The theme of this year's National Conference on Health Communications, Marketing and Media couldn't be more aptly stated. For most professional conferences, the theme is often nothing more than a tagline used as a marketing tool to differentiate from previous years. Convergence is more than a theme for over 1,000 attendees representing over 100 organizations at this conference, it is purposeful.

While this is just the fourth year for the National Conference on Health Communications, Marketing and Media, for over a decade there has been a growing movement of researchers, practitioners and public service professionals who have been applying emerging communication channels to broaden the reach and deepen the impact of public health initiatives. For them, this conference is much more than a gathering of like-minded people with good intentions or a platform for academic one-upmanship. It represents the wellspring from which the intersection of targeted communication and vital health information emerges. It represents a gathering of diverse influences unifying for one common purpose - to make wrong things right.

It is an honor to not only have the opportunity to connect and collaborate with these pioneers, but more so in knowing we share the same passions and purpose. We look forward to coming days of this innovative gathering and know already that in order to solve the world’s dilemmas, it will require a “unified whole."

Stay tuned…