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Happy Holidays and Updates from the HFES President

Holidays in December:  When I think about the phrase “Happy Holidays” it always makes me think about people around the world who are celebrating something and honoring traditions from their heritage. This site provides a lovely list of many (if you see something missing, please let me know!) of these traditional holidays, (although, not crazy that they’re numbered). Regardless of where you are in the world and which of these you celebrate, I hope that during these times of longer nights, you find some joy and comfort with those you care about and who care about you.

At the same time, the holidays can be a hard time for many people for a variety of reasons. If you’re having a hard time or are sad, you are not strange or different or weird. MANY people do. There are several websites with suggestions about how to prepare and mitigate potential stress and sadness over the holidays – here’s one. You are also not alone—even if it feels that way. Reach out to a fried, they want to hear from you. Or, you can call or text 988 from anywhere in the US to talk to a trained counselor.

Lastly, for those Human Factors/Ergonomics specialists who eagerly await Santa’s arrival every year have you ever wondered how in the world he does it?! Well, in 2020, there was a submission to thebmj that addressed this: https://www.bmj.com/content/371/bmj.m4708. Obviously for copyright issues we cannot give you the entire thing, but the beginning of the abstract was enough to put a smile on my face!!! (Thanks to Amy D’Agostino for sharing this with me).

Preparing for the new year: I had the opportunity and privileged to work for two days with Steve Kemp (HFES executive director) and Caroline Cao (HFES President Elect) to chart a course for the next 10 months of my presidency (still sounds weird to say that…). So many exciting things that are happening although many may not be directly visible to all of you. We will continue to work on our strategic goals and adjust our organizational structure to support HFES being as effective and efficient as possible. This is very important work but many of you will not see it directly.

Another thing I want to make happen in 2025 is to better inform the HFES membership of ALL of the work being done by the committees and groups of HFES. The volunteers in these organizations are the backbone of our organization and often their work goes unseen and unknown. We are going to work to change that in 2025 by having posts in the Bulletin about who they are and what they’re doing

REGIONAL MEETINGS!!! Did you see the HFES Connect notice about the Regional Meetings? Or something in LinkedIn about it? Or maybe the notice in the Bulletin? If not, look for it! If you don’t find it, tell me!! We are having our inaugural HFES Regional meeting on April 11^th. Our goal is for these five pilot regions across the U.S. to allow greater accessibility to the benefits of face-to-face HF/E collaboration, typically found only at HFES Healthcare Symposium or ASPIRE. If you will be near one of the following pilot regions, please join us!

• Western Region—San Jose, CA
• Southern Region—Houston, TX
• Midwest Region—West Lafayette, IN
• Southeast Region—Atlanta, GA
• Northeast Region—Washington D.C.

Other Key Dates:

• Speaker Submissions: January 7 - March 4, 2025
• Attendee Registrations will open on February 4, 2025

Interested in being part of HFES History by having your organization sponsor this event? The Planning Committee is currently looking for sponsors at national and regional levels with different tiers offering an array of benefits (e.g., booths, speaking, and free registration opportunities). For more information, please reach out to HFES’s Secretary-Treasurer, Dr. Rose Figueroa.

Titans of HFE Symposium: While reading textbooks, we see their names in the in-text citations and the reference list. During our daily work, we hear their names mentioned as someone who established a precedent we continue to use or was integral in getting a standard established. Many of their names are associated with HFES Awards. These are the Titans of HFE. Take a look at the Bulletin post about the Titans of HFE Virtual Symposium on Monday, February 3, 2025. This symposium honors many of our late Titans—individuals who made remarkable contributions to our Society and whose legacies are commemorated through our major awards. Registration is complimentary for HFES Student Affiliate members, and a nominal fee is charged to others. Registration is and we hope you save February 3, 2025 on your calendar and make plans to attend.

Human Factors and Ergonomics in Health Care Symposium: If you have been considering attending this meeting but have not yet, you should do it. This meeting is becoming a jewel of the HFES experience. Ask someone who has gone to it before about it, and you will see them get what I call the “Healthcare Symposium” glow. There are physicians, HF/E practitioners, HF/E academics, students, technology developers, and others. Further, this meeting grows in numbers every year—registration opened recently and already the registration numbers are higher this year than at this time last year. You don’t want to miss out!

Let’s hear from you: Lastly, I was to remind you of the opportunities for all of you to contribute to the 2025 HFES ASPIRE meeting in Chicago!!! HFES leadership is working tirelessly to improve our transparency, and towards that effort, I sent a video providing feedback on some of the concerns HFES members were having regarding ASPIRE: Feedback on ASPIRE to membership-small.mp4. In this video, I talk about the opportunities to provide feedback. Here is the page to login to communication events (no registration is necessary) HFES ASPIRE Planning Meetings. Hope to see you there!!!