By Michael Dorausch, DC

Not only was the 2010 Parker Seminars in Las Vegas a spectacular event for chiropractors to attend, there were awards given out recognizing top chiropractic assistants and chiropractors of the year. 5 different chiropractors from across the globe received Chiropractor of the Year awards while at Las Vegas Parker, and three chiropractic assistants were presented Chiropractic Assistant of the Year awards. With as many chiropractors and assistants that are providing services across the planet, being selected for this prestigious award is quite significant, you don’t get one by resting on your laurels.

Brandi MacDonald and Fabrizio Mancini

Brandy MacDonald of Southside Chiropractic in Edmonton, Alberta receives her Chiropractic Assistant of the Year award from president of Parker College of Chiropractic, Dr. Fabrizio Mancini, while in attendance at the 2010 Las Vegas Parker Seminars.

Naomi Chance and Dr. Fabrizio Mancini

Also receiving a Chiropractic Assistant of the Year award was Naomi Chance of Chance Chiropractic Clinic in Fort Myers, Florida. A third award went to Charlee Crouse of the Spinal Clinic in Durant, Oklahoma.

Chiropractor Bill DeMoss of Newport Beach

What likely comes as no surprise to chiropractors in the state of California, Newport Beach chiropractor Bill DeMoss (Billy D) was among chiropractors receiving the prestigious 2010 chiropractor of the year award, presented during the seminar weekend. Bill DeMoss has worked incredibly hard (on the front line and behind the scenes) to preserve and promote chiropractic principles in the state of California and beyond. He as unquestionably done more to effectively promote chiropractic in the state than anyone I’ve seen during the past 15 years.

Congratulations to all of the chiropractors and chiropractic assistants that received awards this year. Your dedication and persistency towards promoting chiropractic and its principles is appreciated.

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By Michael Dorausch, DC

Chiropractic in Las Vegas for 2010 got kicked off with a bang when Parker Seminars rolled into the Hilton Casino and Hotel on January 14-16. There were thousands of chiropractors in attendance, and the energy at Parker Las Vegas was as stellar as it’s always been.

Parker College of Chiropractic Booth

The exhibitor floors at Parker Seminars are always packed with vendors from all walks of chiropractic life. The Parker Chiropractic College (shown above) booth was displayed elegantly and staff working the booth were even active on twitter throughout the Vegas seminar weekend.

CLA - Chiropractic Leadership Alliance with fresh new look

Some of the vendors at Parker Las Vegas, like the Chiropractic Leadership Alliance, had a fresh new look to their booth display. The clean white set up made for an attractive booth, a change from silvers and blues seen in CLA designs of the past.

Parker Seminar Stage in Las Vegas

To my knowledge, Parker Seminars in Las Vegas hosts the largest stage for chiropractic giants to speak on. The above photo shows legendary chiropractor, Dr. James Sigafoose, speaking to a packed house in one of the many conference rooms. Lighting for this particular Parker weekend was fantastic. I really thought the natural accents and backlighting added significantly to the experience of listening to and watching speakers communicate the message of chiropractic.

Chiropractor James Sigafoose

As bold has he ever was, Jim Sigafoose described his vision of chiropractic, his message of chiropractic for the masses, motivation for chiropractors, and his being thankful for a life in chiropractic. Sigafoose has long been one of my favorite speakers in chiropractic, his Saturday morning talk was reenergizing.

Chiropractors Jeff Spencer and Jason Deitch

I came across several movers and shakers in chiropractic while walking through the exhibit areas and moving in and out of the speaker rooms. Two such powerhouses were doctors Jeff Spencer and Jason Deitch, both are pushing the envelope on wellness inside and outside the industry. These guys are leaders in the world’s wellness revolution.

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By Michael Dorausch, DC

Last week there was news regarding Life Chiropractic College West and a Mission Trip to Cambodia. The trip featured Life West faculty, alumni, and college interns traveling to provide chiropractic care in Cambodia. Iris J. Murillo, public relations manager for Life Chiropractic College West, emailed a few photos that were taken during the trip. I wanted to share them here.

