I'm roaring with excitment at the thought of coming together with all the CLNC^®s March 10-11 for the 2006 NACLNC^® Conference. Let your CLNC^® spirit run wild in San Diego as you hunt down your best conference experience ever. Here's how:

BEFORE the Conference – Get Ready to Go for the Big Game

		Come relaxed and ready for new discoveries. The NACLNC® Conference is much more fun when you’re rested, and you’ll learn so much more if you leave your stress behind.
		Pack your trunk right – with raw nuts and other healthy snacks to maintain your physical energy. Margaritas wear off quickly.
		Bring plenty of business cards. You’ve got 1,000 new CLNC® friends to meet.
		Arrive a day early and prowl the city (but not too much – you’ll still need energy for the conference). Some of my favorite oases:   Shop the waterfront in Seaport Village.   Take your family to the zoo (maybe they’ll spend the night).   Wash down chips and salsa with a margarita in the Gas Lamp District.   Treat yourself to a stroll along the beaches of La Jolla.

DURING the Conference – Stick Your Neck Out for CLNC^® Success

With every conference experience, think "outside the cage."

Focus on Why You're Here

		Turn off your cell phone, pager, chiming watch and any other stress-producer you’ve brought with you. This is not only a courtesy to your fellow CLNC®s, but also a courtesy to yourself, honoring all you’ve invested to be here.
		Limit checking your email and voicemail or calling home to just once a day. If I can go without email, you can too.

Fire Up a Networking Safari with Sizzlin' CLNC^® Adventure

		Eat lunch and dinner each day with three CLNC®s you don’t know. With all the fabulous dining options in this city, this will really be fun!
		Meet and get to know two new CLNC®s at each break. Unleash the marketing animal as you sell your expertise to each other. You are each other’s best resources for future CLNC® subcontractors and experts.
		Connect with two CLNC®s and mastermind together at the end of the day. Each of you will process and apply information differently. By coming together, you’ll take home new strategies you wouldn’t think of alone. Avoid the temptation to critique speakers; focus only on positive take-aways. Positive energy is mandatory for meaty masterminding.

Put Your CLNC^® Practice Head and Shoulders Above the Rest

		Don’t miss a session. A single idea can increase your profitability 1%, 5%, 10%.
		At each session write down one action step you will take (and I don’t mean drinking another margarita).
		Commit to learn one thing from each speaker. I recently attended a seminar where only 5% of the information was interesting or fresh. But the ideas I got from that 5% could help my company grow as much as 10%. Because I was committed to learning, my mind was ready to pounce when the "good stuff" was presented. And it wasn’t presented all at once, but an idea here, a new thought there. The key – I was ready to grab each idea when it came my way.
		Open your mind and play with the information presented to create your own new ideas. My goal when I sit in on a session is to come up with ideas that are even better than any I get from the speaker. This mindset will help you create a unique CLNC® business – not a look-alike imitation of someone else’s.

Who Put the "Sand" in San Diego? You Can!

		Take it EASY. If you allow yourself to get frustrated about anything – an airport delay or the person sitting next to you – you're the only one who will suffer. Stay loose. If your plane is late, browse the airport bookstore. If you aren’t content with your seating partner, sit next to someone else in the next session or get up and move. Remember, "there’s no crying at the NACLNC® Conference."
		Exercise daily – even for only 20 minutes. Walk the beautiful gardens of the Town and Country Resort.
		Indulge in a massage or the Jacuzzi®. Treat yourself to a fun memory – maybe a bauble from Seaport Village.
		When it’s time to grab the lion’s share of fun, remember your CLNC® Wear so everyone will know you are part of the largest legal nurse consulting conference in the nation.

AFTER the Conference – Go Home and Walk on the Wild Side

		Stay a day later to relax and absorb what you’ve learned. Don’t just jump back into your busy CLNC® practice. If you haven’t seen the city – now’s the time.
		Then spring into action. Take home one new CLNC® service and share it with every attorney-client.
		Reconnect with your clients by sending a CLNC® note card to let them know you’ve attended this conference to better serve them.
		Send a news release to your community newspaper announcing your completion of this advanced Certified Legal Nurse ConsultantCM training and renewal of your CLNC® Certification.
		Commit now to review your course syllabus text and all the meaningful notes you took and listen to the audio CDs one week, one month, six months and one year after the conference. This repetition is what makes everything you’ve learned unforgettable, helping you integrate and implement the principles and strategies successfully. With each review you will receive the information in a new way because you’ll be more experienced. Each time you read or listen, you’ll generate even better ideas. After each review create three NEW action steps and implement them swiftly.
		Celebrate the first success that was a direct result of attending the NACLNC® Conference.

See You in San Diego,

Vickie L. Milazzo, RN, MSN, JD

P.S. Don't leave home without this article. The payoff will be astonishing.

P.P.S. Don't cheetah yourself. The NACLNC^® Conference is guaranteed to keep your CLNC^® practice off the endangered species list and on track to succeed beyond your wildest dreams.

Send your best tips for getting the most out of the NACLNC^® Conference to feedback@LegalNurse.com.

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The author of the Small Business Success "Going with your Gut" article used Vickie as a prime example of someone moving forward, using and refining their instincts to achieve. That's Vickie Milazzo to a T. She encourages everyone to step up, step out and go for it. I am in the process of writing my CLNC^® Success Story and was a bit stuck, or shall I say, unsure. I took a break to read the Ezine, and there it was: Trust in yourself.

Vickie says that when you trust your gut, your intuition, your inner voice, it never lies to you. I remember how, time after time in video, in text, in the Ezine and, most dynamically, in person, Vickie shares this principle. She is one of the most instinctive, intuitive and genuine people I have ever met in my 33-year nursing career and in my budding practice as a successful CLNC^®.

What makes Vickie's approach to using her "gut" unique is that she shows us the exciting and often surprisingly easy ways to do so. For example, Vickie taught me, as she has so many, many people, that it's good to have a bit of fear, a bit of anxiety here and there. Like stage fright, this serves a positive purpose. These ideas have enhanced not only my career but my personal life as well.

I am still galvanized by Vickie's courage and her passion, not only for CLNC^®s and her business but for each rich morsel of life. I am not surprised at all that Vickie's story was used in the Small Business Success article. What a shining example of a gracious lady who kept on going and is still creating more and more positive, infectious and honest energy to inspire us all.

Thank you, Vickie, for your excellent work. I am proud of you and proud to be a successful CLNC^®. And now I'm ready to finish my CLNC^® Success Story, and I'll see you in San Diego.

– Margot G. Lintner, RN, CLNC, California

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