2010 General Info

ILADS Conference in NJ on Oct 15, 16, 17, 2010

The doctor-oriented ILADS Lyme conference will be longer than it has been in years past. ILADS announced its intention to have its own separate conference on the last day of the 2009 combined conferences and have extended it to 2 1/2 days.

Patients please remember- you'll have to be able to handle sitting quietly, listening and taking notes. There can be a lot of confusion, limited breaks, bright and dim lights (fluorescent lighting in the main conference rooms, cement floors, high ceilings, divider curtain walls separating conference rooms), and some noise with possible difficulty hearing.

There will be a fair amount of walking/running between rooms and floors (elevators) from your hotel room, exhibit areas, the Enterprise Room (2nd floor), the Newport Room (3rd floor), the Liberty Room (2nd floor), rest rooms, foyers, food courts and other areas where events are scheduled on different days. This can be both confusing and exhausting for the typical patient. If you are limited in your walking ability or energy is a concern, we highly recommend bringing a wheelchair.

If you do nothing but attend the sessions all day, you (and your brain) will have to function for 30 hours at a high level for the 60 hours of conference time allotted (start to finish). Then you need to plan time to shower, dress and go somewhere to get supper each night (not included), etc.

The three conference days back to back can be very exhausting, especially after making all the arrangements, packing and traveling. The daily hours scheduled for the ILADS conference are extremely long for patients who are ill and who aren't up to a full days activities.

Thursday- Traveling, check-in at motel, unpack and go get supper.

Friday (10.5 hours scheduled) 7 AM till 5:30 PM. Up early then afterward go get supper.

Saturday (12.5 hours scheduled) 7 AM till 7:30 PM. Up early then afterward go get supper.

Sunday (5 hours scheduled) 7 AM till noon, plus arranging check out from your room, packing up and traveling home.

The absolute bare basics while at the ILADS conference- $395.00 early bird conference rate- plus hotel room ($680.58 for 3 nights- cheapest rate based on availability) and supper, drinks and snacks each day (ILADS provides a "box lunch"- on request the hotel stated you can get a chair to use in the foyer area) will cost one person a minimum of about $1,225.00, which again, only includes the cheapest room at the cheapest rate, patient-rate conference fees and your supper/snacks/drinks each day.

PLUS... you need to figure on plane fare (round trip) and baggage fees, cab/tram fees and tips to hotel- or gas for your car, meals on the road and travel time. You may need money for parking fees/tips (they can be pretty pricy), bellboy tips, extra meals and snacks, spending money, and misc tips and taxes.

The "unofficial" dress code is normally suit and tie for men, dresses or nice pant suit outfits for ladies. Total additional costs for the above listed extras generally come to about $400.00-$500.00 (if driving from the east coast- flying can be more).

Note- ILADS will allow patient advocates to attend this year. As of August 7, 2010 the hotel stated they only had a few rooms available at the ILADS early bird rate... so you may not be able to get the cheaper room rate, which can add a considerable amount to your cost.

For more information:

http://www.ilads.org/index.html

For those too sick or too short on money to attend the ILADS conference, see the option directly below and/or the information on the LDA/Columbia conference below.

For $40.00 (2009 price) plus $2.50 shipping you may be able to buy an ILADS CD-Rom and watch it over and over if you want, at your leisure. If you are near a support group maybe they could buy a copy and let folks share it.

(Edit 8/21/10- It was recently suggested by ILADS that we not recommend people "copy and distribute" the proceedings of the ILADS meetings they have for sale (mentioned above), which we don't believe we did; however, to be clear - from what we understand, you can purchase the ILADS material from them, but they do not want you to copy the material you've purchased to share with others for educational purposes.)

http://tiny.cc/xg4sv

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The Lyme Disease Association/Columbia University Scientific Conference in PA on October 2-3, 2010. Patient and Advocate workshops (optional) on October 1, 2010.

The LDA/Columbia University scientific conference is scheduled for Sat and 1/2 day Sun (early bird patient rate) is $175.00. Add on the hotel room at early bird rates ($169.00 plus tax, each night for 2 nights = $360.00 approx.) plus supper, drinks and snacks for 2 days, and it brings the minimum cost to attend to about $635.00 (includes cheapest room rate, patient conference fee and supper/drinks/snacks each day).

PLUS.... remember there will be additional costs for plane fare or gas, cabs, tips, meals, parking and taxes, etc (as stated above). The unofficial dress code is a bit more casual than what has been observed at ILADS, but your Sunday go-to-meeting clothes are probably most appropriate.

The approximate cost for the LDA/Columbia conference is about 1/2 of what ILADS would be.

From what we understand, the LDA/Columbia conference will be set up so attendees won't be running all over the hotel to get to scheduled programs on time (like last years ILADS conference- and this years ILADS schedule indicates they booked different rooms on different floors again). Since the LDA/Columbia conference is one day shorter than ILADS, it should be more "patient" friendly for those who have difficulty with their energy levels, concentration and walking ability.

You can attend the patient advocate workshop on Friday (9AM-3PM) if you'd like, for about $60.00. You'll already be booked in the hotel for the LDA conference to be held the next morning (unless you plan to drive/fly at night to be there by 7 AM Saturday). Information on the patient workshops is below.

For more information www.LymeDiseaeAsociation.org

OR.. if you can not attend the LDA conference and assuming they do it again this year, perhaps you could buy the DVD's- LDA's 3 DVD set (2009 price) plus compendium sells for $55.00.

http://tiny.cc/xg4sv

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Lyme Advocates Workshop- This will be held at the same place and on the same weekend as LDA/Columbia conference and is where you can meet other patients and advocates from across the country.

Friday October 1, 2010 at the Hyatt Regency Penns Landing in Philadelphia- (the day before & the same hotel as the LDA/Columbia 2010 Scientific Conference)

9 AM to 3 PM

Cost: $60 per person (includes lunch and afternoon snack) FEE SUBJECT TO CHANGE (lower, we hope).

The third annual Advocates Workshop is a nuts-and-bolts discussion of the topics of greatest interest to those who are considering starting a Lyme disease group of their own, or for groups already established who want to learn more.

The most experienced leaders in the Lyme community will help you in such areas as how to start a new group; determining your focus; legal issues; fundraising; child advocacy; how to provide education to the public in your community; setting up web sites and other on-line resources; recruiting, training, and managing volunteers; state Lyme legislation advocacy; and more.

All sessions will be interactive, so bring your questions and share your experiences.

On-line registration and a complete program will be published soon. (The Hyatt Penns Landing hotel will honor the special LDA/Columbia conference rate for Thursday night if you want to stay an additional night.)

Organized by the Lyme Disease Association of Southeastern Pennsylvania, Inc. (LDASEPA)

For the latest information, and registration (coming soon):

http://www.lymepa.org/html/lyme_advocates_workshop.html

Money Saving Tips

There are good speakers scheduled for both conferences, however, the cost for the Lyme Disease Association/Columbia University Scientific Conference is approximately 1/2 of what it would cost to attend the ILADS conference.

Lyme Disease Association/Columbia University Conference

REGISTER- Register for the conference early to save money.