The “CANN Conference”

The Annual General Meeting and Scientific Sessions is fast approaching. This year, the meeting is being held in Vancouver, which means, as I am writing this, a dedicated group of neuro nurses from the B.C. Chapter are working tirelessly to put together 4 days of education, networking, and entertainment. The “CANN Conference”, as it is affectionately called, occurs each year in the month of June. The hosting city and consequently the hosting chapter changes yearly but regardless of where and who, it always brings together nurses and allied healthcare professionals from across Canada and abroad who share a common interest—that of the neurosciences.

So, in honour of this year’s conference, I thought I would share with you some of the memories of my first CANN conference. And why the first, you ask? Well, as the saying goes, you never forget your first… so here is my story.

The year was 199… something, and the conference was in Montreal (no memory of visiting an exciting new town there… I’m a Montrealer). The hotel was the Marriott, and I think the food was good, the invited speakers were excellent, but don’t ask me what they spoke about. And as for the scientific sessions, I vaguely remember one on managing constipation in the Neuro patient, but that is about it. Oh, and I know there were shuttles taking people around to the various clubs for the pubcrawl…

OK, so right about now you might be asking yourself, why am I writing about what appears to be an utterly forgettable experience? Or you’re thinking I spent far too much time on the shuttles. I assure you, in either thought you are wrong, because I remember a great deal about that conference, and in particular, every last detail about one room—the Speaker-Ready Room. For those of you born, say, before 1975, I know you know what I am talking about, but many of you might be ready to Google the term, so let me explain.

There was a time not so very long ago that PowerPoint was but a glint in someone’s eye and presentations were given using real slides sitting in a carrousel on top of a slide projector and the only place you could practice your talk was in the Speaker Ready room. I remember the Speaker Ready room so clearly as I spent almost that entire conference in that room, for this was not just my first CANN conference, but my first time presenting to a national audience… and not just any national audience, but an audience of experts in neuroscience nursing! The thought was intimidating, to say the least, as I was but a recent grad and novice neuro nurse to boot so I coped with my ever-growing anxiety by practicing, practicing, practicing, and as a result, missed talks, meals, even the pubcrawl.

I remember the pressure of needing to have my presentation ready a month before the conference to allow time for the slides to be created by the hospitals audio-visual department (with procrastination my middle name, that is no small feat). I remember the frustration of repeatedly putting my slides in backwards, sideways and upside down in the carrousel and the panic that I would never get it right for the presentation… I remember the complete and utter inability to stop the tremor in my hand and the nauseous feeling I got from the laser pointer bobbing around everywhere but where I wanted it… and I remember the small little dark room in a forgotten corner of the hotel that I spent much of my time practicing (and, as luck would have it, I had lots of time to practice and worry, because my talk was second to last in the afternoon on the last day), but in the end, what I remember most was the thrill of having my abstract accepted, the support and encouragement I received from all those experts I feared, the sense of pride and accomplishment I felt once it was over, and the names and faces of new friends and colleagues who shared my passion of neuro.

Since then, I have attended many CANN conferences with lots of great memories and stories to tell (chocolate fountain in Ottawa to name just one… sorry, CAM, I missed your talk, but the chocolate was flowing and I didn’t know when I’d had enough!), but I know all of you have your own stories, so please write and share your CANN Conference memories with us.

Sharron Runions