ACFAS 2026

[Hybrocure]

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Anyone else enjoying how terrible Vegas is post covid?

 

[Feli]

Putting the annual conf mid-week this year made hotels and flights cheaper for residents and hospital docs who get cme days but limited budgets, but it also made it almost impossible for PP owner/partner DPMs to miss that much income and get that far behind. I'd lose far more from missed office revenue than I'd ever save on hotel. I think they will see that in lower attendance than most recent years (have been setting record after record for the ASC... unilkely this year with mid-week days, though).

And, like you said, Vegas is pretty meh... it'd take Wsop or first weekend of March bball or a great UFC card or sweet Raiders game or something awesome for me to go there anymore. I probably went too many spring breaks and college trips to Vegas... way back when Fremont was run down and the strip was the new/fun part of it. 🙃

...I will prob go to Acfas 2027 Orlando (fam nearby) and Phoenix 2028 (can drive, stay w friends, ride bike there if I want). Those figure to be my last ACFAS-es.

Have fun in marriage capital of the world...

 

[Hybrocure]

Vegas needs to rebuild before it’s a good destination IMO. The strip has got too greedy. Nobody wants a 20 dollar pizza slice

 

[DarkPathMedicine]

Watch a YouTube video titled "Why Vegas Doesn't Care If You Visit Anymore" by The Perfect Union. It's pretty empty right now and it's been quite a few years since I visited. There's no reason to go there anymore.

 

[air bud]

@Feli and his hospital doc hate....we have plenty CME money. I also am not going to give up 8-10k in RVU coupons to attend ACFAS midweek.

 

[Adam Smasher]

It was a personal choice for me. I've done the opposite extreme, sign up for a fri-sat-sun conference, drive out Thurs afternoon, drive back Sun night. That was brutal.

I work crazy hours anyway doing trifling business management garbage, don't take enough vacation. 2 sick days total since finishing residency. I'll indulge myself with a week in vegas before going back to PP he'll. The trick is to bring 4 hours of remote work each for Mon and Fri, so it's fully tax deductible.

As for Las Vegas, it's a perfect city for podiatry. Was a great deal 40 years ago. It lures you in with glitz and glamor and hopes of striking it rich. Now it's an overpriced nightmare, lots of surprise costs. And ultimately the house always wins in the end.

 

[eyeeye_captain]

Orlando and Phoenix are next? Don’t expect any keynote podeyetry speeches until at least 2029.

You get clunkers in every field. I think we do Vegas every 5-6 years for our big one, alternating with New Orleans (which is this year, and I prefer to LV personally). Chicago is every 3 years (not everybody’s favorite, but I love it).

My subspecialty yearly meeting went Stockholm-Long Beach-Montreal. One of these is not like the others. Sorry worst possible SoCal location, you’re bad.

 

[heybrother]

Tough crowd here. We had Dyk hating on Phoenix last year. Now everybody hating on the strip.

My co-residents went (I was on call) in like ...2020? They came back claiming they'd eaten so many seafood towers that they got gout. Hopefully some residents had fun on Arthrex and Stryker's dime.

I'm still looking for the perfect conference. I told myself when I was established I'd bring my family to conferences so they could have some fun while I sit through a krystexxa lunch. Went to a very blah conference last year at a resort that was like $300-400 a night and can't say I really got anything approaching my moneys worth. My wife had friends in town and she just drove off and hung out with them elsewhere cause there wasn't actually anything worth doing.

 

[Weirdy]

I'm still looking for the perfect conference. I told myself when I was established I'd bring my family to conferences so they could have some fun while I sit through a krystexxa lunch.

Told myself the same.
Wife looked at a few of them for me and just decided whenever I need to go, it would just be a "me" thing.

She'd rather plan other things on vacation so we get time together instead of me sitting at a conference while her and kiddo go do stuff.

 

[eyeeye_captain]

Told myself the same.
Wife looked at a few of them for me and just decided whenever I need to go, it would just be a "me" thing.

She'd rather plan other things on vacation so we get time together instead of me sitting at a conference while her and kiddo go do stuff.

Feel like this is the tough part. If there aren’t family/friends wherever or Legoland or whatever else the kids are excited about, go figure, the spouse isn’t going to love combining travel with solo parenting.

If I had to be a gremlin wrangler for one of my wife’s meetings, even if they had something they wanted to do, it would be the kind of chaos you need 4+ hands to handle.

 

[DYK343]

Tough crowd here. We had Dyk hating on Phoenix last year.

I maintain that downtown phoenix is the boringest big city in america.
It sucks. It has to be the worst city center.
Nothing to do.
Garbage downtown.
From what I had - crappy food.
Beer was boring.
No feel for the town. Just a sprawl. Feels cultureless.

Flagstaff/Tucson are awesome. But phoenix? Garbage.

 

[FuturepodpersonDPM]

What are all the cities/states we visited?

 

[Hybrocure]

I maintain that downtown phoenix is the boringest big city in america.
It sucks. It has to be the worst city center.
Nothing to do.
Garbage downtown.
From what I had - crappy food.
Beer was boring.
No feel for the town. Just a sprawl. Feels cultureless.

