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  • You Are Invited!

    The Dry Eye Zone cordially invites you to attend its first annual conference held by, for and about dry eye patients, which will take place at the Safety Harbor Resort and Spa (near Tampa, Florida) on February 17-19, 2006.

    The purpose of this announcement is a heads up for planning & travel purposes, for those of you who have been keeping tabs on this and are interested in travelling to the event.

    The full prospectus for this event, as well as registration forms, will be available online on Monday, October 31st.

    A brief preview:

    DATES / TIMES

    The conference opens with a cocktail reception on Friday, February 17th at 6:30 pm; continues Saturday February 18th with a full day of seminars, workshops and other sessions, followed by a special dinner reception marking the first anniversary of www.dryeyezone.com; and closes Sunday, February 19th with morning sessions and lunch.

    VENUE

    The Safety Harbor Resort and Spa is... well, suffice to say I am simply thrilled that we were able to get it. I have visited it and checked out all the facilities. The spa and hotel have an interesting history, and the springs on which they are built supply most of the water used throughout the hotel & grounds (including swimming pools). The grounds are very nice and the location is beautiful - across the harbor from Tampa, and just a few miles from Clearwater. Locally, everything is full of character, including a quaint nearby main street with shops that are anything but your usual mall fare. The rooms we are getting are unusually spacious (great for doubling up if you’re on a budget, but without stepping on each others’ toes) and are even going to be freshly redecorated a couple of months before our event. The spa defies description so some of you ladies (though actually the spa is popular with men too and has great workout facilities) with an extra day on your hands will probably want to put it to good use.

    PROGRAM

    Top secret, for the time being. All I will say for the moment is that this is NOT going to be conventional convention fare consisting of random carefully selected speakers droning away at a microphone and making up for their lack of substance with impressive video clips. In fact we can virtually guarantee against the calamitous indignity of being forced to contort one’s face into a polite expression of rapt attention to mask extreme boredom. - Though come to think of it, even if you were to suffer such an outrage, you could slip quietly away to the spa or tennis courts.

    SPONSORSHIP & EXHIBITS

    This conference is a unique patient-centric event, entirely non-commercial in intent and content, and is organized and subsidized by The Dry Eye Zone. We are not accepting corporate sponsorship. We will however willingly consider arranging for exhibits of products that meet these criteria: 1) their potential utility to dry eye patients is clear; 2) they are not readily accessible to most patients; and 3) they can be tested by patients on site. So, if there is a product you have heard of and would like to learn more about it and maybe try it out, but don’t know how to get it or it’s too inconvenient (or too expensive to test), drop me a line and I’ll see what I can do.

    VOLUNTEERING OPPORTUNITIES

    Would you like to be involved? Do you have a great idea for a session or topic that we may be overlooking? Do you enjoy organizing and coordinating? Have a hankering to pitch in at a hands-on level of some sort before, during or after? Have ideas about how we can pamper everybody as much as possible all weekend? We’d love to have your help! We are not exactly Fortune 500 here as I’m sure you all know, so more brains and hands can only make this event better – especially when those brains and hands are YOURS.

    REGISTRATION

    Please do not be overwhelmed at the thought (and cost!) of a 3-day weekend at a spa. We are anticipating everything from out-of-state attendees going for the full weekend package, to local patients attending just the day sessions Saturday, so we will have (or will make, if necessary) a registration option that works for you.

    Registration opens Monday, October 31st. Space will be limited, particularly for those who want rooms at the spa, so we will be encouraging early registration. Details of packages and pricing will be announced with the full prospectus on Monday if not sooner.
    Rebecca Petris
    The Dry Eye Foundation
    dryeyefoundation.org
    800-484-0244

  • #2
    Rebecca,

    This looks great! I didn't realize how much I needed to get away (and rejunvenate!)... It'll be great to meet everyone. It'll also be a great way to break-up winter a bit. By February, we're all getting pretty antsy up here.

    D
    Never play leapfrog with a unicorn.

    Comment


    • #3
      Hi Rebecca,
      How did you fare with hurricane Wilmas rath?
      Jeff

      Comment


      • #4
        Originally posted by Jeff
        Hi Rebecca,
        How did you fare with hurricane Wilmas rath?
        Jeff
        Thanks for asking, Jeff! All fine here. A lot of wind and rain and some temporary power outages but nothing serious at all. I wish it were also true of our neighbors to the south.
        Rebecca Petris
        The Dry Eye Foundation
        dryeyefoundation.org
        800-484-0244

        Comment


        • #5
          I was just reviewing the damage from Wilma in Mexico via the internet. Looks like they got hit pretty bad there. The cruise ship pier in Cozumel is no more from what I read. Glad to hear things are well for you.
          Jeff

          Comment


          • #6
            Okay,
            For all of us non-Floridians...can you give us a guess-timate on how much the weekend package will cost? Remember, we've got to factor in a plane ride too.
            Just wanted to see a number so I can determine how much I'll be cutting down on Christmas presents this year!

