What Healthcare Travelers Ought To Know About The 2018 Travelers Conference
The Travelers Conference, also known as TravCon, is the annual conference for, about and by traveling healthcare professionals. 2018 will be the 11th year of the conference and it promises to be an amazing event. In this article, we’ll provide an overview of the conference and take a look at some of the awesome activities and events lined up for 2018.
When and Where is the Travelers Conference 2018?
Travelers Conference 2018 is at Bally’s in Las Vegas, Baby! Unofficial events are planned for September 6th and 7th. There are a few official fun activities on September 8th. September 9th is referred to as “Pre-Conference” and includes several classes and the opportunity to register for the conference.
September 10th and 11th are referred to as “Core Conference”. This is when the Exhibitor Hall is open and the lion’s share of events and educational opportunities take place. The conference closes out on September 12th with a brunch and a Medical Spanish Intensive course for those who are interested. You can view the full schedule here.
Who Attends the Travelers Conference?
As mentioned above, TravCon is an event for, about and by traveling healthcare professionals. This includes both nursing and allied professions. Attendees include RN’s, LPN’s, NP’s, PA’s, RT’s, OT’s, PT’s, SLP’s, Sonographers and Technicians.
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The conference provides tremendous value for seasoned travelers and “Dreamers”, healthcare professionals who are interested in becoming travelers. In fact, there is a “Newbie BootCamp” for those not already involved in the industry. The Newbie BootCamp is a 7-hour seminar designed to help newcomers approach the industry with confidence.
You can get tickets until September 6th, 2018.
Benefits of Attending the Travelers Conference
The Newbie BootCamp is just one of the many educational options available at the Travelers Conference. Here is brief overview of the presentation topics and courses available at this year’s conference:
- Basic Medical Spanish: This is a 6-hour course that’s offered on both Sunday and Wednesday. It’s one of the few premium courses offered and it’s a steal at only $89.
- Certified Emergency Nursing Review Course: A course for Emergency RN’s, this is a 7-hour course instructed by the conference’s keynote speaker, Jeff Solheim, MSN, CEN, CFRN. Again, this course is another steal at only $95.
- Traveler Safety and Personal Self Defense
- How to Interview Companies and Recruiters to Find the Perfect Fit
- Tax Homes for the Traveler
- Understanding Per Diem Reimbursements
Again, this is just a brief overview of the presentations and educational opportunities. There are tons more! And some of these presentations even qualify as CEUs (for RN’s, OT’s and PT’s). You can view the complete schedule here. You can take a look at some of the presentation descriptions here.
Networking with Travel Healthcare Professionals
In addition to learning opportunities and CEUs, the Travelers Conference offers a huge networking opportunity. Conference organizers are anticipating roughly 1,000 attendees. Given the size of the travel healthcare industry, that’s a huge number. There is no better opportunity to connect with colleagues that share your career challenges and inspirations.
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Moreover, many of the industry’s bloggers, entrepreneurs and thought-leaders will be in attendance. Here’s a list of just a few who will be in attendance:
- Kay Slane: Kay is the author of the seminal book on travel nursing, “Highway Hypodermics.” She is also the owner of highwayhypodermics.com.
- Joseph and Daina Smith: Joseph and Daina run TraveTax. TravelTax is one of the leaders in providing tax services for travel healthcare professionals.
- Laura Latimer: Laura runs Nomadicare, a service that vets recruiters and matches them with travelers based on fit.
- Julia Khun: Julia runs TheTravelingTraveler.com, a website that inspires folks to both travel and take the plunge into travel healthcare.
Networking with Travel Healthcare Companies
Of course, there will be tons of great travel healthcare companies in attendance as well. In fact, 13 of the companies that made our list of the best travel nursing companies of 2018 will be in attendance. Moreover, the industry’s largest healthcare staffing companies will all be in attendance.
The Travelers Conference is a great opportunity to meet new companies and recruiters in person. That’s a huge advantage!
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Of course, all of the travel healthcare companies and other exhibitors will have awesome swag and giveaways. Here is a small sample of what we’ve heard from travel healthcare companies who will be in attendance.
Health Providers Choice
Health Providers Choice (HPC) will have:
- Multiple games at their booth, number 142, with opportunities to win prizes.
- A raffle that will be held on 9/11/18. There will be six raffle winners. HPC is giving away the following prizes: (2) $250.00 Visa gift cards, (2) Amazon Echo Shows, and (2) $100.00 Visa gift cards. Those who are interested in being entered into the drawing can stop by the HPC booth for a ticket.
- They will have a life-size Operation game at their booth.
- They will have a cartoonist at their booth. Attendees can walk up or schedule appointments to have their picture drawn by the artist.
