drhays’s posterous

ISOQOL 2009

Slide 2: Here is a grainy picture of Donald Patrick accepting the 1st president’s award in 2001.
Slide 3: The 8 prior recipients of this award constitute an ISOQOL hall of fame:
Patrick (2001), Torrance (2002), Ware (2003), Kaplan (2004), Aaronson (2005), Osoba (2006), Revicki (2007), and Cella (2008).
I am honored to receive it and especially grateful to have it presented by Neil Aaronson, a person I have admired for many years and who has done so much for the society.
Slide 4: Here is a picture of me being congratulated by Barack and Michelle.
In preparation for today, I read last year’s acceptance speech by David Cella. He closed by reminding us to not take ourselves too seriously. I have accepted his suggestion.
Slide 5: This graph plots my estimates of the professional accomplishments of the President’s Awardees on the y-axis by year of receipt on the x-axis. Note the sharp drop this year. If this trend continues, it will be all downhill for ISOQOL.
Slide 6: This graph depicts the expected information yield from the acceptance speech on the y-axis by your ISOQOL intelligence on the x-axis (going from low to high as you move from left to right). Information curves are shown for me and Donald Patrick. If you are on the far left of this curve, you have a high probability of getting something out of the next few minutes.
I want to focus on the fun I have had attending the first 16 ISOQOL meetings, but first I’d like to address the newest members of this great organization.
It can be challenging for newcomers to understand what is being discussed given the jargon in our field. [Slide 7]
But don’t assume the veterans know it all. For example, I was surprised to find out that CAT really means, Collective Aroma Therapy. [Slide 8]
Some think that getting grants funded and papers published is difficult for them but easy for those that have been around for awhile. This is not true. Every submitted grant requires tremendous effort and has an uncertain outcome. Papers are no sure thing either. In fact, earlier this month a paper I coauthored was rejected without review by Quality of Life Research.
I encourage you to challenge the ISOQOL “experts” rather than accept what they tell you. Many of the important issues we face are subject to healthy debate. [Slide 9]
I received invaluable advice from George Huba shortly before I got my Ph.D. George was a professor at UCLA then and is now President of The Measurement Group. He told me that you don’t have to be perfect—just better than the competition. And David Cella said last year that we should not choose in-action over action because we aren’t 100% sure of our results. The point is that as long as what we do is a little higher than the bar we will clear it.
Enough advice-- I want to acknowledge the person who started ISOQOL, Maurice Staquet. [Slide 10] He was 63 at the time of the inaugural meeting in Brussels that took place in February of 1994.
Here is a picture of 5 of us who attended that meeting (Stephen Coons, Dennis Revicki, myself, Thomas Hughes, and Bob Kaplan). [Slide 11]
Maurice also started and was the first editor-in-chief of our journal. [Slide 12]
Slide 13: This year’s ISOQOL in New Orleans is the 16th location. Thanks to Claire Synder and Michael Brundage for organizing a wonderful meeting.
Slide 14: I am happy it is being held in the U.S. this year. This graph illustrates my current optimism about the host country.
Slide 15: I am especially glad to receive this award on Friday. Friday is a very special day in New Orleans.
I have fond memories of each of the prior 15 meetings. Montevideo had the amazing tango and steaks as well as several assaults on ISOQOL members. Many of us were able to enjoy Buenos Aires as well. [Slides 16-18]
Toronto provided access to Niagra Falls and the hockey hall of fame. [Slides 19-20]
In connection with the Lisbon meeting, Pam and I were able to enjoy a few days in Cascais (chi), a beautiful seaside community. [Slides 21-22]
In San Francisco I had a fantastic room as conference chair that I was able to hold meetings in such as the QLR editor meeting. [Slide 23]
The closing dinner at the Jumbo Restaurant in Hong Kong was incredible. {Slide 24]
Prague was cold but magical. {Slide 25]
The Orlando murder mystery was apparently a bust but I enjoyed nearby Paradise Island on Halloween night. [Slide 26]
The location of the hotel across from the train station in Amsterdam was ideal for seeing this exciting city. [Slide 27]
Vancouver in 2000 was a blur for me, but Cathy Sherbourne, my wife, and Marlene Frost went to Butchart Gardens. [Slides 28-29]
The Ramblis and half-price Yadros were the highlights of Barcelona for me. [Slide 30]
I don’t remember too much about the Baltimore meeting except drinking on the final night at the hotel bar with Shunichi Fukuhara and then going over with him to McDonald’s for a snack. [Slide 31]
Albert Wu waltzing with my wife is what I remember about Vienna. [Slide 32]
In Manilla I enjoyed eating a hamburger that had an egg on the top of it. I was also impressed with the young men who stood guard with guns outside of the convenience stores. [Slide 33]
I remember several great meals shared with Billy Cunningham and other colleagues at the Montreal meeting. [Slide 34]
The gaming tables at the Sheraton Brussels Hotel & Towers and the ladies in the windows of the red light district down the street impressed me. [Also Slide 34]
There are many people in the organization that it has been a pleasure to share time with at these meetings such as David Feeny, Peter Fayers, Madelaine King, Carol Moinpour, Paul Kind, and Jordi Alonso.
Moving forward, I hope ISOQOL will not forget that women and people outside of North America are eligible for the President’s Award. [Slide 35]
In conclusion, do whatever you can to stay alive so you can have fun and continue to enjoy future ISOQOL meetings. [Slide 36]

Thank you for indulging me this morning.

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