-Cheryl- Posted May 25, 2004 Share Posted May 25, 2004 I am just an old country boy, but here's what I'd do if asked to put on a Convention. No I wouldn't need yer marble laced Marriott Hotel to have it in... costs too ded gum much and us folks that are sick, well, we can't hardly afford it. We are willin' to go wherever else though, even a pasture if neccessary. We just want to hear the information we are coming to git... Instead of havin' the thermostat set at 60 degrees and virtually runnin' the patients undergoin' chemo out of there, We'd open the winders and let the air in! Yeah we would have a little different take on thangs... No stuffy speakers and high dollar suits... We'd have someone interestin' and inspirin' like 9 year LC survivor Connie Bercham. She would get up and entertain us with real life stories.... why I bet she don't even know what a percentage even looks like! Yeah, we wouldn't be a tryin'to sell books to our sick either...especially if the one puttin' on the event was a sellin' her own book. We look upon that as being "too thin". We wouldn't take a kindly to arrogant doctors... WE have our own remedies fer those types. Drug companies would not be alowwed to set up booths... I knowed we could make a lot of money doing it, but that bothers and confuses we that are ill. Ya see, we just come to git the information on how we can make ourselves better. No, we wouldn't run you like cattle in a sandwhich line either for lunch while the Drs. ate in the fancy restraunt downstairs... We'd all brang a sack lunch and eat together....saves a little money and gives the Dr. more time to speak to the patients who have a lot of questions. Yeah, we'd keep her simple...just the facts m'am! No glitz and glamour...that's not what we are here fer. we just want to git well. In closing, we'd all say a prayer... Ya see, that's how we'd do it. But then again, I'm just an old country boy. -Farmer Jack- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gerbil runner Posted May 25, 2004 Share Posted May 25, 2004 Great ideas, Farmer Jack! Or how about we let the drug companies and anyone else with something to sell pay for the whole darn thing - cancer patients get a free weekend at the Marriott! Free demos on the benefits of massage! Alternative comedy therapy offered every night! Those organizers lack vision... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elaine Posted May 25, 2004 Share Posted May 25, 2004 I am not exactly a country girl, but I have organized several teacher education workshops and I have to agree with you Jack. Making people feel comfortable and on the same level makes for a much more productive encounter. Elaine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Connie B Posted May 25, 2004 Share Posted May 25, 2004 Hey Country Boy! I'm a City Girl with a Country Heart! Gotta say Jack, I'm with you regarding where to hold any kind of Cancer Events. I would do it in my Back Yard if I thought it would bring a cure to cancer! Our world has turned to GREED! Plain and Simple! That ALL MIGHTY BUCK!! What happened to compassion, helping the sick and elderly, working together to make this a better world??? Well, that's a never ending conversation. I'm sure my parents said some of the very same things. I have told my Lung Cancer Story, OVER & OVER & OVER again in the last 9 WONDERFUL years. I just attended a Cancer Survivors Event at the Hospital I hold my Lung Cancer Support Group at. Well, after I told my story again, I had several people come to me and say, "I lost my mom, or dad, or sister, etc... to lung cancer and I didn't know anyone could live with lung cancer". Then they told me they had (breast cancer, or prostate cancer, etc) NONE of them were lung cancer patients. Yet they all thanked me for sharing my story with them and for sharing the fact that LUNG CANCER IS NOT just a SMOKERS DISEASE. They were also very pleased to see I had beat the odds, being a late stage lung cancer survivor. It pleases me to be able to GIVE hope to so many that need it! I know I needed it in the beginning of my journey as well. My Support Group members and myself for TWO years held a Lung Cancer Awareness Event at our State Capital in HOPES of bringing AWARENESS to Lung Cancer. We're not even looking for a CURE, we just want to get on FIRST BASE with AWARENESS!! But, then I look at ALL the money that BREAST cancer brings in and HEY, they don't have a CURE yet either!!! I will add that we did these Events with VERY LITTLE MONEY! We went begging for donations from businesses, and Pharmaceutical Companies and YES they did donate to our cause, with the help of Onc Doctors that talked to there Sales Reps. (I had a big problem getting on first base without the Doc's help) We put these events on with a $3,500 hundred budget and it was pretty DARN GOOD! At least we thought it was! My hope is that at least we can help people to LIVE as a Lung Cancer Survivor for MORE then 2 Years. WE NEED TO BE HEARD is all! WE are the REALITY Side of this disease! We're not sugar coated and we don't drive fancy cars or live in expensive houses (at least not most of us)! But, we are the people that count. And we're NOT ALWAYS POLITICALLY CORRECT! At least I'm not! I speak from my heart and that pretty much works for me! I don't have a hiden agenda and am NOT making any money in what I do. I just want to SAVE LIVES is ALL! I want my friends, and family to have a fighting chance if this monster of a disease should come upon them. Thanks Jack for your kind hearted words. I know JUST WHERE YOUR COMING FROM! I'm behind you and Cheryl 1000%. I guess we're just the LITTLE PEOPLE and maybe ONE DAY someone will hear us! I know I hear everyone on this