Chiropractors, Chiropractic Interns, and lot’s of smiles

I love that people take the time to get photos during mission trips, we get so consumed in providing care that often times some of the little things (like stopping to take pics) get overlooked.

Hands On Chiropractic Care

Imagine being able to get that Life Giving Adjustment for the very first time? Awesome stuff! Depending on the groups organizing the mission trips, chiropractors may be providing full spine care, cervical spine only care, or a combination of cervical seated care and table full spine care (perhaps depends on ratio of chiropractors to people being served). In past trips I’ve participated in (like Costa Rica) much of the adjusting was seated cervical care. I like the idea of having people on a table but that can be a long day when serving on missions.

Smiling Faces

Chiropractors that participated in this mission will remember their experiences forever, and they’ll have fond memories of the smiles shared by people they met during their journey. If you want to get out of your head space and serve for the sake of serving, there’s nothing quite like a mission trip to motivate you. Congrats to all that invested the time and energy to make the trip a success.

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By Michael Dorausch, DC

I’m sitting in a classroom at Life University in Marrietta, Georgia and the WiFi here is rocking. Thought I’d post some photos from the weekend before I get back to the office. The campus looks fantastic and I plan to post quite a few pics in the weeks to come.

Life Running Eagles

A view from inside the gymnasium at Life University. The Running Eagles are the official Life University Rugby team and one of the only competing clubs in the United States fortunate enough to have the full support of a university athletic department offering rugby scholarships.

Chiropractors Adam Cantor and Josh Handt

I’ve known both Adam and Josh for several years now. Dr. Adam Cantor practices in California and Dr. Josh Handt practices on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, NY. The office is nearby what used to be the location for the Manhattan Chiropractic College.

Life Fitness Wellness Center

The fitness facility at Life University was impressive to say the least. Huge bonus for those choosing to attend chiropractic school at Life or attend one of the other health sciences programs. I would have loved to have something like this available when I was in chiropractic school.

The Ian Grassam Treehouse

Above is an inside view of one of the rooms in the Ian Grassam Treehouse. There’s a lot of history behind this place, dating back to the early 1800’s. Chiropractor Ian Grassam was one of my all time favorite motivators. You can still get audio from talks he did while visiting California in the 1990s (I was a chiropractic student at the time recordings were made).

LifeForce Chiropractors Joe Lupo and Hank Cousineau

While attending the LifeForce sessions, Drs. Joe Lupo and Hank Cousineau showed other LifeForce chiropractors how they educate their communities and get people excited about becoming chiropractors. They have both been major forces in promoting chiropractic and chiropractic principles across the planet.

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Guest Post By Don Campbell

Free WordPress Theme for Chiropractic Websites - Optimized for Local Search Results

We should never have watched that video. My friends and I got a hold of a video of the Korean National Tae Kwon Do demonstration team. These guys were absolutely amazing. Breaking boards, flying kicks, and acrobatics of all kinds. They were the best of the best in a nation where Tae Kwon Do is the national sport. After watching the video, my fellow Tae Kwon Do class mates and I had no choice but to put together our own black belt demonstration team.

The technique that stood out for me was the 540 degree jump spinning kick. In this kick, you have to jump in the air, and then spin around completely once – that’s 360 degrees, and then another 180 degrees, and kick a board and break it with your heel before landing.

It takes a while to get this one right. I must have practiced that kick 400 times over the course of 3 weeks. I was still was surprised when I developed a pain all along my back, like a high tension wire running from the base of my neck all the way down my spine. I’d never had back issues before, and had been training for years so I didn’t make the connection at first.

After a few days like this I went to see an orthopedic doctor. He gave me a prescription for Ibuprofen and offered to take some XRays, which wasn’t really the answer I was looking for.

Chiropractic Care to the Rescue - A good friend referred me to a chiropractor. I was not too excited about having someone work on my spine when I was in such pain, but she convinced me by telling me that she takes her kids in to see this doctor. I needed a solution so I went to see him. During the visit, he asked me a lot of questions and examined my back. He then performed an adjustment on my back, by having me cross my arms in front of me, and then “hugging” me and adjusting my spine. I thought to myself – “here we go…”

I felt almost instant relief. I could hardly believe it. I mean, the pain was not totally gone, but it made a huge difference right away. He told me it would take a few more visits to get the problems with my back corrected. And he was right. After 3 more visits, my back was back to normal again.

