My tip of the day yesterday from one of the meeting planners at the Pharmaceutical Meeting Planner Forum: When your feet start aching unbearably, flush ‘em. Just stick them in that john and pull the handle. They say that something about the cold water and the pressure really makes a difference. I haven’t gotten that desperate yet, but if my dogs are really barking tonight, I just might.

What do you think–hmm, "interesting idea"? Or "that’s disgusting!"? Click here to vote.

Update and caveat: I thought this would go without saying, but given the e-mails I’m getting I guess I better say it. Do not try this if you have any blisters or open wounds on your feet as you would be risking an infection. In that case, what I usually do is slather on the antiseptic cream and a bandage strip, and lay flat on my back on the bed with my legs going straight up the wall. This seems to work well for me–what works for you?

OK, so I’m in the throes of writing an article about how people are using blogs in conjunction with their meetings. This is leading to some very weird synergies. One guy I spoke with is doing what sounds like an amazing program involving drug safety management–but I never would have found him without Capsules, the blog I write for Medical Meetings. He posted a comment to something on Capsules, I tracked it back to his site, we e-mailed back and forth, and ended up having a great conversation that may have implications far beyond the article or his program. (More, lots more, on that if anything comes to fruition.)

A couple of times now, I’ve called someone for an interview and they say, “hey, I read your blog.” And of course, I read theirs, too, which is why I called them. It almost feels like we already know each other before we even speak. One guy I ended up e-mail interviewing, someone whose blog is one of my absolute favorites (OK, it’s Rich at TSMI), I’ve never actually talked to, but feel I know what his stance is going to be on various topics just from reading his blog. And on it goes. The same thing is starting to happen with some physician bloggers I know from Capsules. Then there’s a gentleman I met through a comments section on another blog’s post about developing community–he saw my comment and e-mailed me, and we have been e-discussing issues and pointing out links to each other ever since.

I love, absolutely love this weird connectivity blogs bring to my world. Just think what they could do for your meetings…

And if you’re blogging your meetings, or using a blog in some way in conjunction with your meetings, please let me know. While there are 5 million or so blogs out there, not many meeting planners or show organizers seem to be using them–at least, not yet.