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Vol. 66, No. 3 2015
Northeast Florida Medicine
From the Executive Vice President’s Desk
One of the great joys I have in life is my commute to and
from work. I know that seems antithetical, but it’s true.
Running enthusiasts always talk about clearing their head on
a long run and focusing on problem solving, planning their
day, or brainstorming for the future.
You’ve seen my pic-
ture; clearly I’m not
going on many long
runs. However, the 45
minute commute from
Orange Park to down-
town Jacksonville gives
me the opportunity to
get myself motivated
for the day ahead and
align the day’s priorities,
while the ride home
gives me a chance to
unwind and leave the
office behind.
My companion on
my commute is Podcast Addict, a podcast aggregation service
that brings the latest podcasts on everything from leadership
to cooking. It’s like I’ve programmed my own personal talk
radio station. It was just a few weeks ago, as I was driving to
the office, that I heard the story of the $6,000 egg.
The very short version is that a man and his wife were in
a diner which they frequented three times a week near their
office. The special of the day was a waffle with a fried egg on
top. The husband, knowing his wife likes fried egg on her
hamburgers, requested a fried egg on her burger.
The server stated that they couldn’t do that, and even checked
with the cook in the back who confirmed they couldn’t do it.
When the manager came to the table she stated “I understand
we have a problem here.” The man offered to pay for the egg,
just say the price. The manager explained that there were a
certain number of eggs and waffles, and that if they sold an
egg for the burger, they wouldn’t be able to sell the special.
Not to be deterred, the man offered to give $5 to the busboy
and have him run across the street to the grocery store, get
a dozen eggs, and just use one on the burger, leaving eleven
for the business.
“No.”
The man decided that they would no longer patronize this
establishment. He figured that he spent roughly $6,000 per
year at the business. That ended up being a $6,000 egg for
the diner.
This story struck home to me. Every day, the Duval County
Medical Society staff is hard at work, trying to make your
society the best medical society in America.
Kristy Wolski is the DCMS Communications Coordinator
andManaging Editor of the journal you are reading right now.
She has years of experience as a television news reporter and
has used those skills to greatly enhance the overall commu-
nications of the organization.
Courtney Hassan is the DCMS Meetings and Membership
Manager. If there’s a DCMS event, Courtney is the one who
planned it. She’s working on everything fromour annual meet-
ing, the visit from AMA President-elect Dr. Steven Stack, or
the ever-popular Beers with Peers events for medical residents.
She has a degree in meeting management, and has greatly
enhanced the quality of our meetings in just a short time.
Patricia “Patti” Ruscito is the DCMS Director of Opera-
tions, and if you’ve been a member for any amount of time,
you’ve talked to Patti at some point. She works closely with
the Board of Directors, the Delegation to the Florida Medical
Association, and is the keeper of all knowledge DCMS related.
If I have a question about a member that was on the Board
20 years ago, Patti knows the answer.
Every day, we meet to talk about how to make the mem-
bership experience better. When you call the office during
business hours, you will talk to a person, and not a machine.
We work to create membership value and experiences for a
myriad of different membership types.
We are currently working on two more major programs that
will continue to demonstrate the value of the medical society
to the health of the community. As you will read about in Dr.
Assar’s column, the DCMS Leadership Academy is launching
in 2016. This will be an exciting way for physicians of all
walks of life to increase their leadership ability, and will help
bring future leaders to the table.
Additionally, the DCMS Foundation is very close to a major
announcement about how together we can help to improve
the health of our entire community.
But these are our specials. This is what we have on the menu.
I am constantly on the lookout for the $6,000 egg. When
you go to our website, when you attend an event, when you
come to a meeting… are we overlooking your fundamental
needs? Are we telling you “no” without even knowing it? Are
you asking for something and not being heard?
At its core, the DCMS is a membership organization and
it only runs if the members are satisfied. We hope that you
all enjoy this issue of Northeast Florida Medicine. We hope
that you join us for our Annual Meeting and Inaugural Ball
on December 4th. And we hope that you have ideas and
suggestions to help us continue to grow and become an even
greater organization in the future.
And as for Kristy, Courtney, Patti and myself, we’ll
be anxiously awaiting your feedback; because no egg is
worth $6,000.
v
Bryan Campbell
DCMS Executive Vice President
The $6,000 Egg