That’s when I became a believer in chiropractic care.

The Challenges of Chiropractic Marketing - In 2007 I left Microsoft to start my own company helping small business owners build an effective internet presence. Chiropractic practices quickly became a focus for me because I have several friends who are chiropractors and naturally I started with them. Once I started focusing on this specific type of small business, I learned quite a bit about the challenges chiropractors face getting the word out about their business. I found that many of them were struggling to get any kind of value out of the Yellow Pages, and were interested in the web but weren’t sure how to use it as a marketing channel for their business.

I found that almost every chiropractor I talked to fell into one of two camps:
1) They had a website, but it wasn’t doing anything for them. It was essentially an “online brochure” that wasn’t bringing them any new patients. Or,
2) They didn’t have a website, and weren’t sure how much it should cost, or where to get started.

Instant Chiropractic Websites - After helping many chiropractors build effective websites and optimizing them for top local search results, I created a WordPress Theme for chiropractic websites. The theme is essentially a website template specifically designed for chiropractic practices based on my experience in helping other practices get great results from the Internet. I’m excited to provide the Chiropractor2web Wordpress Theme for free to help chiropractors get a “jump start” on their on-line marketing efforts. You can download the theme here: Chiropractic WordPress Theme.

I’m a big believer in chiropractic care. I hope this WordPress website theme helps at least a few practitioners in the field get past one of the biggest challenges they face in getting started on the Internet, and it evolves into an “active” advertising asset and a significant source of new patients.

Let me know how it works for you!

About the author - Don Campbell is the publisher of Chiropractor2Web, a blog devoted to helping chiropractors build WordPress websites and get a steady stream of new patients from Google local searches. In his leisure time Don enjoys learning to play Jazz piano, skiing, and wake boarding (and visiting his chiropractor. He lives with his wife and two daughters in the San Jose, California where they enjoy traveling and exploring the Redwoods and the Pacific ocean beaches. You can follow him on Twitter here.

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By Michael Dorausch, DC

I’m at a chiropractor conference in Tempe Arizona (big ASU game going on today next door to hotel I’m at) and I’ve already received a stack of new business cards from chiropractors across the country. Lot’s of docs have figured out that when they give me new cards I often post the info when it’s fresh stuff or something I really like. This morning a chiropractor in Columbia Illinois gave me a stack of 10 Chiropractic Business Cards, he’s ready to roll for 2010!

Dr. Laurie Robert Mestdagh and his 2010 business cards

Dr. Laurie didn’t have just one card, he had ten different styles, all wrapped together in a rubber band, and ready to hand out to other chiropractors visiting from throughout the US and Canada. Colorado Chiropractor Steve Visentin gave me a stack of cards in the past, but I think Laurie has outdone him with a “10-pack.”

Free Exam Chiropractic Business Card

I like the traditional Red White and Blue Free Exam cards chiropractors hand out. I’m not certain if every state allows chiropractors to promote Free Chiropractic Exams or Free X-Ray Exams so I’d recommend checking your state laws before creating such a card.

Other chiropractors have had good things to say about Dr. Mestdagh and I can tell you he rocks with his adjusting skills. Office is located at 1550 North Main Street, Columbia, IL 62236 and you can get more info about his office at columbiachiropractic.net.

It’s not the first time I’ve gotten marketing materials from Dr. Laurie, he’s shared tons of chiropractic brochures, flyers, motivational postcards, and other stuff with me over the years. You never know when chiropractor contact info will get posted here, but it’s unlikely to happen if I don’t recieve anything.

While I’m on the topic of postcards and chiropractors, I’m hoping to get some more chiropractic holiday postcards for 2009 so I can share them here. Made something creative for the holidays or the new year? If so, get a contact address and send it along, I’d love to check out and share what you’ve got.

