Monday's Have You Heard

Early-bird special: Take a deeper look at issues of social justice and public health by checking out the concurrent special sessions taking place Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Special sessions kick off Monday, from 8:30 to 10 a.m., with "Tuberculosis: The Effect of Social Justice on a Global Epidemic," session 3011; "Dialogue on Haiti and the U.S. Gulf Coast: Collaborating to Protect Vulnerable Communities," session 3012; or "Federal Perspectives on Social Justice, Climate Change and Environmental Health," session 3013. For info on Tuesday's and Wednesday's special sessions, see Page 12 in your Annual Meeting program.

Virtual reality: Like this very blog has already said, it's a social media world. (In fact, a new social media tool was probably launched in the 10 seconds it took me to write this very sentence.) Meet your fellow social media gurus, members of APHA's Social Media Team and check out the many ways the nation's premier public health association is using social media to reach you at the APHA Social Media Desk. The desk is located in the Mix and Mingle Lounge of the Colorado Convention Center, which has free wireless access too. And the APHA Social Media Desk features a scrolling Twitter feed of tweets from the meeting. Sweet. One more thing: Check out session 3383, "The Role of Social Media in Public Health," on Monday from 4:30 to 6 p.m. in Korbel Ballroom 1C of the convention center for even more tips.

Track and field: Meet players in the growing environmental health tracking movement at session 3216, "CDC's Environmental Public Health Tracking Network: Integrating Health, Exposure and Hazard Information," on Monday from 12:30 to 2 p.m. in Mineral Hall D of the Hyatt Regency. Learn more about how APHA is contributing to the tracking effort by visiting APHA's Environmental Public Health portal and clicking on "Chemical Exposure & Prevention."

Pass the (unsalted) popcorn: Check out the kick-off session of the 7th Annual APHA Film Festival at session 3190 on Monday from 12:30 to 2 p.m. in room 207 of the convention center. For a full schedule of this year's public health film festival, click here.

Momma mia: Join the March of Dimes and APHA's Food and Nutrition and Maternal and Child Health Sections for the Agnes Higgins Award Lecture and Reception on Monday from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. in Capitol Ballroom 4 of the Hyatt Regency. The reception will honor Dr. David Barker, a pioneer in the field of fetal health and its relationship to disease in adulthood.