            Comment


            • #7
              And, of course, it will be well-humidified with minimal air conditioning.....no need to wear a sweater in 90 degree weather, right??

              Comment


              • #8
                Just wanted to see a number so I can determine how much I'll be cutting down on Christmas presents this year!
                If you go into their website and check it out, you can see what's available. First glance, I see $169/night for AARP or AAA discount. Not sure if that includes taxes or not. Likely not. Probably a ball park figure would be $200/night if you didn't add on extras.

                You can go to Travelocity or Obritz and check our airfares around that time.
                Don't trust any refractive surgeon with YOUR eyes.

                The Dry Eye Queen

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by Jeff
                  Looks like they got hit pretty bad there.
                  It's dreadful. When you look at how much damage Wilma managed to cause while sprinting across southern Florida and then picture the same storm, stronger, sitting on Kozumel & that tip of the Yucatan for two days... sigh.

                  Originally posted by kyle
                  For all of us non-Floridians...can you give us a guess-timate on how much the weekend package will cost?
                  I promise I'm doing my level best to make this work for all budgets, and for local and out-of-state attendees. Bear with me just a couple more days and we'll have hard & fast numbers for everything.

                  Originally posted by jcorbett
                  And, of course, it will be well-humidified with minimal air conditioning.....no need to wear a sweater in 90 degree weather, right??
                  The normal high in Tampa in February is low 70s, so yes, we should not be suffering from either heating or a/c. If the weatherman decides we need to set a record high on the days of our conference and the hotel is cruel enough to respond with temperature control (sorry, we couldn't afford to contract for the entire resort) we'll stage a revolt and either convene our meetings on the lawn or threaten the manager with intracanalicular plugs.
                  Rebecca Petris
                  The Dry Eye Foundation
                  dryeyefoundation.org
                  800-484-0244

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Let's face it...if we all need to wear goggles, then no one need feel stupid or self-conscious..
                    Never play leapfrog with a unicorn.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Hello Everyone

                      Hi Everybody, yep its the Stringy D lol, saying Hello from Idaho, boy I just read about that little spa thing in Florida, I wish I could come, even if I were to save money, $200 a night is far too much for me If it were more like 80 to 90 a night maybe, but hopefully there will be another convention I will be able to attend that is cheaper. Anywho I hope everyone has a lot of fun and gets some R and R, my symptoms are still the same, severe dry eye especially in the morning, still doing warm compresses day and night. I am still having those stringy mucus things coming out of my eyes, but all I can say is that I am alive and I am praying for all those poor victims of the hurricane. Until next time. Ciao Delilah

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Originally posted by Delilah
                        $200 a night is far too much for me
                        Hm, not sure where that number came from

                        Well I guess this is what I get for announcing the event before I announce the price list: scaring half the people away with the word spa. I'll try & speed it up! As I mentioned there will be various options. We have a special guaranteed rate on rooms at the spa - and they are well suited to doubling up. And you certainly don't have to stay AT the spa to attend. We'll have a lot of locals there and people who are staying with family/friends or someplace else.

                        I know this event won't be for everyone, of course. Later next year we'll also be working on starting some one-day regional meetings that are closer to home for many of you.
                        Rebecca Petris
                        The Dry Eye Foundation
                        dryeyefoundation.org
                        800-484-0244

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Originally posted by dianat
                          Let's face it...if we all need to wear goggles, then no one need feel stupid or self-conscious..
                          Hi Diana,

                          I don't know about everybody else but I already feel comfortable around everyone here. Reguardless of the attire. Nobody else I know understands my/our circumstances like everybody on this site. It is kind of like a family. Bring on the goggles.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Jeff,

                            I totally agree. There's a lot to be said about being around people with the same physical issue. I just recently was trained to take care of my friend's four-year-old daughter who is a diabetic. She's a really good sport about all she has to endure, but I came to realize through my own eye problems and watching hers how important it is for those with a physical issue to be near others with similar problems. I am happy to know my friend takes her daughter to parties and camps that are especially for diabetics.

                            This dry eye gathering will offer us the same type of comfort and support. Vacations have not always been easy since LASIK dry-eye, but this one will be special. It is obvious to me how much we all need it. There seems to be a great deal of interest.

                            For those who are concerned with price...why not let Rebecca get the chance to offer the full story here. Also, there's is always the option of doubling up or staying nearby.

                            This will be very healthy for us all...and I don't refer to the spa...
                            Never play leapfrog with a unicorn.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Goggles will be de rigueur at this event. In fact, we'll have extras on hand for those without to borrow.

                              Rebecca Petris
                              The Dry Eye Foundation
                              dryeyefoundation.org
                              800-484-0244

                              Comment

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