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By Michael Dorausch, DC

Early this morning I was preparing for an awesome Wednesday at the office when I received an e-mail from a chiropractor questioning the validity of a reply he had for a piece of chiropractic equipment he was selling in the classifieds. On the surface the e-mail didn’t look quite as spammy and fraudulent as the many we’ve seen before, but it had all the key factors we see in classified advertising buyer scams.

To confirm, I always perform a search on the IP address to see if any unusual activity is appearing on the website. In the case of the e-mail I received this morning, the IP address 209.107.217.20 had sent some 67 identical e-mails to sellers of chiropractic equipment in about a 40 minute period, undoubtedly a scammer.

As I’ve been doing regularly,  I like to post a copy of the e-mail that was sent (thanks to the chiropractors that alerted me) along with the e-mail address used and the IP address. I have received many e-mails in the past couple years, from folks using other websites for classified advertising that received similar e-mails from the same scammers, which has helped keep them from falling prey to 419 check and money order scammers.

========================================
Sender IP: 209.107.217.20
Posted To: Chiropractic Classifieds

Hello Seller,
I will like to show interest in buying your item,My name is Daniel William from Redlands CA .. I came across your item and i have really read all the description of the item and I’m very much interested to buy it.

I’ll like to buy the item for my Uncle as a birthday gift,i will like to ask you some few questions..

Q#1. How long have you owned it?
Q#2. Any available photo?
Q#3. How much are you asking for it?
Q#4. Do you accept a (Business Check/Cashier Check/Money Order)as a mode of payment?
Q#5. Get back to me with your Full name,address and Phone # to further our discussion.
Q#6.Do you accept a local pick up?

Note that you don’t need to worry about shipping as i have a private shipping company that will take care of the shipping and delivery of the item once payment is been received by you.

I’ll like to have the response to these question in your earliest convenience.

Hope to hear from you soon.

Best Regard And God Bless,
Mr.Daniel

Daniel William
daniel774416@rediffmail.com
========================================

The biggest change I see in this e-mail from those sent in the past, is the buyer identifies themselves as somebody that is local in the United States (in this case Redlands California). Their e-mail explains that they want to buy the item for their uncle as a birthday gift. Who buys their uncle x-ray processing equipment for a present? That should be a flag right there.

The bigger flag though, is that the item is not mentioned in the e-mail, which makes it much easier for the scammer to send out mass mailings using the template seen above.

I like the finishing touch of… God Bless That tends to be seen in nearly every fraudulent e-mail in this sort of category. Very simply, the above e-mail is an attempt to separate someone from their items for sale and/or their money. Here’s a long list of nearly identical blog posts regarding this kind of fraudulent online activity. You don’t have to read all the posts to get an understanding of what’s going on, but I’d recommend you read at least three of them, before posting any classified ads on any website online.

Classifieds Ad Fraud Attempt Today
Helene Dido Internet Classified Ad Scams
Mr Osram Slam oceanltd2000 Scam
Nigerian Scammer Loaded Martins
Martins Gilbert Woodland Property Investment Scam
Mark Nicholas mark_nicho95 Fraud Alert
Daniel Monday Scam Alert
Mr Benson Raymond Nigeria Scam 196.3.183.73
Constant Watch on Fraud and Scams
1000 mentions of fraud and phishing
I can haz ur money?

Maybe somebody wants to buy me a digital x-ray unit for my birthday?

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By Michael Dorausch, DC

It was mentioned yesterday on Search Engine Land that in the United States, Google would now be providing their own map data, instead of using data (as they did in the past) from a company called TeleAtlas. While local search expert Michael Blumenthal provided details in a blog post regarding the changing of map data, I wondered how the changes may affect results when using Google to search for local chiropractors.

As not to be too biased in selecting cities, I went to my chiropractic twitter account and asked “name a random city please.” Replied results included New Orleans, Knob Lick, Denton, Defiance, and Poteau.

This is a good random selection of cities because it shows that when it comes to searching for local businesses and services, google map results aren’t always going to be displayed, especially in more rural areas.

I started my search with Defiance, Ohio. I failed to get local map results for search terms like Defiance Chiropractor, Defiance Pizza, Defiance Restaurants, Plumber Defiance, or Dentist Defiance (thanks to Michael Gray for the city suggestion).

My first thought when no Google Maps results were returned was that there wasn’t enough information on local businesses to serve up a Lucky 7 local maps listing. There were traditional organic search results for each business category, many of them being from sites that provide large amounts of city data, but no maps.

I did the same searches (chiropractor, dentist, etc.) for Poteau, Oklahoma and had similar results. No map data was displayed for any of the business categories I searched in that area. Thanks to Serena Ehrlich for the city suggestion.

Chiropractor Adam Tanase suggested Knob Lick, Missouri and I was fairly certain I’d get the same results as I did in the previous two city searches. The area is south of Farmington, along Highway 67, and it appears to be quite rural.

WordCamp LV guy, John Hawkins, suggested Denton Texas. This is more what I was after, but I did ask for random cities, and I like how it shows the results are varied.

Chiropractor Denton Texas map results

I performed a search for Denton chiropractor and got back the results I was looking for. The screenshot above shows map data is provided by Google and if you count the red markers you’ll see that there are 7 (A - G) with a choice to view more results as the last selection. It looks to me like selection E is nearest to the centroid for the city (notice where it says Denton on the map) but it’s not the first listed result. Interestingly, when searching Dentist Denton, the top result (A) was nearest to the centroid. The results vary when searching pizza or plumber. Let’s take a look at one more Metro area.

Chiropractor New Orleans map data

The city of New Orleans was suggested by Michelle Robbins, and like the results for Denton, there were seven businesses listed on the map when including the term chiropractor in the search. In this case, selections A. and E. were closest to the city centroid, with E. being slightly closer.

I can’t recall what the data looks like for every city, but in many areas I’ve looked at, it appears that the local map results being served up by Google has changed from what was appearing when 10 Box or 3 Box (remember those?) local business results were being displayed. I may not be ecstatic about every result, but I like the looks of the Lucky 7 Box, it’s easier to read than 10 provides more results than 3. Change is good.

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By Michael Dorausch, DC

If you followed along any of the chiropractic writing I’ve done in the last 12 years or so, chances are you’ve read about mentions I’ve made on numerous historical chiropractic events. While everyday is a day of chiropractic history, some events are better publicized than others, and many don’t receive any press (inside or outside of chiropractic) at all.

$2250 Chiropractic Research Funding check in 1945

The above is an image showing a photottatic copy of a check for $2250 marked pay to the order of  Chiropractic Research Funding by Los Angeles Hospital, Inc. in December of 1945. It is an excellent example of possibly forgotten chiropractic history in the city of Los Angeles. Like an example I showed in July of this year, of a historical chiropractic mailing address, the above image serves as a reminder of chiropractic related activities taking place in one particular city many years ago.

While the city of Davenport Iowa tends to get most of the attention when it comes to historical chiropractic stories (as it should), it behooves us not to forget even maybe more recent historical chiropractic events. It doesn’t matter if these things took place locally, nationally, or internationally, every story has its place.

The 2004 Chiropractic Expansion trip to Russia was a very big deal to the chiropractors that made that monumental event happen. Mission trips and chiropractic expansion projects are under works around the globe and many chiropractors have dedicated their lives towards moving the science, philosophy, and art of chiropractic care forward.

Chiropractic history includes stories of chiropractic schools that once existed in Manhattan as well as stories of chiropractic educational expansions in places like Hayward California with dedications of new colleges (captured on audio) by former presidents of chiropractic colleges like Dr. Sid Williams.

Close-up displaying address for Los Angeles Hospital Inc on Westlake Park Blvd.

Even non-chiropractic historians may find images like this of interest. If you look at the address above for Los Angeles Hospital Inc. you may notice that the address is listed as Westlake Park Blvd. 2024 W. 6th St., Los Angeles 5, Calif. FEderal 4819. The city of Los Angeles has undergone many changes in the near 64 years since this check was written. There’s no longer a Westlake Park Blvd. in Los Angeles (I believe it’s been renamed Wilshire Boulevard) and mailing addresses now use postal codes instead of divisions of cities into zones. I believe the “Los Angeles 5″ identified a particular area within the city and the “FEderal 4819″ was the precursor to the use of United States postal codes.

