There’s a particular kind of energy that happens when pediatric private practice owners come together to learn, swap ideas and figure out what’s next in growing their practices.
That energy was everywhere at PALOOZAversary 8 in Lake Las Vegas, where Uplift Founder and CEO Matt Hanses delivered two presentations—one on how AI is reshaping private practice marketing and another on helping practice owners get more comfortable sharing their expertise on video.
Hosted by our dear friends at Peds-A-Palooza® Community & Conferences, a community exclusively for pediatric OT, PT and SLP private practice owners, PALOOZAversary is the organization’s flagship annual gathering. This year’s theme was MOMENTUM, and according to founder Nancy Mura, it was the biggest PALOOZAversary yet, with nearly every available seat spoken for.
But first, Vegas.
Lake Las Vegas: Not Exactly a Tough Assignment
PALOOZAversary took place at The Westin Lake Las Vegas Resort & Spa, with beautiful views, warm weather and the Southwest’s trademark combination: sunshine without humidity.
We heard that Celine Dion’s house was somewhere nearby and possibly visible from the hotel.
We looked.
ChatGPT declined to tell us where it was.
Considering what Matt was about to spend one of his presentations discussing, the timing was pretty good.
AI Is Changing the Rules of Marketing. Is Your Practice Ready?
Matt kicked off his first presentation with an unusual co-presenter: an AI-generated version of himself.
It looked like Matt. It sounded like Matt. It even referred to the real Matt onstage as “human Matt.”
The room’s reaction was somewhere between amusement and “What the heck are we watching?,” which made the point nicely: AI can feel strange, complicated and more than a little unsettling. But, whether practice owners love it, hate it or wish it would just go away, their prospective patients and job candidates are using AI daily.
What Does AI See When It Looks at Your Practice?
From there, Matt brought AI into the real world of pediatric private practice. He showed how AI is changing the way people search for and evaluate businesses by drawing information from websites, reviews, profiles, content and mentions across the web.
The attendees then audited their own practices, comparing the practice they know exists in real life with the version Google and AI can actually see online.
The takeaway? AI may be changing the tools and mechanics of marketing, but practices still need to make it clear who they are, what they do and why families should choose them.
The technology is new. The fundamentals aren’t.
AI Marketing Seminar Attendee Feedback
“Matt had a great presentation as always. Lots of good things to think about how they apply to my marketing.” — Jennifer Davis, OT, Owner, JLD Therapy
“Great AI marketing presentation.” — Kathleen Pici, OT, Owner, Amazing Kidz Therapy
“Matt always brings something new and fresh. Loved the AI content.” — Dr. Cassandra Sanders-Holly, PT, Owner, Leaps & Bounds Pediatric Therapy
From Awkward to Authentic: Getting Comfortable on Camera
Matt’s second presentation tackled a marketing tool almost everyone understands the value of—and plenty of people would still rather avoid: video.
The seminar focused less on becoming a polished “video personality” and more on removing the things that make video intimidating in the first place.
Matt showed attendees his own imperfect raw footage—pauses, restarts, forgotten thoughts and bad takes—to make a simple point: the final, polished video the public sees is exactly that—final and polished
Practice owners don’t have to be the strategist, writer, videographer, editor and on-camera expert all at once. Their most important contribution is the part nobody else can supply: their knowledge and experience.
Practice, Don’t Perform
Then the session got hands-on.
Attendees paired up, answered real questions they hear from parents, therapists or job candidates and practiced talking naturally instead of “performing.” Then out came the phones.
Matt walked them through some basic video principles and encouraged them to keep talking even when they stumbled. Pause. Start a sentence again. Lose your thought and find it. A good editor can handle the rough edges.
Video Seminar Attendee Feedback
“Matt’s session on getting more comfortable making videos was hugely valuable to me. I left the video session feeling encouraged and empowered.” — Laura Agyeman, SLP, Owner, Radiant Kids Therapy
“Matt gave me some specific things to do to improve marketing—Google Reviews, videos to show clinical expertise!” — Terra Scott, PT, Owner, Infinite Pediatric Partners
“Matt’s presentation was awesome.” — Andrea Baskey, SLP, Amazing Kidz Therapy, PLLC
Two Talks, One Bigger Idea
Matt’s presentations were about two very different subjects: artificial intelligence and getting comfortable on video. But underneath both was the same bigger idea.
Technology is making it easier than ever to produce information. What it cannot manufacture is your actual expertise, reputation, experience and relationships.
Pediatric private practice owners have tremendous amounts of knowledge sitting inside their organizations: years of clinical experience, hard-earned lessons, insights from working with families and viewpoints that come from actually doing the work.
The opportunity is to make more of that visible.
AI can help multiply it. Video can help humanize it. Great marketing can help the right people find it.
And that feels very much in keeping with this year’s theme: Momentum.
The Momentum Didn’t Stop When the Sessions Ended
That first-day PALOOZAversary energy carried right into the evening.
Matt joined the Peds-A-Palooza powerhouses for dinner at The Village at Lake Las Vegas, a quaint cobblestoned collection of shops and restaurants just a short walk from the hotel. The group was still buzzing from the conference—talking strategies, looking ahead and doing what this crew does particularly well: making things happen. And making things happen we are. That dinner led to some really big things in the works for pediatric private practices. Stay tuned!
Clockwise from left are Peds-A-Palooza Founder Nancy Mura; Peds-A-Palooza Co-creator Diane Crecelius with her husband, Greg Crecelius; and Uplift Marketing Founder and CEO Matt Hanses.
Until Next Time, Paloozies
We came home from PALOOZAversary 8 with new ideas, plenty of great conversations and another reminder of why Uplift loves this community.
Thank you to Nancy Mura and the entire Peds-A-Palooza Community & Conferences team for bringing everyone together again—and to the practice owners who attended Matt’s presentations, asked questions, audited their marketing, pulled out their phones and took a crack at video.
And, of course, thank you for tolerating AI Matt.
Human Matt appreciates it.
Ready to Build Some Marketing Momentum of Your Own?
AI may be changing marketing quickly, but practices still need to be visible, credible, easy to understand and genuinely useful to the people they want to reach.
If you’d like to see how your practice’s marketing stacks up—or figure out where your biggest opportunities are—talk to Uplift Marketing.
We’d love to help.
