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Dear Conference Attendee, We are busy preparing for what will be the most magical conference ever and are so pleased that you will be joining us! We hope that the enclosed information will begin to set the scene for an exciting and informative few days as you prepare to attend the 2011 SMA Annual Conference at the Walt Disney Swan Resort in Orlando, FL. Registration:
On Wednesday, June 22nd, from 3:00 pm – 9:00 pm, we will open the registration for conference attendees to pick up your folders, wristbands, name tags and conference information. Registration will re-open Thursday morning at 9:00 am and will remain open all day until 5:30 pm, when the Meet and Greet begins. You will need to have picked up your registration folders on Wednesday or Thursday, prior to the Meet and Greet, to be able to attend Thursday evening’s festivities. Registration will be closed during the Meet and Greet. At registration, you will receive your conference folder, conference booklet, your conference name tag, as well as a waterproof attendee wristband. This wristband must be worn from Thursday through Sunday and will be your entry ticket to all conference events. Registration and conference events at this year’s conference will be completely different than prior years. All conference festivities, including the Researcher Relay Race, the Character Events, meals, the private party at Epcot, the children’s program and conference workshops, will all be ticketed events. Only attendees wearing their waterproof wristband will be admitted.
You will not be admitted into any conference event or workshop without this conference wristband. Because of the extremely large size of this year’s conference and in our attempt to accommodate attendees in workshop rooms and events, there will be absolutely no onsite registration. Everyone must be registered now to attend any of the conference events. We expect to close conference registration very soon, so if you have any family members not registered who plan to attend any conference festivities, register them ASAP while it remains open. The Newly Diagnosed Program will begin on Thursday June 23rd at 1:00 pm. This is open only to Newly Diagnosed Families and those who are part of the Newly Diagnosed Scholarship Program. On Thursday June 23rd at 5:30 pm the conference will open for all families with the Conference Meet and Greet. This year’s Meet and Greet will be extra special with time for the Researcher and Child Relay Race, a Disney Character Event, the Children’s Carnival and an Ice Cream Social. We Need Your Feedback. We are extremely thrilled by the response to this year's conference. In an attempt to gage accurate numbers for events and meals, we are asking attendees to privude us with some feedback on the following questions: 1 - What day do you plan on arriving for the 2011 Annual SMA Conference? 2 - Will your children be using the Children’s Program during the Conference? Please indicate which days you think they might participate i.e. Thursday afternoon (only available for the Newly Diagnosed program), Friday, Saturday and Sunday morning. 3 - There is an Epcot ticket included in your registration fee for entrance at 4:00pm on Friday, June 24th. Will you be utilizing this ticket? 4 - Will you be participating in Sunday morning's Disney Character event and breakfast? To answer these questions, please fill out the online survey at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/KR3M26R or e-mail info@fsma.org with your answers. Please note three of the workshops offered for children require pre-registration due to a limited number of spots available. For the workshops “SMA Kids Talk It Out Session I” (ages 6 – 9), “SMA Kids Talk It Out Session II” (ages 10 and above), and the workshop for SMA Siblings, children must be pre-registered. Please call the FSMA National Office at 800-886-1762 or e-mail info@fsma.org with the desired workshop, your child’s name, age and type of SMA, if applicable, to reserve a spot for your child. All three of these workshops will be filled on a first come, first served basis. There will be no auction at this year’s conference. We are asking all registered adults to bring a small photo of their child, grandchild or relative affected with SMA, so that you can make “photo buttons” during conference registration, as another way to meet other families. This year, we will have another picture slideshow video to be viewed during the conference. We would love to include photos of all of the attendees families. We are asking you to please send in your child’s and family’s photos to Shannon@fsma.org by May 1st so that your photos can be included in this special presentation. The Children’s Program volunteers will have their lunch break on Friday and Saturday at the same time we break from the workshops. You must pick up your children from the Children’s Program Room for lunch by 12:00 pm on Friday and by 12:15 pm on Saturday. Your children must be picked up at the end of each day at 3:00 pm. For advance purchase of specially priced Disney Meeting/Convention Theme Park tickets, visit
http://www.disneyconventionear.com/FSMA. Through this link, special meeting and convention afternoon tickets are available for purchase. These after 2:00pm and after 4:00pm tickets are a great option to visit the parks after the workshops have ended and the sun has set. These tickets are only offered for purchase in advance. The Orlando International Airport is just a short 20 minute drive to the Walt Disney World Swan Resort. Mears Shuttle Transportation offers a convenient shuttle every hour on the half hour taking passengers to and from the airport and hotel. Discounted pricing is offered at $30 per round trip for adults and $23 per round trip for children. To make reservations, call 407-423-5566.
Visit the Families of SMA website at www.CureSMA.org for updated information regarding the conference. You can also visit our Facebook fan page for weekly conference updates.
Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.
We look forward to seeing you in Orlando, FL! We wish you a safe and enjoyable trip. Most Sincerely, Your Friends at the Families of SMA National Office
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