When I think about my own chiropractic experiences I can’t go back much further than the early 1970s. Most of the stuff that I’ve had available to share online has come from my personal collecting of books, photos,  audio recordings, and whatever also come across during the past 15 years or so. Basic things like chiropractic photos from when I was in school (I had some of the most awesome chiropractic classmates) and 1999 chiropractic blogging histories are fairly abundant in my collection of “stuff” I’ve accumulated.

Security First National Bank of Los Angeles

As if someone intended for me to publish more information related to historical events in the industry of chiropractic, earlier this summer my historical collection grew considerably, mostly related to the history of chiropractic in the state of California. An old-time chiropractor had passed on and, and afterwards his widow delivered to me stacks of chiropractic textbooks, publications, journals, radiological guides, and other chiropractic related documents.

As I mentioned above, some of these documents may even bear interest to those not seeking history regarding chiropractic, but those seeking historical topics in general. I found that the Security - First National Bank Los Angeles is now Bank of America. Today, if you drive along S. Alvarado St. or W. 6th St. near MacArthur Park, you’ll pass a BofA branch located at 2101 W. 6th. Today the postal code for that area is 90057.

If you’re interested in viewing a much larger version of the check shown above, use this photo link to view it in an expanded size. The $2250 check was reportedly presented by the president of the Los Angeles Hospital, Inc. Dr. George Taylor, to Chiropractic Dr. J. Ralph John. The presentation took place during a dinner meeting at the Los Angeles Elks Temple on January 3, 1946. The Elks later became the Park Plaza Hotel and they have a historical page showing photos.

I can’t help but be reminded by what Dr. Ian Grassam said regarding the price of greatness when I think even seemingly little events in chiropractic history. There’s so much to be remembered and still so much to do while moving forward.

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By Michael Dorausch, DC

Two things that are really near and dear to my heart, skateboarding, and the city of Venice, California. I was a kid skating Long Island around the time DogTown skateboard paraphernalia (mostly artfully done wooden skateboard decks) begin appearing in the New York suburbs. I figure that was around 1976 or 1977, and in Los Angeles, the skateboard movement had already long been underway.

GPS Latitude: 33 deg 59′ 14.37″ N GPS Longitude: 118 deg 28′ 31.33″ W

Today was a historic day in Venice Beach California, with the opening of the City of Los Angeles Venice Beach Skate Plaza and Skate Park. I posted latitude and longitude coordinates above for those of you geeks that want to find the skate park via your GPS gadgets, since it won’t yet show on any map. The park is part of the Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks and it’s official address is..

1800 Oceanfront Walk, Venice, CA 90291

skateboarding the pool in Venice beach while crowds cheer

Venice Beach’s 16,000 square-foot skate plaza has four main components; a deep pool (shown above), street terrain course, snake run and flow pool.  The $3.4 million plaza’s unique design combines street and vert skating, allowing skateboarders to flow in and out of the different styles. With a maximum vertical differential of up to 9 feet, the deep pool allows for lots of speed in a single entry/exit run. The street terrain course simulates a streetscape environment with steps, rails, planters, curbs and driveways. For an old-school skateboarding experience, skaters can carve from bank to bank through the snake run. The flow bowl provides maximum momentum for continuous multiple entries/exits in a single run.

We used to have POP in Venice Beach, but after that burned down, the place became a Dogtown. Now there’s a new skateboard park in 90291.

For Venice Beach locals or those interested in skateboarding in the area, check out my Venice Beach Skate Park photo set on Flickr. You’re welcome to use the photos on your websites or blogs, but I’d appreciate link attribution back to the photo page or this post.

Dog Town

Many thanks to the Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks, Ruth Galanter and other elected and former council members and Los Angeles politicians, and most especially to the long-term dedication of the skateboarders that got this whole movement started more than 30 years ago. My many skateboard related injuries over the years indirectly played a role in me becoming a chiropractor. Who’d a thunk it?

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