1. Eyes Wide Open: Pillars of PRIM&R Memorial Lecturer Elyn Saks, JD, PhD, spoke about the dangers of stigmatizing and stereotyping those with mental illness. We received an outpouring of positive feedback about her talk, with many of you sharing that her presentation completely changed your perspectives on mental illness, and how the mentally ill are treated in research.
2. The Best Present is Your Presence: Those of you who took advantage of the numerous networking activities offered throughout the conference reported that, in speaking and strategizing with colleagues who face the same challenges, you came back to the office re-energized and ready to ignite change. 
3. Story Time: Those of you who attended the multiple Book Group Lunches, all of which featured talks delivered by the books’ authors, found them to be valuable, unique opportunities to hear the authors speak and answer questions in a smaller setting,



4. Duck, Duck, Goose (or, Mentor, Mentor, Mentee): Thanks to the enthusiasm of both our volunteer mentors and mentees, the Speed Mentoring event was a success. Participants from both sides of the table found the conversations they shared to be full of meaningful and practical information. 
5. Movie  Magic: We had the opportunity to screen the Oscar-nominated documentary, How to Survive a Plague, twice during the conference, and feedback has been uniformly positive. Some of you shared that you remember this time period, and others shared that you were too young to have remembered. However, this film transcended the generation gap and many attendees of all ages wrote about the importance of finding your voice, the power of perseverance, and the responsibility to initiate change. 

We hope to deliver yet another successful conference this year, and encourage you to reserve November 7-9, 2013 (with pre-conference programs on November 6) for the 2013 AER Conference, which will be held in Boston. Registration opens June 3 for PRIM&R members, and you can learn more about the conference here.