Symposium in Chicago 2008

Hello Stacey,
Since the symposium is in November 2008, I don’t think there will be any details on it until about August 2008. If you joined the foundation and not just our forum, details will be mailed to you. When summer comes, you can click on our main foundation page gbs-cidp.org (don’t use /forums) to start watching for details.

I went to my first symposium in Phoenix last year. What’s so wonderful about the symposiums is that you get to meet people face to face, friends who feel what you feel. You’ll meet those of us from the forums who are able to go. I am going to try.

If it is in Chicago, I would definetly be there! How wonderful it would be to meet you all face-to-face.

Party at your house?? 🙂

Should anyone want to make this and need a place to stay, you would be more than welcome. And anytime there is 2 or more at this place, it feels like a party, LOL!

If the symposium is going to be in Chicago, it should be doable for me to get there. But PLEASE don’t make it the same weekend as deer hunting opener in MN, as was the last one in Phoenix! That is a bigger holiday to my husband, sons, & son-in-law then Christmas. How much I hate that 40 acres & deer shack we own!
J/K it would be so great to get there & actually meet some of you in person!
Pam

I’d love to come, but am sure it will be financially restrictive for me.
It would be great to meet all of you and to get sprcial advice from the
experts in the field.
Mary Ann

Hhhhmmm, sounds fun and a chance to meet others with the same problem. Looks like I will be joining.

I think I may go next year:) It would be nice to meet others who have cidp like I do. I would like to know what these things are like? I have never been to one and never even knew one exsited until a few months ago. I have had this crap disease pretty much my whole life and have never meet anyone else with cidp. I would like to meet others with cidp. I am glad it’s in Chicago,it means I can go on a shopping spree also:)

If anyone has ever been to one of these,I would love to hear your experiences:)

Thanks!

I would love for it to be so close to home but Chicago is not great at accommodating those with disabilities. Flying in will put you at either O’Hare or Midway neither of which neither is close to the more commonly used convention centers. Parking if you can find it is outrageous – even the hotel charge nearly $18/day to use their lot. The public transportation is bankrupt and there have been many ‘doomsday’ reports that the CTA will be non-exsistent after the beginning of the year…

If they plan right, there is a convention center with nearby hotels in the burbs of Chicago like Rosemont or even in St. Charles at the Pheasant Run Resort (not to mention, they have like 3 pools!).

Don’t get me wrong – Chicago is a lot of fun but not what I consider handicapp-friendly. Downtown Indy would work better with the nearby airport and the skywalks that connect all of it – mall, hotels, centers, etc.

I guess we’ll have to wait and see what they pick!

Mary,

I think I was told that it was in the burbs, not Chicago ‘proper’. I do know they have put a great deal of thought into everything, so I know they wont dissapoint. 🙂

I hope so! It is such a different world now that I have to plan the transportation aspect of my life so much more. One summer, we took a vacation and spent a day walking around Chicago…up and down Michigan Ave, over to the fountain, then south to the museums…

Those days are gone. My walking long distances are over especially if it is cold, LOL! I have a much better appreciation for handicapp friendly facilities and good transportation. (DisneyWorld was great about this! Let’s go there!)

Does anyone know who handles the planning?

Mary,

The Foundation office in P.A. does all the organizing.

I believe it is in Bloomingdale Illinois. If so, you would either come in through Ohare or Midway airport and you would take a taxi directly to the hotel I would assume the hotel and the convention center would be together. The distance from either airport is about 5o minutes. The airports themselves are each about 20-30 minutes from “Downtown” Chicago. If you were interested in making a mini vacation of it, I would probably do the gbs stay and then take a taxi to a Chicago area hotel, and continue your sight seeing. The gbs symposium and downtown Chicago are too far apart to commute back and forth! We live near Chicago, if you have any questions pm me!! I would love to help!
Dawn

PS, if you can stay extra, Chicago is a great place. I have never encountered a bad experience with handicap accessibilty. The musuem campus even has trolley car shuttles (free) that take you from museum to museum. I love Chicago! I could tell you anything you want to know! I will try to find some hotel deals for you guys in the Bloomingdale area. If you guys got together, they rent these little mini buses that go downtown, heck, a bunch of you guys could split a limo and make an evening of it! Chicago is so exciting!
Dawn

As of right now count me in!

Once it gets closer they will announce the host hotel where we can stay and usually is that where the meetings are held in their banquet halls? I think that was the way it was in Phoenix? Also there was ones that were familar with that area and met ones at the airport and traveled to the hotel together and made sure each others bags were accounted for. We can help each other! I think there was ones that shared rooms to cut down on the cost too! Also, does the local chapter for that area have a booth too? I do remember meeting others was not a problem for people at the other places. It would be nice to visit the Windy City again I was only there once and only remember the train station. That was right before it was ruined in a movie by a run away train. I am sure someone remembers that scene! I just remember alot of interesting topics come out of the last one! The photos were great! The stories were even better!

Lord willing and the creek don’t rise, I’m going to to my best to get there. Of course it will depend on whether I’m still teaching. I want to keep teaching, but…[Its getting harder to coral the middle schoolers now that they can move much faster than I can. Come to think about it they can think faster than I can too]