board. I continue to hold HOPE WE'LL BE HEARD as well! My love and support to All, Connie Berchem Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mhutch1366 Posted May 25, 2004 Share Posted May 25, 2004 I think perhaps we're preaching to the choir. This calls for a bottom up approach, rather than the top down approach the "formal" information session seems to have been. Grassroots. Well, if we're going to advocate, let's start thinking. How WOULD we go about catalyzing an event like that, esp considering travel and housing, WITHOUT relying on standard means of underwriting, like drug companies as sponsors. Maybe like the ball games do, with banners on the sides? instead of sponsored lunches, snacks, and advertising booths. Breakout groups on topics of interest. How to advertise? reach people? Motivate people to attend from a distance? Get professionals to want to come and participate? BRAINSTORM TIME>..... How to do this so Cheryl WOULDN"T cry from disappointment on the way home.? Who else can we network with? Who sponsors all these races/walks? can we tie in with those foundations? CAN WE MAKE IT HAPPEN? I'm betting we can... and within 24 months from now too..... Just my five bucks worth (heck, I'm in WAAAY past a nickel already). XOXOX MaryAnn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Connie B Posted May 25, 2004 Share Posted May 25, 2004 I forgot to add that I didn't attend the CURE CANCER EVENT because it was a little to expensive for me, with Airfare and Hotel, Food, etc...... It would have cost me over $700 to attend. Several of us were going to come, but the expense was more then we could afford. Love to All, Connie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlton Posted May 25, 2004 Share Posted May 25, 2004 Jack All i can add is WOW-POWERFUL cARLTON Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MayFrog Posted May 25, 2004 Share Posted May 25, 2004 Jack, This Big City Yankee agrees with your way of thinkin' 100%! Greed and Corporate Sponsorship seem to be the way of the world today. We "little people" need to band together so our voices are heard. Judging by the voices heard on this forum alone, we're gettin' LOUD....and that's a darn GOOD thing! Mary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-Cheryl- Posted May 26, 2004 Author Share Posted May 26, 2004 Great responses from all you City folks... Mary Ann hit the nail on the head when she stated that "we are preaching to the choir"... How right you are and it gets old preaching to the choir and hering that one singer out of key... I've read the term of the WWWs on here somewhere before..., "Waiting, Watching and Wondering. I'd like to add another W to that and add Weak. Wait meets idle.. idle means as is. Wait is no good. Watch means observe and not be included.. which is not doing, and, that's not good. Wondering is helpless. You are letting others determine the outcome. That's scary. All together these Ws together create WEAK. This is the approach people have taken for the last 50 years with this disease and it's not working.. This is where we are at now. Don't wait..GO! Don't watch ..DO.. Don't wonder.. BE DETERMINED TO KNOW! I posted the E-mail address for Cure Magazine in my last post, but here it is again. This is not a witch hunt as I have been accused of by one... This is a starting point, period. My letter has already been recieved. KathyL@CURETODAY.com KathyL@BaylorHealth.EDU -Jack- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ry Posted May 27, 2004 Share Posted May 27, 2004 Expressing an opinion is one thing. We can agree. We can disagree. We can agree to disagree. But we cannot hurt each other. We're all in this together. quote: "...and it gets old preaching to the choir and hering that one singer out of key... I've read the term of the WWWs on here somewhere before..., "Waiting, Watching and Wondering. I'd like to add another W to that and add Weak. " Yes, I've read it also in a young woman's signature line that is scared to death her cancer may return someday. She is one of the strongest people I've met here, strong enough to disagree with you, she's far from weak. I don't think she deserved that, just my opinion. ~Rochelle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bean_si (Not Active) Posted May 27, 2004 Share Posted May 27, 2004 I think sometimes I should keep my mouth shut. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MO_Sugar Posted May 27, 2004 Share Posted May 27, 2004 Adding my nickles worth, I am a Sales Manager at a large resort hotel and this is what I do. I help groups plan events, conferences, seminars what have you. They are not cheap to produce. In most cases the planner has to pay for meeting space, all meals, coffee breaks, snacks, AV Equipment (really expensive) they usually have the expenses of the "Guest speakers" and whatever fee they charge. Then they have to guarantee that they will utilize so many sleeping rooms. If they are off by more than 15% (usually) they have to make up the difference so if you block 100 rooms and only use 75 you will have to pay for 10 rooms. In the case of the CURE Conference I would estimate that the planners layed out quite a bit of money upfront, not knowing if this event would fly or not as it was the first one. From the sounds of it, more planning should have gone in to the speakers and the agenda but hopefully they will have learned for next year. God Bless, MO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-Cheryl- Posted May 28, 2004 Author Share Posted May 28, 2004 I apologize for being so insensitive. Sorry Snowflake -Jack- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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