On August 24th through the 26th, HoII orchestrated its largest educational event of the year, the 2012 Annual Meeting. Our staff spends months planning this weekend full of education, support, and appreciation for those who allow us to continue to fulfill our mission. This year’s Annual Meeting was a record breaker! We had almost 250 members in attendance, making it the largest turnout ever for an Annual Meeting. For many of these members it was their very first Annual Meeting, showing how we will continue to grow and reach more of the bleeding disorder community right here in Indiana.
Friday night began with the Industry Appreciation Dinner, where we thanked all of our industry donors for their sponsorships throughout the year. We also showed a short film documenting HoII and it’s success since the 2011 Annual Meeting. This film can be found on the HoII Youtube page (link at the bottom of this page). Friday night also consisted of a luau for those members who we invited to stay the night as they lived too far away for an early Saturday morning drive to Indianapolis.
We officially began the conference on Saturday morning. Our Executive Director Scott Ehnes gave a wonderful update of HoII and the many things the organization has done and is continuing to work on. Following Scott’s presentation, Dr. Amy Shapiro from the IHTC informed those in attendance of some of the happenings with the treatment center. She made sure to highlight all of the incredible services they offer, some of which are completely unique to the IHTC and not found in any other treatment center in the country. The Saturday General Session ended with Dr. Anne Greist, Chris Roberson, Jennifer Maahs R.N., and Dr. Festus Njuguna giving an update on the IHTC Kenya Program (for more about this program contact the IHTC).
Our Annual Meetings main focus is education. We bring in expert speakers from all over the country to give detailed and informative sessions on a variety of topics. Saturday’s breakout sessions included topics such as “Parenting on the Same Page” and “The Power to Take Control.” We encourage families to split up, attend as many sessions as they can, then reconvene and discuss all they learned.
On Saturday evening we focused on celebrating our members. We recognized and presented awards to several members and organizations for all their contributions to the foundation, but more importantly the bleeding disorder community. First we recognized the winners of Camp Brave Eagle Awards. They were Zach Crabtree, Colton Thomas, Hanna Alquezada, and Dallas Alquezada. With the 2012 Walk only weeks away, we took the time to honor the awards from the 2011 Walk. For most money raised, the first place team was the Jacker Backers ($6,005) and the second place team was Team Tyler ($4,610). The team with the award for most members was Bleeding Hearts Blake (47 members). The final awards of the night are extremely important to HoII as they have provided incredible support throughout the entire year. The winners of these awards are as follows
· Distinguished Individual Volunteer: Carla Glodowski
· Distinguished Business or Organization: Tharp Investments
· Distinguished Group or Organization: Indiana Knights of Columbus
Saturday was a long and tiresome day. We had several other sessions to conclude with on Sunday; however, Saturday was a time of celebration. We brought in Radio Disney to accompany the Ice Cream Social. The families were able to relax and truly connect with one another, sharing the things they learned throughout the day.
Sunday marked the final day of Annual Meeting. We began with an incredible discussion titled “Health Reform Update/How to be a Good Consumer” from Michelle Rice of NHF. After the morning General Session we had one more round of breakout sessions. These included “Blood Brotherhood,” “First Step – Mothers,” and “Spanish Facts First.” Regardless of their background, every one of our members walked away from this weekend learning something new about the bleeding disorder community. We want to thank Baxter and the IHTC as our title sponsors, and we also want to thank the Crowne Plaza at the Airport for hosting our convention and providing us with wonderful meals. Finally we thank all of our members for attending. We are proud to have such active and participating members! As always make sure to visit our website for continually updated information, and like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter @HemoIndy. This year we were tweeting live from the meeting, and we do so often from many of our events, so follow to stay informed!