Flagstaff/Tucson are awesome. But phoenix? Garbage.

Flagstaff is legit. It’s almost like you aren’t in Arizona. Nice small town feel but with enough stuff to do and you aren’t in the desert.

ACFAS always tries to do places without snow it seems which sucks because there are so many places which would be great to visit if they chose an alternate time in the summer for the Midwest, Colorado, Montana, etc.

The summer in a snowy location hands down beats “warm” weather places during the winter. Hit a fall ACFAS in Vermont even. So many good options when you change the dates.

If they did a summer Alaska trip or a cruise I’d totally go.

 

[msion]

I have been mainly attending conferences online since COVID days. That's probably one positive aspect COVID had in humanity.

ACFAS to me means going to a conference meeting people I don't like and learning about surgeries I don't do. I also cringe when networking with residents because I did not, do not and will not have jobs to offer them.

Nah. Better getting my CMEs online with the annual update on treating onychomycosis.

 

[dtrack22]

Flagstaff is legit. It’s almost like you aren’t in Arizona. Nice small town feel but with enough stuff to do and you aren’t in the desert.

ACFAS always tries to do places without snow it seems which sucks because there are so many places which would be great to visit if they chose an alternate time in the summer for the Midwest, Colorado, Montana, etc.

The summer in a snowy location hands down beats “warm” weather places during the winter. Hit a fall ACFAS in Vermont even. So many good options when you change the dates.

If they did a summer Alaska trip or a cruise I’d totally go.

The ASC has to be in as centralized/broadly appealing/fair weather location as possible. They want thousands of attendees, not hundreds. Would certainly open up options if they would be flexible on the dates/time of year. But you have to go to an IFAF conference if you want a legit destination. ACFAS will give you phoenix and San Antonio and Las Vegas and Orlando and…you’ll take it like the dirty little podiatrist you are. Sorry ACFAS leadership, I meant “foot & ankle surgeon.” Forgot we aren’t supposed to use the “P” word.

 

[Hybrocure]

The ASC has to be in as centralized/broadly appealing/fair weather location as possible. They want thousands of attendees, not hundreds. Would certainly open up options if they would be flexible on the dates/time of year. But you have to go to an IFAF conference if you want a legit destination. ACFAS will give you phoenix and San Antonio and Las Vegas and Orlando and…you’ll take it like the dirty little podiatrist you are. Sorry ACFAS leadership, I meant “foot & ankle surgeon.” Forgot we aren’t supposed to use the “P” word.

That’s the thing though - most places are fair weather if you don’t hold your conference in the winter lol.

 

[Adam Smasher]

I still say Phoenix is a delightful city for a short stay. I don't get a lot of quality texmex cuisine where I am.

 

[shadesofgrey]

Lame ass welcome reception. No after party. However I did see a sick poster on PM news commenters!

 

[Dr.PatchAdams]

Lame ass welcome reception. No after party. However I did see a sick poster on PM news commenters!

It’s quite dead if I’m honest..

 

[Boba Foot]

ACFAS always tries to do places without snow it seems

They gotta cater to the elder snowbird TFPs.

 

[Adam Smasher]

It was pretty good. There haven't been any major paradigm shifts lately so there weren't many interesting debates. MIS techniques were a hot topic 3 years ago but we're getting back to the lapidus debates of the 2010s where we're running out of things to talk about.

Also I've always used "cringe" as a verb and not an adjective, but when one speaker was on the verge of tears describing how well their patients have done with MIS bunions, that was cringe.

Final thought, I was bantering with an instrumentation vendor in the exhibit hall. He told me even though this is a surgery conference, his #1 seller is nail nippers 🦞

 

[Bluecollarmed]

I find myself spending less and less time each year at the actual conference. First day hit the Expo to see stuff/reps, daily badge-in (or residents to do it for you) and to see any old classmates or docs from rotations. It's effectively a hospital paid vacation to see friends who are all over the country. Wife went last year, no interest in Vegas so didn't come with this year... can't blame her.

 

[air bud]

I find myself spending less and less time each year at the actual conference. First day hit the Expo to see stuff/reps, daily badge-in (or residents to do it for you) and to see any old classmates or docs from rotations. It's effectively a hospital paid vacation to see friends who are all over the country. Wife went last year, no interest in Vegas so didn't come with this year... can't blame her.

Yes. When I used to be salaried and couldn't bonus I was all about it. CME, no money out of my pocket. Now, on 100 percent production....I am going to pick and choose my non productive time carefully....and ACFAS is not it

 

[Sybly]

Anyone else enjoying how terrible Vegas is post covid?

Try inhouse CME free podiatry CME every month

 

[Homo sapien]

It was pretty good. There haven't been any major paradigm shifts lately so there weren't many interesting debates. MIS techniques were a hot topic 3 years ago but we're getting back to the lapidus debates of the 2010s where we're running out of things to talk about.

Also I've always used "cringe" as a verb and not an adjective, but when one speaker was on the verge of tears describing how well their patients have done with MIS bunions, that was cringe.

Final thought, I was bantering with an instrumentation vendor in the exhibit hall. He told me even though this is a surgery conference, his #1 seller is nail nippers 🦞

How sad is podiatry