A greeting from NWSPS President Drew Welk MD:

Dear Friends, Colleagues and Guests,

It is a pleasure to write you about the 48^th Annual Meeting of the Northwest Society of Plastic Surgeons, which will be held from February 20^th-24^th, 2010, at the Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort on the island of Kauai.  Dr. Rollin Daniel and Dr. Timothy Marten will be our hosted keynote speakers.  Dr. Mike McGuire, president of the ASPS, and Dr. Renato Saltz, president of ASAPS, are likely to attend.  There’s a bit of new information here, so grab a cup of coffee, check out the appended links, and start planning your own presentation!

The Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort is an exceptional facility (http://kauai.hyatt.com/hyatt/hotels/) and one of only 37 Hyatt properties worldwide designated a “Grand Hyatt”.  This resort was ranked fourth in a recent Travel Channel “Top Ten Hawaii Resorts” countdown (the seriously expensive Haulalai Four Seasons on the Kona coast was #1, the Lanai Manele Bay Four Seasons where we met in 2007 was #2, and our 2001 meeting site Princeville was #3) and is located on the reliably sunny southern tip of Kauai near Poipu.   (http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Koloa,+Hawaii) The immense pool and salt water lagoon complex is just gorgeous, and the spa is exceptional.  This facility seamlessly manages to be both a great family resort and a sublime adult escape. 

Room rates for this meeting are comparable to Manele Bay rates three years ago:  highest-priced Ocean Deluxe are available for $370/night (vs. same week “discount” rate of $600++/night). 

The Grand Hyatt is an easy drive from Lihue airport, where direct flights from several west coast mainland cities are available. 

The adjacent Poipu Bay Golf Course hosted the PGA Grand Slam of Golf event from 1994-2006 and is a beautiful oceanside course (http://www.poipubaygolf.com/). 

Kauai features many beautiful beaches, the stunning Na Pali coast, Waimea Canyon (called the “Grand Canyon of the Pacific” by Mark Twain), lovely parklands, fantastic drives, relaxed old towns, and that most important of Hawaiin accessories: a Costco conveniently located almost directly on the drive from the airport to the resort.

When I began a three-year tenure as the Society’s Secretary/Treasurer about nine years ago, we had reserves of less than $20,000.  With judicious planning by all subsequent Presidents, we have now accumulated reserves of over $190,000.  We are a non-profit, and the primary function of our reserves are to cover operational expenses for annual meetings and any cost overruns.  This is no time to begin an era of indiscrete losses, but with reserves at approximately twice the full cost of running a single Hawaii meeting there is also no need to continue further accumulation of members’ hard-earned money (what little they may have left, these days…) so member registration fees this year will be reduced to $200 and non-member registration fees to $400.  Depending on vendor attendance I anticipate a net loss on this meeting, but members agreed at the 2009 business meeting that we can maintain future reserves at a moderately lower level and subsequent presidents will revisit registration fees annually.  All residents who present a paper will be able to attend without paying registration fees.

For the first time, we have engaged an experienced, reputable destination management company to assist in resort and event planning.  Tony Vericella (http://www.islandpartnershawaii.com/team2.php?option=b_ton)

has already been of great help and may allow us to significantly advance many aspects of our meetings in future years.  DMC fees derive from room commissions paid by the resort and do not add costs to us that could otherwise be negotiated away – we got worse room rates before we called Tony then after.

Dan Downey and I have set up an online registration form to allow payment online at our website. The link for our online store is here.  This function is now active, and also links to the Grand Hyatt to facilitate making your hotel registration too. Obviously all attendees can easily make arrangements by contacting the resort directly and referencing this meeting for applicable room rates.  For those who prefer paper, registration forms are included, and hotel information is attached as well. Please note: below you will find the printable versions of registration forms for the meeting and hotel registration forms too.

Please pay annual dues at the NWSPS online site as well.

Consider booking early – the best rooms go fast and our block does not allow indefinite access to the best Ocean view rooms.  Sometime in October we will send emails to the entire ASPS membership inviting non-member attendance, and a substantial response may deplete our room block.  Note that rates apply from Thursday, February18th through Saturday, February 27th for those who would like to arrive early or stay on afterwards. 

Finally, please consider submitting an abstract.  There have been many brilliant member presentations (indeed, several will be invited back for this meeting) and therein lies a great strength of these meetings, though the greatest is simply to renew old and begin new friendships.  I look forward to a typically fun and memorable event and especially thank all who  assist in making it happen.

Sincerely, 

Drew Welk, MD
President, NWSPS
Contact at drew.welk@polyclinic.com