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| 1st Ever, Canadian, Two Day ADHD Conference & Comedy Night: ADHD: ALL IN THE FAMILY According to reviews, CADDAC's first ever two day conference on May the 30th and 31st was a great success. We attained full occupancy, with over 200 people in attendance each day. The feedback from parents who attended on the Saturday and adults with ADHD and their spouses who attended on the Sunday was equally complimentary (see below for some of the feedback).The rave reviews and the many expressions of gratitude made all the hard work over the past months worth while. Many of the sessions were filmed with the intent to have them available on our web site for all interested parties across Canada to view. At the conference we were overwhelmed by requests for copies of Dr. Barkley's presentations. Dr. Barkley, who had prepared a brand new presentation specifically for CADDAC's Saturday audience graciously consented to allow us to produce DVDs of his presentations as long as all proceeds went directly to CADDAC. We would like to express our sincere thanks to Dr. Barkley for this. Our production crew, Passport New Media, is busy working on editing the footage in preparation for the DVDs to be made available. Much of the footage will also be available for viewing on the web site. Please say tuned for up-dates on availability. Words couldn't even begin to express how thankful we are to Jana Bajcar, Umesh Jain, Steve Illot, Gina Pera, Jake and Eva Wetzel for their participation in the conference. Their presentations were full of valuable information and extremely beneficial to all of our attendees. The conference would not have been possible without them. CADDAC would like to give special recognition to Gina Pera. While Gina was in Toronto at our conference, her book: "Is It You, Me or Adult A.D.D." was winning numerous awards. You can read all about it by following the link below. Congratulations Gina. http://adhdrollercoaster.org/the-basics/you-me-add-wins-four-book-awards/ Also, we cannot thank Rick Green, Patrick McKenna and the Gents enough for contributing their time, effort and talent to our first fundraising event. Everyone who attended the show agreed that it was a night full of laughs and hilarious commradery and well worth the cost of a ticket. All proceeds from the night went directly to CADDAC to assist with the maintenance of our office and staff. After the great success of both of these first attempts, it looks like we will have to make both of these events and annual tradition. Regards, Heidi Bernhardt Conference Feedback ~ Thank You for a wonderful 2-day conference!! The quality of the guest speakers was incredible. The event was well-organized and informative. Dr. Jain certainly presented his information in a humorous way. To have Dr. Barkley there was the icing on the cake. Thank you again. ~ Thank you for all the effort you made to bring the Conference together ! We learned a lot, and appreciate the amount of work and loving concern put into a weekend like the one we attended. ~ I am recently diagnosed (two months) and was delighted to be able to participate in the conference. I only attended yesterday but found it well organized with handouts so very helpful, food great, speakers outstanding, and being able to discuss with others and experts, is so very nice. I feel much less alone. Many thanks again to you and your whole team for the GREAT event! ~ I just wanted to say thanks for the great job you did oranizing the conference this past weekend. It was a great opportunity for all of us, both as parents and as "acorns" (as I now think of myself - or maybe I'm the tree?), to know that there are options, there is help available and we are not alone. ~ Thanks very much for everything you do. It was a wonderful conference. ~I wish to thank you for organizing the 2-day Conference "All in the Family" over the past weekend. I realize the time and commitment involved in oranganizing such a large event but it takes a dedicated and respected leader to make the event a success, my hat goes off to you and your committee. I know the people who attended came away with a better understanding of ADHD and strategies to succeed despite ADHD. ~I wanted to thank you for the opportunity to attend the ADHD conference on Sunday. It was an event that was very well organized and I had the chance to be in a room with people who are dealing with this everyday. I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I would have also liked to come on Saturday but I could only make it to the Sunday one, which was excellent. It was very obvious how much work had gone into organizing this event. I would like to thank you and also the people who donated funds towards helping others to attend this event. If the subsidy had not been available, I could not have participated. I know what a struggle it has been as a parent with an ADHD child and bringing more awareness to the community is a great thing. Once again, many thanks and I hope that there will be many more of these events. ~Thank you for your hard work with organizing the workshops and Conferences. I attended Dr. Jain and Rosemary Tannock's workshop in April 2009 for educators and Dr. Barkley's presentation on Saturday May 30,2009. I found the presentations exceptional and very helpful. It has helped me articulate a better understanding of what ADHD is and how to deal with issues both with my daughter and with her school. Thank you again for the workshops. They were most helpful. ~Congratulations Gina on your many book awards, Without you, I would not have attended the CADDAC conference. The first I knew of the conference was seeing the Canadian flag prominently displayed on your site!! I considered going to the conference but had decided against it. Then, your brief statement of admiration for Dr. Barkley in your email....less than 36 hours before the conference pushed me over the edge. Everything worked out perfectly - great, inexpensive flight connections right from Vancouver Island (unusual) , stayed with my wonderful cousin about 10 minutes from the conference site, good movies both ways. (I must say, I got more than bit teary watching both "The Reader" and "Last Chance Harvey" on the return flight and it did not go unnoticed by a very warm-hearted, cheery flight attendant.) The conference was a completely life changing event for me. I have not gone much past the introduction of your book, and you have already made a huge contribution to me and through me to the many others I am committed to touching with this message in the coming years. For example: After the conference, I impersonated Dr. Barkley's amusing demonstration of an ADDer's circumlocutory speaking style for my cousin. She exclaimed emphatically: "One of my lawyer friends talks JUST LIKE THAT!".. after some discussion of how the friend manages to pull cases together and present them in court (with difficulty, as you can imagine) ...she exclaimed: “AND SHE'S ALWAYS LATE!" .... and so it goes.... We will meet again, I am sure. ~I wanted to email you to say thank you so much for organizing such an informative conference. It opened my mind to many issues that I have endured over the years. I don't know where it will lead but having learned so much that weekend I feel hopeful. I especially enjoyed the frankness of the presenters - it made for a very intense couple of days. At one point a lifetime of frustration over the issue got me pretty emotional. It was good because it has forced me to do something about it. Its only after your conference that I felt I should seek out some help. Over the years it has become harder and harder to hide the effects as a professional. Thank you again. ~I just wanted to give CADDAC a big thank-you for organizing the conference. The workshops I attended were very practical (parenting) and informative. I'm very new to the whole world of ADHD and live in a smaller city with very limited services/support. For me, after I attended the conference, I felt like I turned a corner & I felt a little more hopeful that there are people and practitioners out there who 'get it'. |