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July18-20, 2008
Keynote Speakers, Workshops, Sharing Sessions, Activities Bring Healing Experience to Nashville, Tennessee
Keynote Speakers
©
Dr. Frank R.
Lewis—a surviving
sibling, speaker, author, and pastor who for 10 years (Friday opening speaker)
©
Bruce
Murakami—whose remarkable
story about how he has bonded and teamed with (Friday afternoon banquet speaker) ©
Darrell
Scott—whose daughter was the
first to die at Columbine was inspired to start ©
Ann
Hood—bereaved parent, is the
award winning author of nine novels including 2008 National Conference Online Registration Now Open! Registering for the upcoming National Conference in Nashville could not be easier. Just click on the link below and in 10 minutes
you can be registered for the conference, the
pre-conference Listing of Scheduled Workshops Please review the many parent,
sibling, and grandparent workshops to determine those which you are most
interested in attending (required for registration online—this does not
save you a spot for the workshops nor commit you to
attending
“I look forward to next year
in Nashville, and am already planning my vacation around that! Keep up the
loving, GREAT work!! Kudos to everyone who made that conference possible!
You saved me from the worst unhappiness one could ever bear! Note received after last year’s national conference.
©
Friendship, understanding,
and hope in everything that makes up the
Opportunities to Support Every year we are asked by TCF members how they can financially help support the conference, a difficult and expensive labor of love. There are many, many sponsorship opportunities available to support the 2008 TCF National Conference in Nashville and remember a special child in your life. Your sponsorship helps to underwrite the tremendous expense of the conference and without it, we would not be able to provide a conference experience of the high quality you have come to expect. For a list of available sponsorship opportunities, visit Sponsorship Opportunities Sponsor a Record Program To allow
everyone to be a part of the 2008 conference experience, the conference
committee will be decorating the conference area with real 7” vinyl
records that have pictures of our TCF children remembered in the center.
The “sponsor a record” program is similar to programs available for
previous conferences. For a nominal charge (to help defray the cost of the
conference), pictures sent in of our TCF children will be placed on the
records (which are pressed with real grooves, but will not have music) and
will decorate the registration area, and reflection and hospitality rooms.
To participate, download the Ninth Annual Walk to Remember The Compassionate Friends Walk to Remember has become a true highlight of every conference. This is the 9th annual event and will be held at 8 a.m. Sunday, July 20 just prior to the closing, starting at the hotel. In past years, as many as 1500 have participated in the Walk to Remember. You do not have to register for the conference in order to register for the walk. You can
register for the Walk to Remember alone or in conjunction with the
national conference or the pre-conference Professional Outreach Day
(which includes registration for the conference) through the
online
registration form. Those registering will receive a Walk to Remember
T-shirt and a “race style” bib on which you can write the name(s) of the
child(ren) you are remembering and wear it on the back of your walk
T-shirt. If you are unable to participate in the Walk to Remember in Nashville, many TCF chapters are holding concurrent events around the country. Those will be listed on the national website as we are made aware of them. Even if you are unable to attend the Walk to Remember in Nashville, you can still be a part of this event in a number of different ways shown on this page. Send the name of the child(ren) being remembered so they can be carried by staff and volunteers in the Walk to Remember. Last year the names of more than 10,000 children were estimated to have been carried in the walk. Our next goal is 15,000. You can help make this happen and have a special child remembered by submitting the child’s name at : Have Your Child’s Name Carried in the Walk to Remember!
