2008 National Lap-Band Conference

[CoachCher 1]

What an wonderful weekend!!

The speakers were amazing, you can really tell they have a heartbeat for this community. "Mary Jo" need I say more, Dr. Vuong wow what a bonus; his commitment to each one of us (patient of his or not) is mind blowing, Dr. Heistein was very informative, Diane Wallace gave us some great tips and websites to use in the future, Dr. Prentice taught me to never eat at Micky D's again (not that I need to eat there anyway), Dr. Veninga drove home the point follow up really is the key to our success and Dr. Matin shared how we can educate our support system an area we all need help in.

I want to "Thank" everyone who attended, without you the weekend would not have been the success it was.

I know I didn't get to spend as much time with each one of you as I wanted to, however there will be more "National Lap-Band Conferences" in the future so hopefully I will have the pleasure of spending more time with each of you at the future conferences.

Now of course this was the first conference and yes it did have it's hiccups. I know the food was not up to par as I had expected; I did speak with the hotel and expressed our displeasure with the quality and quanity of the food.

I want to express my sincerest appolgies we didn't have the "Raffle" for the Lap Band as advertised. The surgeon who was going to offer his services was hit pretty hard with "Hurricane Ike" and unfortunately was not able to help us out.

Again I want to "Thank" each one of you from the bottom of my heart; you helped make this an amazing conference. My hope and goal is to continue to improve and make the up coming conferences bigger and better!!

P.S. I will be adding the chocolate cake recipe to this post later today, I promise.

Edited October 6, 2008 by CoachCher

[Willowglen 5]

Do you have a date and location for the next event?

[CoachCher 1]

We discussed New York in April. I don't have a firm date or location since we only discussed it briefly this weekend. I will be speaking with Alex later this week and we will try to firm up everything. Trust me once I know more information I will pass the information off to everyone here on the boards.

[Sugarbear 2]

Hello all! Got back home about 9;30 last night from the conference. WOW!!! Cher did a fabulous job of putting this together! I enjoyed every speaker. I am 1 1/2 years out from surgery. I still enjoyed the wealth of information I recieved. The facts about healthy eating, foods and nutrition were great. Most of all I appreciate Cher and all her hard work, and devotion to a community in need of support and education. It was truly an emotional embrace for all who attended. NOT counting the effort she put forth when everything was over and she was ehausted..........then took me to catch my train in downtown Dallas!! THANK YOU COACH CHER!!!!!!!!!

[newjulie 1]

Sugarbear, I am so glad you were able to get downtown. I felt bad about not being able to offer you a ride back home. We came in our car and it was packed. If we had come in the truck I would have had some room for you. We stopped in Royse City and then in New Boston to visit with the grankids. We finally got home at 7:30. After feeding the horses and unloading the car I had to get ready to rise at 4 am for work. I sure dreaded coming in this morning.:thumbup:

Minpin sat right in front of me, so I was glad to put a face to her. Very friendly and out going girl!! :thumbup:I did learn a lot and took notes.

I'm going to be honest and say that yes, I did receive a lot of info there, but I left feeling disappointed and let down. :sad_smile:For my husband and myself the weekend cost me $443. and there is no way I got my money's worth. There wasn't enough lunch so my husband whom I had to pay extra for, stepped back to let the ladies eat. All the "banquets" I've ever been to, we were served a plate, or given a choice of usually 2 menus then we placed our order and were served. There was no dancing and no speaker or ice breaker at the dinner (buffet). All the speakers Saturday said processed meats and fried foods were "not your friend". pineapple, being stringy is "not my friend". Again, my husband did not eat.:eek: I'm not blaming anyone, I realize this was the first event and I'm glad Cher stepped up to the task of putting it all together. But, because of the money we put out, we were so looking forward to this being an "event" we were probably guilty of expecting too much. I really did get a lot from the speakers and because they were professionals, their wisdom and advice was solid.

Good luck at the next event, I'm sure it will run a whole lot smoother:thumbs_up:

[pashmina 0]

WOW, what a great weekend!!!

Cher, there were some hiccups, but that's to be expected at a first-time event and I thought you did a great job. Thank you for putting the whole thing together, and I'll be happy to help you and Alex with planning New York!

I had a wonderful time, and met some ladies I hope will be lifelong friends. Most of the speakers did a really great job, esp. Mary Jo. I stayed for the sessions that I thought could be useful to me, and went back to rest during the others. I hope that those who are critical realize that most of what you're paying for at a conference are facility fees and speaker fees. The food served as a decent snack, but I didn't count on it for main meals and hooked up with others to go out.

