Decisions, decisions

It's about this time that you're probably starting to organize your schedule for the upcoming APHA 139th Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. (Or if you're more like me, the situation is better described with the words "freak out about" instead of "organize.") There's just so much great stuff going on. In fact, there's more going on than you might think....

A FEW GOOD HIGHLIGHTS

— Chemical reactions: On Saturday, Oct. 29, APHA will host "Public Health and Chemical Exposures in the 21st Century: Moving from Conversation to Action," a strategy session focused on recommendations included in "Addressing Public Health and Chemical Exposures: An Action Agenda." The interactive session will feature remarks from Dr. Christopher Portier, director of the National Center for Environmental Health and Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, as well as Nsedu Witherspoon, executive director of the Children's Environmental Health Network. The session runs from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. in the Renaissance Hotel, which is right across the street from the Washington Convention Center. RSVP for the session at nationalconversation@cdc.gov.

— Book 'em: APHA Press will be hosting a number of book signings at the Everything APHA booth inside the Public Health Expo. A few of the notable authors that will be on hand include former Sen. Tom Daschle, author of “Getting It Done," on Sunday at 2:30 p.m.; longtime APHA member Linda Landesman, author of "Public Health Management of Disasters, Third Edition," on Sunday from 2 to 2:30 p.m. and Monday from noon to 12:30 p.m.; and UCLA professor Richard Jackson, author of "Designing Healthy Communities," on Monday at 10:15 a.m. APHA staff will also be around to answer your questions about publishing with APHA Press.

— Job hunt: APHA's Public Health CareerMart will be offering one-on-one career coaching sessions for Annual Meeting attendees at booth 3051 in the Public Health Expo. For more info or to reserve a spot, click here.

— Bliss out: Take a minute to relax at the Annual Meeting's newest gathering place, the PHocal Point, which will be located on the third floor of the Washington Convention Center. Check out the meditation room, get a massage and then capture your newly blissed out face in the PHun Photos area. Click here for a schedule.

— Walk the walk: APHA's Physical Activity Special Primary Interest Group is encouraging people to take advantage of Mobile Adventure Walks during the Annual Meeting as well as participate in a competition between APHA Sections and SPIGs. A Mobile Adventure Walk is a free iPhone app that turns walking into a game, giving participants clues to solve to uncover the next stop on the walking route. The walks can be done on one's own or with a partner. A group adventure walk will take place on Halloween night at 8 p.m. Stop by the Physical Activity SPIG's booth at the Public Health Expo for more info.

— Just tweet it: Social media! It's everywhere! You can't escape! Good thing too, because it's also one of the best ways to keep track of what's going on, catch up on what you missed and keep the conversation going well after the day is done. APHA's social media team will be blogging (yup, from this very blog...so subscribe for free daily updates!), tweeting from APHA's Annual Meeting and Public Health Twitter feeds, posting to Facebook, showing off your pearly smiles on APHA's Flickr page and uploading videos to APHA's YouTube Channel. Click here for all the social media details. If you'll be tweeting from the meeting, don't forget to use hashtag #apha11. And feel free to upload your pics to APHA's Flickr Pool.

For more details on this year's happenings, visit APHA's Annual Meeting site as well as the online meeting program.