Peter Gardell 
Recently sitting on a flight finally approaching Phoenix, it had been a long day but moving in the right direction. I was on my way to the cerecdoctors.com Mentor Meeting for 2 days of great education and time with some great friends.
I say finally because what should have been a direct, non eventful scheduled flight turn out to be an odyssey. Luckily I had another Mentor to share my pain - Jeff Zaffos - We met on the first attempt to travel at 6:30 in the morning at JFK airport.
It is never good when you hear on the PA “ Is there a doctor on board?”. Followed by a few EMS coming on board. Factor into the equation that the affected person was one of the flight attendants just adds up to “ Flight Canceled!”
As we are herded off the plane we get the realization that there is no customer service available, just an individual with a business card with the 800 number for customer service. Customer service tried to be helpful over the phone but their combination of later flight to Boston, to Los Angeles, then to Phoenix just didn’t sound right. Especially since it required 18 hours of travel time. Time to start a conversation, time to get intelligent solutions to the problem. Time to think outside the box.
How about LaGuardia Airport? How about getting to Charlotte?
The response was you can’t get to LaGuardia in time. I insisted to be rebook there. I said we would make sure we are there in time. The reply was I will but if you miss it you might get stuck there.
LaGuardia- no problem, in fact get on the earlier flight. A street savvy ticket person said let me put you on stand-by now so maybe you can get on the earlier flight out of Charlotte to Phoenix. Now we are talking.
We get to Charlotte and check at the gate. Still on stand–by but still have a chance. Finally we get the call – Success!! Even though Jeff got stuck in the last row of the plane, it was okay since it was the earlier plane.
So what does this have to do with what we do?
Have contingency plans, have a way out. We can do CEREC restorations with out having them stress us out when things go right, but also prepare for when you get thrown the curveball. The Patterson Technical Center phone operator may be fantastic but they might not have all the info, they might not have the most efficient answer.
Arm yourself with knowledge. That is power. The power needed to get through these hiccups that may pop up.
Get active with reading the cerecdoctors.com discussion boards, get active with watching the videos. You'll find there many solutions to roadblocks you might encounter. Get out to the latest and greatest courses available in Scottsdale.
When you encounter something not planned, don’t let it stump, don’t let it stress you out. Set yourself up for success.
