Hello Alliance members, it’s me…Audrie Tornow with your September update. 🍂 I’m an apple pie girl living in a pumpkin spice world. But cooler nights are taking over the east coast, so get out your hoodies and snuggle.

First, a huge thank you to Amanda Kaczerski, Annette Schwind and the entire 2025 AIS Planning Committee. 🙌 Your hard work made for an amazing conference. If you are one of the nearly 300 attendees who joined us, be on the lookout for your conference evaluations. We want to hear from you and they are due back by Oct. 1.

👏 Congratulations to PeerView Institute for their Best in Class Outcomes Award win and Medscape for being named runner up.

🙏 And of course, we’re grateful to all our sponsors for their support.

📅Thursday, Sept. 25 closes the Alliance Call for Volunteers.

📸 We want to see your memories included in the 50-year anniversary, so keep sending in your photos. 

I’ve enjoyed reading the recent, thoughtful conversations happening in the Alliance online community and encourage your participation.

I’m also excited to share that in the next few months you will hear more about registration for next year’s Annual Conference, and plans for the 2026 Alliance Leadership Institute.

And now, let’s get back to the countdown.

In 2003

• The Human Genome Project was completed, which has since accelerated the study of human biology and improved the practice of medicine.  
• Meanwhile the final installment in the Lord of the Rings trilogy was released in theaters.

In 2004

• The ACCME delivered the first iteration of the Standards for Commercial Support to educational providers.
• Facebook was founded, connecting college students before expanding globally.
• Michael Phelps won six medals at the Summer Olympics.

In 2005

• The overall percent of schools of higher education identifying online education as a critical long-term strategy grew from 49% in 2003 to 56% in 2005.
• Which is interesting as 2005 is the same year that YouTube was founded, giving anyone with an internet connection a platform to share and watch videos.

And in 2006

• Katie Couric makes headlines and TV history as the first female solo anchor of a weekday network evening news broadcast.  
• Pluto was officially reclassified as a dwarf planet by the International Astronomical Union.  

If you’ve stayed with me to the end, I want to share with you the 5 Side Effects of Kindness. Kindness makes us happier, is good for our heart, slows ageing, improves relationships and is contagious. 💖

As we transition to fall, I hope you encounter and receive as much kindness as possible. See you soon.