Laugh, Sing, and Eat Like a Pig
How did I miss this?! That'll teach me to take a vacation while a future best seller hits the marketplace!
When I first heard that Dave deBronkart (aka e-Patient Dave) was writing a book, several thoughts went through my mind. The first one being, "I wonder if he'll be kind enough to autograph mine for me?" Less selfish musings quickly followed. It's a story that needs telling. He'll definitely make it to Oprah. When it's a best seller--it couldn't have happened to a nicer guy. I'm sure hundreds, if not thousands of people have an e-Patient Dave story to tell.
I first encountered e-Patient Dave while scouting trends related to healthcare, specifically e-patients and social media. He kept popping up everywhere. After stalking him for a bit, I worked up the nerve to email him to see if he wanted to chat about common interests--I had visions of him coming to give a talk and enlightenening our organization about how patients were rocking the whole medical establishment. I had a great conversation with Dave, but somehow I botched the follow-up call with him and his physician Danny Sands.
My next encounter was last September where I heard Dave speak at Medicine 2.0 Conference. He gave the keynote address Gimme My Damn Data; I found him an engaging and moving speaker. He seemed quite approachable, so I worked up the nerve to re-introduce myself. In a quick minute, I suggested we might meet for dinner when he came to Philadelphia. To my great surprise he took me up on that invitation.
Obviously, the most memorable was being engaged in conversation for a few hours over dinner, live and in person. What a range of topics we explored! What a wonderfully humble and moving storyteller he was! What a generous a spirit he has! Just sitting at the same table with him scored me an invitation to the ePatient Connections conference the next day.
Well Dave deBronkart, I hope you can finally quit your day job. Much success with the book and in your future efforts on behalf of patients everywhere!
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July 22nd, 2010 - 23:56
Good news for you – I DID quit my day job in February! I'm gonna be in Phila next Thursday morning – wanna come? Airport conference. See http://www.epatientdave.com/schedule
July 23rd, 2010 - 00:10
If you can get me past the "bouncer" I'd love to hear you speak! If your book isn't sold out by now, I should have my copy from Amazon by then–do I get the autograph!?