Thank you to everyone in attendance and to the speakers, exhibitors, sponsors, Board members and volunteers who made the NDASA 2022 Conference and Trade Show an outstanding success! Without our amazing membership (which is growing by the day!), this exceptional industry gathering would not have been possible.
Held in Indianapolis – with a racing theme for the month of May – our engines were revving for three straight days. Starting with a full day of best-in-class training sessions prior to the start of conference, attendees had a long list of options to suit their interests. But the learning didn’t stop there. Over the next two days, the event was packed with a wide range of educational and informative opportunities that were extremely well received by an audience of more than 350 participants. (View conference highlights here.)
We were honored to have Gen. Barry McCaffrey USA (Ret.) as our keynote speaker. While his CV is much too long to repeat here, the “short” version is that he is a highly decorated retired United States Army general and current news commentator, professor and business consultant who served in President Bill Clinton’s cabinet as the director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy. As such, Gen. McCaffrey is well versed in what goes on in the world of drugs and relates to – and appreciates – NDASA’s mission and objectives in the drug testing industry. During his talk, McCaffrey gave an overview of his experiences in each of his roles with the impact of drug use on American society and workplaces, the importance of addiction treatment and the effectiveness of drug testing, especially in the military, which through a formal testing program overcome an increase in substance use issues after the Vietnam War and now a nearly drug-free workplace.
Other outstanding general sessions covered a hybrid of topics. Dan Hanlon gave a striking, yet critical, presentation “When Bad Things Happen,” which focused on the preparation for and prevention of incidents of workplace violence. “Ask the Lab Experts” offered an extremely informative panel discussion with representatives from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) labs across the country. The closing speaker, Dan Schneider movingly shared his personal story of loss and activism to combat the opioid epidemic, famously depicted in the NETFLIX docuseries “The Pharmacist.” And, one of this industry’s all-time favorite speakers, Patrice Kelly, gave us the latest and greatest Office of Drug and Alcohol Policy and Compliance (ODAPC) updates. Between general sessions, attendees had the opportunity to take deeper dives into select topics of relevance in multiple breakout sessions.
Another significant part of every NDASA conference is the Trade Show. This year, we had an amazing group of vendors. The exhibitors’ hard work and dedication in bringing their products and education to all of us are key to helping each one of us stay abreast of the most up-to-date innovations, trends and tools within the industry.
Every year, NDASA is proud to offer a conference of the highest caliber that supports our members, industry partners and their businesses. This would not be possible without the generosity of our sponsors. Thank you. We are grateful for your support in helping our industry take the lead in the race for tomorrow.
We look forward to reaching new heights together in Bellevue, WA, May 24-26, 2023!
