Events

Return to Margaritaville in 2019

Next summer we will gather at Tan-Tar-A—rebranded as Margaritaville—recreating an old concept with a new name and a fresh outlook. 

After a number of years of discussion, the Missouri Ambulance Association (MAA), Missouri Emergency Medical Services Association (MEMSA), and Missouri Association of Air Medical Services (MOAAMS) have agreed to combine the ICE Spring Break and Missouri EMS Conference & Expo into one conference, yet unnamed as of this writing.

Coming back to the location, now known as Margaritaville, returns us to the resort that hosted the Combined Clinical Conference for 19 years. A focus group with two representatives from each association had a series of meetings, which resulted in the three associations signing a one-year contract with Barb Shupe as the conference planner. 

Get your calendars out, mark the last week of July 2019 with Margaritaville, and put in your request for time off to attend the conference.  There will be plenty of CEUs in clinical, management, and instructor tracts.  The resort setting provides lots of opportunities for fun at the end of the day.  And what a great way to combine learning with a family vacation.

There is still a lot of work to be done between now and the 2019 conference.  The Mo EMS Conf. & Expo was incorporated as a 501c6 tax exempt organization in 2013.  The new conference will be using that incorporation as a foundation as it selects a new name, updates bylaws, and establishes a Board of Directors (BOD) to govern and to oversee the contract with the conference planner.  Each of the three associations will name two people to serve on that BOD and will report back to their respective associations.

We salute the vendors who have supported our many EMS conferences over the years.  One of the steps we took as we pondered putting the conference together was to send out a survey to ask about preferences.  More than 250 people responded.  89% of the vendors were in favor of having one EMS conference and 63% of the participants were.  Having one conference provides everyone with better chances to network and to gain from others’ perspectives.  It will also provide the vendors opportunities to interact with a diverse group of participants.

We look forward to a big gathering next summer at Margaritaville, and we hope you are part of it.  Watch for more details in early 2019.