CoreMedical Group
This year CoreMedical Group is promoting their Club CoreMed loyalty/incentive trip at TravCon. For those who don’t know, travelers who work with Core earn points for the hours they work over the course of each year. Core’s travelers also earn points for referrals. At the end of each year, travelers who earn enough points get to join Core’s team on their Club CoreMed trip!
CoreMedical basically rents out an entire all-inclusive resort for a week and throws an amazing party! Flights, food, drinks and everything else are included. You can even bring a free guest if you have enough points.
CoreMedical wants to encourage TravCon attendees to come relax, put their toes in the sand, and pretend they’re on a tropical vacation for a few minutes at their booth! They’ll have beach chairs, actual sand, palm trees, and tons of tropical fun in the booth!
They’re also giving away a trip to the Melia Coco Beach resort to one lucky winner! Over the course of the conference, people can enter the raffle at CoreMedical’s booth, number 426. Then on the last day of the conference, they’ll draw five names from the raffle. Those five people will come to the booth and be given a key to CoreMedical’s treasure chest. One key will work to open the chest, which will have a gift certificate for a trip to the Melia Coco Beach resort inside!
CoreMedial is also sponsoring the TravCon after party, so be sure to see them there!
Melia Coco Beach Resort
Fusion Medical Staffing
You can get to know the team at Fusion Medical Staffing on Sunday 9/9 at Fuel Bar where they’ll be hosting Happy Hour! Then, you can visit Fusion Medical Staffing at booth #122 during the conference where they’ll be giving away some awesome Fusion Beach Bags and other swag.
Holly Fenn, one of Fusion’s amazing recruiters, is doing an Education Session on 9/10 @ 4 PM. She’ll be discussing “Alternatives to Negotiating – Understanding Business Models”. This is a great topic for travelers to discover how different agencies handle pay packages.
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Fusion encourages travelers to visit www.vivalasfusion.com prior to the conference. They’re giving away Travcon tickets, tons of Fusion swag items and visa gift cards. This is all before the event! Be sure to check it out!!
FlexCare Medical Staffing
FlexCare is giving away custom Limited-Edition Apple Watch 3s at their booth this year. I’ve seen images of the design and these things are awesome! You do not want to miss your chance to get one of these truly unique Apple Watches. Be sure to visit FlexCare at booth 118 (along the left wall near the main entrance to the Expo Hall) to meet the team and enter to win.
In addition, FlexCare team-members Shane Young & Natalie Serra are running a presentation that Allied travelers won’t want to miss. The presentation is titled “Allied Traveler Transformation 2.0”. This presentation will help you become a better traveler as Shane and Natalie take you on a behind-the-scenes tour of the candidate preferences that facilities are looking for and how to build “Traveler Equity”.
Cirrus Medical Staffing
This is Cirrus Medical Staffing’s first year to attend TravCon. They’ll be raffling off various items periodically throughout the conference from booth #410. Giveaway items include travel nurse t-shirts, YETI rambler tumblers, Tervis tumblers, along with gift cards to Target, Starbucks and more! Keep an eye out for Cirrus’ TravCon-specific bonus offers, as well as their current programs such as the $3K WOW completion bonus, Get a Little & Give a Lot Referral Bonus, among others. Most of all, Cirrus is coming to TravCon to meet travel nurses where they are, and showcase the personal style of recruitment that the company is known for.
Moxie Mentoring
As we mentioned above, TravCon has something for travel healthcare agencies too! Moxie Mentoring is the nation’s #1 provider of training and consulting services for your travel healthcare staffing team. At last year’s TravCon, Moxie launched it’s online Travel Healthcare Recruiter Training platform. This year, Moxie will be launching a new online Leadership Training Program where attendees will learn skills from visionary leaders and experts from renowned companies like Facebook, Google and Tell-Ignite!
On Sunday, Shari Dalton will be helping with the Recruiter Training and during the final roundtable sessions, coaching recruiters on techniques for using social media to recruit. Moxie will also be hosting the Exhibitor Reception that evening, so come out and meet the team and take a load off before the fun begins on Monday! On Monday, Adam Gomez will be speaking to Exhibitors about strategies to compete in today’s heavy VMS/MSP market. Times and locations for all these events can be found on the Exhibitor portal.
Last, but certainly not least, Moxie will be hosting some exciting giveaways this year! Here is a list with details:
- Moxie has partnered with HCEN, HealthCare Employment Network, and will be drawing one agency to win $1000 in free leads.
- Moxie will also be hosting an Instagram contest and will draw one lucky recruiter to win 4 free coaching sessions with one of the Moxie Trainers!”
- Moxie is participating in a raffle where the prize is a pair of AirPods!
