Memorable Speakers from Past Food & Drug Conferences
Below is a compilation of excerpts from presentations by speakers who motivated and inspired attendees of past Food & Drug Conferences.

Chad Hymas
Author of Who Needs Legs When You Have Wings?
Cited by The Wall Street Journal as “one of the 10 most inspiring people in the world.”
Each last day or each last week should be the best that we have ever experienced… We should advance ourselves a little every day, in knowledge and wisdom, and in the ability to accomplish good. We can do the seemingly impossible, if we are willing to do it differently. When you decide what you are going to do and give all you have got — really give it all, right down to the soles of your numb and blistered feet — you may get a push from Providence and get all you desire.

Monica Wofford
Author of Contagious Leadership CEO, Contagious Companies, Inc.
Internationally-Known Author
You have to understand how to lead yourself before you can lead other people… It’s about establishing the right attitude at the beginning of your day. Believe that you can make a difference. Talk with those you lead as if you respect them immensely, or better yet learn how to actually respect them so you don’t have to ‘act as if.’

Brigadier General
Clara Adams-Ender
United States Army (Ret.)
Our attitude is about the only thing in the world we can truly control. Diversity helped ensure America’s greatness. It ensures an exchange of ideas from different points of view. Imagine the brainpower that is possible with a diversified organization!

Jerry Dale Reeves, M.D.
Expert on Health and Welfare Benefits
Value-Based Benefit Design is a health care strategy for employee benefits that encourages employees to make good choices with their benefits. It emphasizes low-cost preventive steps that benefit plans can make more available to participants while deemphasizing costly screenings and procedures that have limited effectiveness.

Barbara Childs & Earnest Phillips
Media Experts
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
You can’t just do Facebook and say you’re done — you’re not. Social media is a powerful medium, but some things are still best explained in print.

Robert Grossman
Creative Professional
Social media is changing everything. It’s a powerful tool. You don’t have to wait to get information out any more. The most important thing to keep in mind when using social media is that ‘content is king.’ Deliver a clear and concise message that is easy for people to share with others.

Mark Blum
Executive Director, America’s Agenda: Health Care for All
We need to pay more attention to the health of young people so we can prevent what manifests into chronic diseases as adults. And we need patients to be more involved in their own care… The new state health insurance exchanges need to include options for team-based care, which will reduce costs and lead to improved medical outcomes.

Adam Loveall
Political Affairs and Legislative Advocate
Michael Johnson
Former Director of Public Policy, Blue Shield of California
L. Wade Rose
Vice President for External and Government Relations, Catholic Healthcare West/Dignity Health
We haven’t changed how we provide care since 1950, but our knowledge base has greatly expanded. A team of health care providers is necessary now. It’s impossible for one person to handle all of the necessary knowledge.

Joe Sweeney
The Segal Company
Ron Auer
CORPaTH
We must work with Congress to pass pension reform legislation that makes sense, legislation that supports defined-benefit pension plans and keeps them viable. We need to address the ballooning liabilities that are pushing many employers away from defined-benefit pensions and toward defined-contribution plans like 401(k)s.

John Elliot
Partner, NEPC
Current federal law takes a short-term approach to long-term pension benefits. It forces employers to make additional payments into their pension plans at times when they are least able to afford them. When the Pension Protection Act expires, we will have an opportunity to replace it with a new law that provides better guarantees of benefits, resulting in a happier and more productive work force.

Ian Ruskin
Actor and Playwright
We have it in our power to begin the world over again.