This will be the third year
that the Friends Asking Friends® fundraising program has been
incorporated in TCF’s Walk to Remember. This program allows you to make an
easy to create website (at no charge) in memory of a special child. To learn more about this fantastic and unique opportunity to support The Compassionate Friends, visit: Walk to Remember Friends Asking Friends Program! Professional Outreach Day Held the Thursday before the conference officially begins, this year July 17, Professional Outreach Day is aimed at professionals whose varied careers include working with bereaved families during and after the death of a child. However, anyone attending the conference is invited to register for this informative program and should find it interesting. Theme of Professional Outreach Day is “It Takes a Village.”Keynote speaker will be Kenneth Doka, Ph.D., Professor of Gerontology at the Graduate School of The College of New Rochelle, Senior Consultant to the Hospice Foundation of America, and a prolific author including such books as Men Don’t Cry, Women Do: Transcending Gender Stereotypes of Grief; Stereotypes of Grief; Children Mourning, Mourning Children; Death and Spirituality; and Living with Grief: Who We Are, How We Grieve. Dr. Doka is editor of both Omega and Journeys: A Newsletter for the Bereaved. His address will be on “Challenging Cultural Myths: How Grief is Minimized.” Two workshops are offered that run concurrently before lunch, which is be provided to registrants. After lunch, Richard Shelton, M.D., from the Departments of Psychiatry and Pharmacology at Vanderbilt University will speak on “Differential Diagnosis and Depression: Assessing Normal, Complicated, and Traumatic Grief Following Loss.” The day will be rounded out by a Panel Discussion on “Building Networks of Support – It Really Does Take a Village.” “It Takes a Village” Professional Outreach Day Brochure CME’s, CNE’s, and Contact Hours will be offered. Details will be added here when they become available. Area Attractions There is so much to see and do, you may want to extend your conference experience with a few extra days to view this city’s main sites and attractions. Here’s just a sampling of the sites: Country Music Hall of Fame—Taking up a whole city block, this attraction houses more than 750,000 historical artifacts, a virtual shrine to the genre, spanning the long and varied history of country music. Catch a show at the state of the art Ford Museum. Learn about all the Hall of Fame Inductees including Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton, Hank Williams, Minnie Pearl. and Roy Rogers. www.countrymusichalloffame.com/site/ Grand Ole Opry—A live entertainment phenomenon that began as a simple radio broadcast in 1925, the Grand Ole Opry, called the “home of American music” honors country music’s rich history, showcasing a mix of country legends and contemporary chart-toppers who have followed in their footsteps. www.opry.com/MeetTheOpry/MeetTheOpry.aspx The Parthenon—this faithful recreation of the original Parthenon built for the 1897 Tennessee Centennial Exposition is the centerpiece of Nashville’s premier Centennial Park, and houses Nashville’s Art Museum. http://www.nashville.gov/Parthenon/ Tennessee Excursion Trains—part of the Tennessee Central Railway Museum offers rides throughout middle Tennessee and is dedicated to the preservation of the state’s railroad heritage. http://www.tcry.org/ Additional Attractions: Hank Williams Jr. Museum; Adventure Science Center; The Carter House; General Jackson Showboat; Nashville Zoo at Grassmere; Nashville Toy Museum; Nashville Car Museum; First American Music Center; Cumberland River Charters; Belmont Mansion; and much, much more. Conference Location and Hotel Information The conference will be held July 18-20, 2008 at the Sheraton Music City Hotel, 777 McGavock Pike in Nashville, Tennessee, 37214.The pre-conference Professional Outreach Day will be Thursday July 17, 2008. A block of rooms has been set aside at the Sheraton Music City Hotel for the convenience of those attending the conference. The beautiful Sheraton Music City Hotel, is the second largest freestanding convention and conference hotel in Nashville and winner of ten consecutive “Gold Key Awards” for excellence from Meeting and Conventions Magazine. All conference activities will be held in the hotel except for the Walk to Remember. TCF’s conference will occupy virtually the entire hotel. Room Rate: TCF has negotiated a block of rooms at $124 (plus tax) per night for standard guestrooms at the Sheraton Music City Hotel. This rate will be available through June 20, 2008 or until the room block is full. The negotiated room rate is available for persons staying July 15-July 23 Hotel Reservations: Reservations may be made by calling 888-627-7060. Local phone number: 615-885-2200. You may also reserve a room online at Room Registration. When calling, be certain to inform the hotel that you will be attending The Compassionate Friends Conference to receive the special room rate.
Sheraton Music City Hotel
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