If you were unable to attend our 57th annual meeting in Kauai, shame on you! The event was probably the best attended meeting in memory. The Grand Hyatt provided a spectacular setting for our scientific agenda and social events. Dr. Peter Gruen and his program committee created an outstanding array of presentations. The Cloward and Ablin speakers, Drs. John Jane and Volker Sonntag, gave memorable presentations. Our outgoing President, Austin Colohan and his wife, Darla served the WNS admirably this year. Both of them provided valuable leadership that lead to this meeting being a truly memorable event.

During this year’s meeting we welcomed a record 18 new active members to the WNS. These include: Iman Feiz-Erfan, Stephen Ritland, Bret Abshire, Michael Alexander, Kenneth Blumenfeld, Bob Carter, Richard Chua, William Couldwell, Mark Hamilton, Jaimie Henderson, Christopher Honey, Marco Lee, Jason, Lifshutz, William Loudon, Michael Morone, Patrick Rhoten, Ian Ross, and Venkatraman Sadanand. We look forward to their continued involvement in the WNS. Our membership chair, Tom Scully has done an outstanding job with recruiting applicants. Fortunately he has agreed to continue to serve the WNS in this capacity. Please inform him (tom.scullymd@gmail.com) of any potential applicants.

Our 2011 officers are:

John Bonner, President
Jeff Rush, President Elect
Richard Wohns, Vice President
Austin Colohan, Past President
Charles Nussbaum, Secretary-treasurer
Randy Smith, Historian

Several by laws changes were approved by the membership at our annual business meeting. The updated by laws are available on our website (www.westnsurg.org).

Our 2012 meeting venue, the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs is truly an exquisite location. The Broadmoor has received the Forbes Travel Guide five star award for 50 consecutive years. The location at the foot of the Rockies should provide an excellent back drop for our program as well as for a wide variety of recreational activities. Dr. Smith has already posted a detailed description for the Broadmoor, including transportation options on our web site (http://www.westnsurg.org/Colorado_Meeting12.asp). 

The 2012 meeting will begin with our opening reception on Friday evening, September 7 and conclude after the last scientific session on Monday the 10th. Our discounted room rate of $276 is available for three days before and after the meeting. Reservations can be made on line at:  https://resweb.passkey.com/go/wns12, or by phone, at 800-634-7722. Debbie and I recently visited the Broadmoor. We look forward to providing meeting participants with a wide variety of activities that will take advantage of this beautiful location. Dr. Smith’s description on our web site provides a nice summary of the golf and tennis facilities.

By now, those of you who attended our meeting this year and submitted a CME verification form should have received your certificate from the AANS. Please contact me (Charles.nussbaum@vmmc.org) if you have not received your certificate. Along with this newsletter you will find your 2012 dues statement. Please submit your dues payment in a timely manner to minimize the waste of sending our multiple payment reminders.

We hope you and your family have a joyous holiday season. Please contact us if you have any questions or comments about our 2001 meeting. See you in Colorado Springs!

Charlie and Debbie Nussbaum
nussbaumfamily@q.com
Charles.nussbaum@vmmc.org
425-957-0255