Be sure to find a Moxie Rep for further details.
Medical Staffing Solutions, Inc (MSSI)
Medical Staffing Solutions, Inc is giving away two Apple Watches! One on Monday and one on Tuesday. Be sure to stop by booth number 5 to register for the drawings!
TRS Healthcare
TRS Healthcare set the Travelers Conference abuzz last year with their Pirate theme. Their booth was in full pirate décor. Their representatives looked like they just walked off the set of Pirates of the Caribbean. Their prizes were pirate themed.
This year for the Traveler’s Conference they wanted to do something completely new and different. They’ve been very hush-hush about their plans, but we’re lucky enough that they gave us some advanced details and a sneak-peek! Check out the trailer below.
As you can see from the video trailer above, TRS is planning something that is completely immersive. As their representative told me, their booth will be “engaging and entertaining, affecting all 5 senses (well, 6 if you include our Fortune Teller)!!” TRS is aiming to do more than any other company to make travelers’ Vegas experience memorable.
TRS will have prizes for every person that comes by their booth and plays with them. There will be plenty of photo opportunities as well. TRS told us that they’re striving to give travelers an experience, rather than a sales pitch. And we have it on good authority that TRS has a monkey. What the what?! You don’t want to miss this! Be sure to check them out at booth 211.
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In addition to all the fun stuff at their conference booth, TRS is also bringing the knowledge. They have multiple speakers at this year’s event. Shaunna Nastasi, Recruiting Manager, will be presenting “Why Didn’t They Pick Me?” The presentation analyzes factors that influence a Hiring Manger’s decisions. Gary Swyers, Training & Development Manager, will discuss “Stepping Up Your Bedside Manner – Experiencing Emotional Intelligence”. Both are brand new topics to the CEU-earning class list and should be entertaining as well as informative.
Provenir
Provenir will have tons of awesome giveaways! On Monday they’re giving away 2 tickets to Michael Jackson ONE by Cirque du Soleil and a gift certificate for dinner. This show is highly rated and widely regarded as one of the best shows currently running in Las Vegas. Provenir will also be giving away 6 swag backpacks filled with a bottle of champagne and other free goodies/swag. Be sure to check them out at booth 109.
TotalMed
TotalMed has tons of giveaways and scheduled events. Here is a list of TotalMed’s events:
- Thursday 7-9pm: DIY Wine Event at Jockey Club. Bring a Bottle of Wine to Share, TotalMed and Gypsy Soul are sponsoring the room and glasses.
- Saturday 7-11pm: TotalMed will be at Carnaval Court – Drinks Provided – Open to all Travelers! – Still space! (No RSVP needed)
- Sunday 8-11pm: TotalMed will be at Top Golf – This event is by RSVP only and is full.
- Monday 8-11pm: VIP Event for Current Travelers of TotalMed.
In addition to these events, TotalMed is giving away a Trip for 2 to a destination of your choosing. Wait, what?! You have to check this out. The details will be available at the Totalmed booths, numbers 100 and 104.
In addition, if you scan your badge at booth number 104, then you’ll be entered into TotalMed’s bi-hourly drawing. A winner will be selected every 2 hours and will get to choose one of the following amazing prizes at the TotalMed booth:
- Coach Purse
- Kate Spade Bag
- Michael Kors Purse
- Fit Bit Versa
- Beats Solo Wireless Headphones
- Cannon Camera
- JBL Bluetooth Speaker
- Citizens Watch
Travel Nurses Inc.
Capture your TravCon experience with Travel Nurses Inc’s Hashtag Printer. Snap your picture and tag #travelnursesinc on your public Instagram, and Twitter posts. Then, all you have to do is come by Booth 7 to print your picture. In addition to getting a fun/cool picture, every time you use the hashtag you will be entered into their daily contest to win a Littman Master Cardiology Stethoscope, customized by you! There will also be a Caricature artist to sketch your hilarious cartoon likeness. Travel Nurses Inc. looks forward to seeing you at Booth 7!
Fun, Fun, and More Fun at TravCon
We’ve highlighted the giveaways and activities of 11 companies here. There are over 90 companies attending this year’s conference. Imagine all the other giveaways and awesome activities that aren’t covered in this article! Fun, education, networking, free stuff, FUN!! You don’t want to miss TravCon 2018 and you don’t have to. You can get tickets until September 6th, 2018.
Oh…and we’ll be there too! Come visit BluePipes at booth 209!
Thanks so much for the mention and kind words, Kyle!! Looking forward to TravCon!
Thanks for all the research, Kyle! This gets me excited about this year’s show.
Thanks, Frank!! I can’t wait to see you guys at TravCon!