President's Message March 2008
Lois Parento, CDA, RDA

What a busy year we have had! I find it difficult to believe that my term as president will come to end this April. It has truly been my honor to serve as your president. I would like to thank my officers, board members, and general membership for a year of continuous support. When CDAA needed help from members on a legislative level many of you stepped up to the plate with letters and faxes to members of the legislature as well as the governor. Our voices were heard and the bill that would have eliminated COMDA did not come to fruition. Those who sent correspondence to the governor actually received a letter thanking them for taking an interest in the future of their profession. Our collective voices can definitely make a difference. We have been advocates for the best interests of dental assistants in California for over 30 years, and I am sure we will continue with our efforts for many years to come. Hard work and diligence does pay off.

Our 2008 Annual Session will mark the third year that the CDAA business portion of the meeting will be held in the General Assembly format. I cannot stress enough the importance of this event in our Association. Representatives from each local society in the organization are urged to attend so that together we can discuss the pertinent business of the association, adopt the annual budget, and elect officers. We will honor the past presidents of the California Dental Assistants Association at our annual luncheon. These women are truly the backbone of this association and many continue to serve this association on a local, state and national level. We are lucky in California to have two past ADAA presidents currently serving on our board.

We will have a board of directors meeting on Friday evening. Saturday morning will include three hours of continuing education and lunch is included with the CE registration. This will give you the opportunity to visit and network with your peers. After lunch we will get down to the business of this Association. The General Assembly is open for all to attend, but you must be a CDAA member to participate in voting. We find ourselves in an interesting situation this year since our president-elect had to resign a few months ago. We will not have someone automatically assume the office of president this year. We will be voting to elect a new president as well as other officers. I encourage any of you that may be interested in serving this association as an officer to contact the nominating chair and take the challenge. I assure you, you will not regret it.

Once again I thank you for the opportunity to serve as your president and I hope you will plan on joining us for the CDAA Annual Session in Fresno this April.

AADA Annual Conference