challenge will be to make the logistics of this invitation work. Between my own wedding and two others Dayle and I will be attending, I’ll hear the phrase “I do” three times in four months.

All of that awkward non-congratulatory-self-congratulations out of the way, if I can make this AADE appearance, how many of you would be up for a new #dayofdiabetes so I can present some fresh data to the diabetes educators of the world? The more, the merrier.