This was my first trip to Texas and I felt warmly welcomed. Thanks to y'all for that. : )

[CoachCher 1]

Thank you Julie for your honesty. I am so sorry you were disappointed, that really breaks my heart.

The only way I can make future conferences better is with honest feedback, so I do appreicate your honesty. I am very very sorry you did not get all you expected, it will be much bigger and better next year that's a promise.

I learned a lot from this conference, so going forward I will be much more prepared. I will also have a much better understanding of how the "lunch, dinner's" should be organized.

I am glad you guys came and hope to see you again at next years conference in Dallas.

[Apples2 19]

Cher...already looking forward to next year's conference. Wanted to make it to the one last weekend but had some surgery on Tuesday of last week and that would have been pushing it. From the sounds of the reviews, most people walked away with it being a positive conference. Trial and error...it can only get better.

Would be nice if you could put a definite time and place out to us...sooner the better so that we can all make plans.

[minpinmom 2]

I loved it - I agree about the food - it would have been fine had it been advertised as appetizers. I would have still paid the same even if food had not been offered.

As far as suggestions for the next one - I got a MILLION questions about my Body Bugg - I don't know if they have people who could come to something like this and explain how to use it and sale it whatever - but I bet 25 people spoke with me privately about what it is, how it works and how to get one.

Maybe bandster products for sale, like - PB2, diff kinds of Protein (unjury) things that you normally have to order online - it would have been great to have them there to sample and buy. (once again, don't know if this is an option, but I would have spent money on it) Also lapband/WLS books - I have a few cookbooks and am always on the look out for the next one.

Can I also mention that after Mary Jo's turn we SO should have one of the ladies who does "enhancement parties" Come and have products available :-) It would have saved a trip to Zone D' Erotica!

[CoachCher 1]

Hopefully will know more later this week. As soon as I get the date I will post and let everyone know.

[CoachCher 1]

I love the idea of having the Body Bugg at the next one.

A lot of the vendors backed out at the last minute, so I will definately make sure there are more vendors at the next one.

LOL about Mary Jo, I didn't know she was going to have toys otherwise I could of had someone there to have those products available.

Keep the suggestions coming this is what is going to make the next one bigger and better. I am loving the feed back!!

[rroswelltx 1]

I know people here locally that sale the erotica stuff... They would come in a heartbeat hahaha

[Willowglen 5]

I did not attend the event but I do hold a convention and other meetings yearly on a regular basis. People do not attend a convention with the expectation of great foor or even large portions, they come for networking and knowledge. What ever the menu is, there will always be someone that didnt like the choices. The question people need to ask is: why should I attend and what will I benefit from attending?>

[minpinmom 2]

~Willowglen~

lol, you didn't taste the food! Like I said - I loved it and would have gone even if the food wouldn't have been included, but here was what we were served for dinner on:

Friday Night:

Cheese, crackers, pineapple and strawberries No Water, no drinks unless you bought something at the bar. This was NOT advertized as appetizers, it was advertised as DINNER.

Saturday Lunch:

Cheese, lunchmeat, bread, chips, dessert and Iced Tea. I thought this meal was great - however by the time I got to the table (standing in line) everything was gone but roastbeef and ham (lunchmeat) So I ate lunchmeat. I asked the crew if they could bring out some cheese, or chips I was told no, only 40 were paid for and they wouldn't provide anymore.

So I rolled up lunchmeat.

Saturday Night:

The exact same thing as Friday night with meatballs and chicken strips included.

My problem with it was - on Friday - there was no Protein - I can sit and eat cheese and crackers for an hour and never feel full. On Saturday for lunch I thought it was great, but there should have been enough for everyone to go though the line. On Saturday night - Chicken Fingers? Are you freakin kidding me? I don't know anyone who can eat that after being banded.

We too ended up going out to dinner after each meal. The meals were not band friendly and were not MEALS, they were appetizers.

Once again - I loved the conference and would go again in a heartbeat, BUT I would like to be able to budget ahead of time for meals.

[Willowglen 5]

You are correct, I wasnt there and didnt taste the food, but I have been in the position before of explaining why the food was cold, not enough of it or poor choices. I still say the food is secondary for a convention, go for the networking and education. Then, if you dont like the food, go to a restaurant that you like.