So as you may be aware, I've been attending the NCTOH conference this week. This is the 2nd national conference I've been able to attend and although this is much smaller than the APHA conference I went to in October (being just tobacco stuff rather than all public health disciplines), I have to say that I do like going to these conferences. I always learn new things and some of the stuff that goes on is quite clever. Here's a few pictures from the exhibit hall. You might not appreciate the tobacco humor as much as we did, but I thought this was a very clever use of industry satire.
They also had on display some artwork by a very passionate artist named Albert Ortiz. He had about 18 pieces on display that all had anti-smoking themes. Here are a few of my favorites.
One of the newest trends in tobacco marketing is using flavors and packaging to make new products more appealing to kids and teens and make them seem more like candy and other commonly used items, so the public will be less likely to associate them with the known hazards of smoking and traditional ideas of what tobacco is. And let me tell you. . . it's working. I've had teens in classes before that when asked if they smoke they'll say no, but then when asked if they've ever used a hookah or smoked a black and mild, they'll say yes. Both are very popular types of tobacco among teens and younger adults, but most people don't lump their use into the same category as smoking regular cigarettes. Anyways, take a look for yourself and see if you can tell which products are harmful tobacco products and which ones are regular candy, gum, mints, or lip balm. And more importantly perhaps, would your child know the difference if a friend at school tried to convince them to try this "cool new product"? (note there are smoking and smokeless products pictured).
But despite all the educational fun, I did have plenty of duties at this conference. I got to present two poster sessions on programs I run, this is the picture of me today, I didn't get one of me yesterday, and for any of you who were curious as to how my shirt dilemma ended up, I decided against a third change of wardrobe and just wore my black IGNITE shirt while presenting yesterday. Ironic since the poster yesterday was on our Adolescent Cessation program while the poster today was on the IGNITE program. Too bad they couldn't have been switched, but in any case, my wardrobe certainly didn't cause any failure, as both my posters were very popular. I had a lot of great conversations with people from around the country who are looking to do similar types of programming.
Overall, I've loved this conference and it's been very fun and productive for me too. It's been fun to have it on our home turf here in Phoenix too. They had a mariachi (not sure how to spell that) band playing during registration that the out of towners just loved and I got to hear the governor speak. There's also been some added opportunities that have come out of our home court advantage. Not only was I able to oversee 10 IGNITE students who also attended the conference, but I have had volunteer responsibilities too. It's been fun and productive, and I'll be a bit sad for it to end tomorrow and have to go back to the regular stuff, but that won't be too bad since I have some exciting new ideas to work into my programs.
So as you may be aware, I've been attending the NCTOH conference this week. This is the 2nd national conference I've been able to attend and although this is much smaller than the APHA conference I went to in October (being just tobacco stuff rather than all public health disciplines), I have to say that I do like going to these conferences. I always learn new things and some of the stuff that goes on is quite clever. Here's a few pictures from the exhibit hall. You might not appreciate the tobacco humor as much as we did, but I thought this was a very clever use of industry satire.
They also had on display some artwork by a very passionate artist named Albert Ortiz. He had about 18 pieces on display that all had anti-smoking themes. Here are a few of my favorites.
One of the newest trends in tobacco marketing is using flavors and packaging to make new products more appealing to kids and teens and make them seem more like candy and other commonly used items, so the public will be less likely to associate them with the known hazards of smoking and traditional ideas of what tobacco is. And let me tell you. . . it's working. I've had teens in classes before that when asked if they smoke they'll say no, but then when asked if they've ever used a hookah or smoked a black and mild, they'll say yes. Both are very popular types of tobacco among teens and younger adults, but most people don't lump their use into the same category as smoking regular cigarettes. Anyways, take a look for yourself and see if you can tell which products are harmful tobacco products and which ones are regular candy, gum, mints, or lip balm. And more importantly perhaps, would your child know the difference if a friend at school tried to convince them to try this "cool new product"? (note there are smoking and smokeless products pictured).
But despite all the educational fun, I did have plenty of duties at this conference. I got to present two poster sessions on programs I run, this is the picture of me today, I didn't get one of me yesterday, and for any of you who were curious as to how my shirt dilemma ended up, I decided against a third change of wardrobe and just wore my black IGNITE shirt while presenting yesterday. Ironic since the poster yesterday was on our Adolescent Cessation program while the poster today was on the IGNITE program. Too bad they couldn't have been switched, but in any case, my wardrobe certainly didn't cause any failure, as both my posters were very popular. I had a lot of great conversations with people from around the country who are looking to do similar types of programming.
Overall, I've loved this conference and it's been very fun and productive for me too. It's been fun to have it on our home turf here in Phoenix too. They had a mariachi (not sure how to spell that) band playing during registration that the out of towners just loved and I got to hear the governor speak. There's also been some added opportunities that have come out of our home court advantage. Not only was I able to oversee 10 IGNITE students who also attended the conference, but I have had volunteer responsibilities too. It's been fun and productive, and I'll be a bit sad for it to end tomorrow and have to go back to the regular stuff, but that won't be too bad since I have some exciting new ideas to work into my programs.
3 comments:
Nice to see that Jack is anti-tobacco! Looks like a fun, informative conference for you.
I'm sure you've heard about this by now. If not...what kind of conference is this? AP news article: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jEjFYiD2CoedIv_2zTjchS7Z41KAD98P63783
P.s. Go Sen. Dodd! He bought me breakfast once.
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