Greetings, As summer in the northern hemisphere draws to a close many of us are resuming a “back to work” attitude and beginning to pull together travel budgets and plans for the year ahead. As evidenced under UPCOMING EVENTS, there’s seemingly no limit to possible destinations and topics for consideration in the world of medical travel exhibitions and conferences. But with so many events, and many featuring the same presenters and exhibitors each year, it’s easy to question the value of attending such events at all. With hopes shedding some light on the potential value of trade events, we’re pleased to present a column by Constantine Constantinides entitled “The Role and Contribution of Conferences and Exhibitions.” A frequent attendee at events, as well as host and co-host to others, Constantinides offers some interesting thoughts on making the most of your travel time and dollar. As always, we welcome your comments, story ideas and press releases. Cheers, Amanda Haar, Editor [email protected]       YOUR OPINION MATTERS… Medical Travel Today recently partnered with Well-Being Travel to host the first “Well-Being and Medical Travel Conference 2012.” The event – which took place June 20-21 in Scottsdale, Ariz., and drew in 400+ attendees – educated travel sellers on how and why they should sell medical and wellness travel. As a follow-up to the conference, we’re conducting a survey in an effort to gather benchmarking information…and help everyone increase their success in this specialty niche (including medical practitioners and facilities, wellness therapists and retreats, travel suppliers and travel sellers…and ultimately the patient travelers). Take our brief 10-question survey today and you could win a $250 American Express Gift Card!!! Just click on this link: https://www.research.net/s/5L687QT