As the chair for the joint PCMA Pacific Northwest Chapter and MPI Washington State Chapter Meetings Industry Summit, I wanted to find a better way to keep the committee organized, cut down on email traffic, and allow for better decision-making. Additionally, I wanted the entire committee to be in the know and be engaged where they had interest.

Thanks to PCMA Convening Leaders 2015, I learned about various project-management websites that could help with my goals. After doing some research, I jumped in using Trello. It’s free for your first two projects rather than for a specific period of time. So far we have a timeline, idea board, and task list. You can tag people to tasks or deadlines, and there is an activity feed for the overall project as well as each task.

For me, the bottom line is this: Trello has allowed the group to have more transparency and voice in the event.

Emily A. Rademacher, CMP, is assistant director of continuing education at the University of Washington School of Dentistry.