Kevin C. Smith, M.D.

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With increasing frequency, I have noticed that many audience members at medical meetings are dividing their attention between the speakers and their Blackberries and laptops. Some audience members keep both their Blackberries and laptops running throughout the meeting, and are not engaged at all in the meeting - but I am sure they will claim CME credit for "being there."

Recently I gave a talk about the use of Botox for pain at Memorial University in Newfoundland. Wonderful facility - but the screen was positioned directly over my head, making it almost impossible for me use my laser pointer. It was then that I realized my PowerPoint presentations are put together in ways that greatly reduce or eliminate the need for a laser pointer - and at the same time make my presentations more effective and easier for the audience to follow. I put down my laser pointer and did fine without that high-tech crutch.

Several months ago I was invited to give a talk about "Botox for Pain" at the Summer Session of the American Academy of Dermatology, in Chicago.

About five years ago, I set up a Web site for my dermatology practice. My Web site was useful not only as a source of information for patients and potential patients but also as a source of information for pharmaceutical companies and other businesses I deal with.

At a meeting in Hong Kong, I needed to transfer a Powerpoint presentation from my laptop to a different laptop being used for projection of the talks. I felt a moment of panic but was saved when one of the organizers pulled out a credit card sized device and plugged it into the PCMCIA slot on the side of my laptop.

As chair of the scientific program of a medical organization, I have been flooded with abstracts, some of which arrived by mail or fax.