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In the hands of the young and talented people at the Young Onset Parkinson’s Association (YOPA), their first symposium was a stunning success. With only two months of planning, the event went off without a hitch. Friday morning began a gorgeous Albuquerque day with 700 hot air balloons beginning their mass ascension right outside of the hotel, which seemed to set the tone for the conference. The symposium began with a bang as the YOPA team was introduced and the speakers began. The speakers were: Susan Reese (APDA) who discussed resources for young onset patients, Dr. Andrew Singleton (NIH) who discussed the genetics of PD, Dr. Marcus Keep (University of New Mexico) who discussed surgical procedures for PD with a focus on DBS, myself, and Russ Ahlstrom who is an author and 38 year diagnosed PD patient. The presentations were very well put together and seemed to flow into one another nicely. Approximately 75 people participated in the conference. My own experience at the conference was incredible. I talked about PAN and our mission, my own experience with Parkinson’s Disease and the importance of advocacy. The message was very well received. Many people came up to me afterwards and were very positive and encouraging. Several people told me their stories and that they were interested in getting more involved in advocacy. The audience was very politically savvy and asked good questions about things like the Parkinson’s Disease Research Agenda, stem cells, writing letters to their Members of Congress, etc. The following day, the weather cooperated once again, giving beautiful blue skies for the 1st Annual YOPA Walk. Prior to the walk, I was able to show the Udall dinner film and interact with the attendees. I was even able to sign a few people up to be on PAN’s mailing list. I then participated in the 2K walk along with about 30 members of the PD community (there was also a 1K walk that a similar number of people participated in). The event was a great success. I was overwhelmed by how supportive and excited people were about my job and our mission. It was a remarkable experience, a real highlight. Laura Jane Cohen Outreach Coordinator Parkinson’s Action Network The Young Onset Parkinson's Association is a legal corporation, incorporated as a not-for-profit in New Mexico and headquartered in Albuquerque. We are in the middle of applying for our 501C(3) federal tax exemption status and expect to have it within 2 - 6 months. If this exemption is not approved, at first, your donation may not be tax exempt until the time that we are approved federally. --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.434 / Virus Database: 243 - Release Date: 12/25/2002 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn