It 's official - there will be a Seattle Family Health & Kidney Expo in 2006. We will not have an exact date until they announce the 2006 NFL schedule (in April) but I would bet that it will be in October again, on a weekend when the Seattle Seahawks are out of town or enjoying a bye weekend.
In 2005 we had over 1,000 attendees; I see no reason why we couldn’t have 2,000 in 2006 and 250 instead of 120 people on dialysis. Watch for more information in the coming year.
BTW One hundred twenty Expo attendees participated in health screenings; 71% of those who received blood pressure screenings had results in the pre-hypertension or hypertension range.
62% had abnormal BMI results
20% had abnormal protein in urine results
12% had abnormal blood sugar results
Also I stopped by the NKC home dialysis training unit last Friday - there are 4 PHDs and 2 NxStage machines being used to train people. The NKC staff credit the Expo for filling their training calendar through February.
The Second (Annual?) Northwest Kidney Centers Family Health & Kidney Expo will be October 14th at Qwest Field (home of the NFC Champion Seattle Seahawks) on the Wells Fargo Suite level.
I want to double last year’s overall attendance but I really want to triple the dialyzor attendance. 350 dialyzors coming is a stretch goal but I think it is doable. I believe the show going on next door, in the adjacent event center, will be a home show … I see some great potential to focus on home modalities.
Mark you calanders - October fall colors and the Seattle Kidney Expo, I think I can promise special Expo visitor treatment rates for out of country self payers.
The 2nd Northwest Kidney Centers Family Health and Kidney Expo is just two and a half weeks away (which is why I have only had time to lurk lately). Here is a link to download a brochure: http://nwkidney.org/ways2help/events/expo2006.html
This year we are expecting 1,500 people and we hope at least 200 NKC dialyzors and at least 100 people who live with a transplant or with CKD or are dialyzors from non-NKC units. There is an enhanced screening area (everyone receives a free consultation with a Nephrologists), 70 booths and two live presentation areas.
During the Expo Lori Hartwell and Stephen Furst will record three to five Kidney Talk podcasts and there will be three local radio personalities attending at different times throughout the day.
Dori and Home Dialysis Central will be there along with about 40 Renal companies and community non-profit organizations. NKC will produce about 30 booths on topics from emergency preparation to research to several nutrition/healthy cooking booths.
For every person who attends $22 (so far) will be donated to the Northwest Kidney Centers so people who get five people to come together will generate a $100 donation to the kidney centers.
I’m attaching my final version of an article that appeared in the September ‘06 issue of Nephrology News & Issues – the article recaps last year’s Expo and goes over NKC’s experience producing the Expo. I have the article as it appeared in the magazine but the file is larger than the HDC Board allows, so this is a PDF of my final draft (I do note that this final draft has fewer typos than the article that appeared in NN&I post editing). The second file is the sidebar referenced in the article.
This should be a great event – if you can make it stop on by 9:30 AM to 4:30 PM October 14th at Qwest Field in Seattle.
Bill you are our hero,
Ralph and I would love to come to the expo this year but just can not do.
However we will be learning the Nxstage-nocturnal very shortly ( just waiting for the trainer to put us in a slot.).
Hopefully we will attend next year with our Nxstage.
Pat & Ralph
Thanks Pat. I get alot of motivation from the online renal community.
These last few weeks have been a challenge. My hemoglobin went from 13.7 in August to 12.3 last month and 11.1 when measured for October labs last Thursday. This was not a good time for my ‘crit to crash. Not that there is ever a good time to have a low red blood cell count but between the busy month of the year at work, the kidney expo, other renal related volunteer activities and preparing for a conference at the end of the month I sure could have used the amount of energy I had when I committed to all of this.
Last night I gave myself EPO for the first time this year so my hemoglobin should come up by the end of the month, just in time to fly to Baltimore with the NKC loaner System One. I’ll be in Baltimore for four nights (three runs) and then fly to Florida to visit a buddy north of Orlando. I’ll be in Florida for seven nights (six runs). If anyone is going to be going to KDEC it’d be fun to organize a meet up in Baltimore or after KDEC in Orando around Holloween. Of course before that, next Saturday as a matter of fact, October 14th, I’ll be at the 2nd Annual Family Health & Kidney Expo all day.
I’m expecting a big crowd this year - $26 will be donated to NKC for every person who attends - I‘ll stick with my prediction of 1,500 ($39,000) but as the date draws near I, of course, lie awake at night thinking about no one showing. The Expo will feature 70 something booths on all sorts of topics: corporate booths NxStage, Aksys, B Braun, FMC will all have machines and artificial kidneys, NKC will again produce booths on a range of topics, the Nutrition Department has four space, the NKC social workers have four and the home department is in a seven booth cluster as you enter the show. THe other 20 booths are small community partners e.g. Eder Health, WeKan/Renal Support Network, American Heart Association, the three Seattle transplant programs.
There will be two live stages with speakers (Dori), and PEPP speakers, among others. KidneyTalk will be recording three or four shows live at the show. The Expo includes local radio personalities, 200 free lunches (for Dori’s talk), iPod door prizes and 200 passes to the Seattle Home Show. The Seattle Home Show is going on in an adjacent building so dialyzors and their circle of support can receive $9 passes to the Home Show if they listen to a “sales pitch” about going Home with dialysis. One major element of the Expo is a huge multi-part health screening area that includes a consult with a Nephrologist.
But wait there’s more. The Expo is on the exclusive Suite Level of Seahawk Stadium, Qwest Field, featuring beautiful views of downtown and the mountains. Expo parking in the directly adjacent garage is just $2 for Expo attendees. Inside there will be a Kids Korner with face painting and a Mad Scientist and an NKC Logo store selling NKC branded fleece vests and other items. Tons of fun and energy and kidney health education.
The initial tally is in: there were at least 1,450 attendees, including at least 160 people on dialysis and over 250 volunteers. We are still going through all the registration forms – the 160 people on dialysis are those who indicated their units on the registration form but if last year is a guide there will be about 20% additional dialyzors who miss-filled out their forms. We also tracked people with CKD and with a transplant – they were well represented – I should have numbers in the next week or two.
The screening area was a great success – 199 people went through the screening (protein in urine, blood glucose/cholesterol, blood pressure and BMI) and then had a one on one with one of 17 volunteer Nephrologists.
During the Expo on Saturday the Rolling Stones were setting up for a Tuesday conference – 64 semi-trucks of stuff, including 4 large cranes. My contact with the stadium gave me 20 tickets so I was able to give two tickets to each member of the Expo planning staff. We all sat together Tuesday night and enjoyed a great show – it was the third time I’ve seen them in concert, but it was the first big rock concert for a couple members of the planning team including the CEO of NKC.
I am exhausted (this has been the busiest time of the year at work) but feel like all the effort was well worth it. The decision to have an Expo next year has not been made but I think we have momentum and should proceed and make Kidney Expo III bigger, better and with less walking.
Bill
For some reason I couldn’t post while logged in - it would just go into message preview and when I went to post from that screen it would just refresh - I couldn’t get it to post.
Hey Bill, you say your exhausted, would it be the same amount compared to last year’s expo? Or simply was there more to do this year? Why do you say less walking? Golf carts in the planning? Other than that the “Rolling Stones” concert is really something!! Will they have beer there?
I would say that my feeling tired is an obvious (and understandable) result of having a hemoglobin of 11 this year instead of a hemoglobin of 14 like last year. This low hemoglobin not only makes sustained effort, an effort, it also feels allot like depression.
This last month and a half, as it got into crunch time for the Expo, it was a struggle to do all the things I am use to doing - from posting online, to making phone calls, tying up loose ends, motivating others and working my “real” job (this has been our busiest six weeks of the year at Triumph) - everything was a struggle. It’s hard to explain to urinators but I would think that those of us with CKD5 know what a low hemoglobin feels like - it’s not just a lack of energy it is also a lack of desire, in the words of Jo Dee Messina “my give a damn’s busted”.
The less walking comment is a reference to the layout of the Expo these last two years the Expo has required allot of walking. The Expo starts in the end zone lounge. You enter what’s called the FSN Lounge looking down on the south end zone of the football field (where they were setting up the Stones concert). This was our 100 section. Here there were booths facing each other, forming an aisle - about 24 (including HDC) - and a large health screening area behind the run of booths, at the end opposite the entrance we had a side stage featuring PEEP speaker Shari Gilford and PEEP speaker Sharon Pahlka. Connected to the FSN Lounge by a pretty long hallway lined with doors to suites was the second area of the Expo. Our 200 section.
The 200 section had 12 booths, an NKC Logo store - selling things with the NKC logo at a glass case that is used for souvenirs during football games - and a Kids Korner. The kids Korner featured a Sponge Bob Square Pants inflatable jump up and down in thing, kid height tables to color on and face painting. Down another (shorter) hallway was the 300 section. This had 30 something booths, a food concessions area and a KidneyTalk Live seating area. At KidneyTalk Live Lori Hartwell and Stephen Furst recorded their podcasts for the first time in front of an audience. It was an experiment, we’ll have to wait to see how they turned out - I was one of the guests on a potential show about having a Kidney Expo - if the shows make it through the editing process I’ll be sure to post a link.
Then from the 300 section, down yet another hallway, was our Main Stage area with seating for 200. By the time you walked from the entrance to the Expo to the Main Stage you had walked a long way, if you include the walk from the adjacent parking garage you had walked half way around the perimeter of a football stadium. And now you have to walk back to your car, so by the time you’re done you’ve walked around an NFL football stadium. That is a long walk for many people and after about my twenty-second round trip I was getting tired of it too.
Now movement, walking, counting steps are all good ideas and are things the Northwest Kidney Centers values, however, there are many challenges that come with having such a spread out event and even though we did have plenty of rest area seating and scooters (scooters with Seahawk numbers - the one for players and their family’s use) and wheelchairs that people could borrow it is a bit much.
I think if we decide to have the Expo again next year then we will have it in a more compact space somewhere else in the Stadium. The suit level is very nice - beautiful with large flat panel TVs on every wall and wall to wall carpet - but I think Triumph, the company I work for could make other areas of the Stadium nice for Expo III.
I would say that my feeling tired is an obvious (and understandable) result of having a hemoglobin of 11 this year instead of a hemoglobin of 14 like last year. This low hemoglobin not only makes sustained effort, an effort, it also feels allot like depression.
Is there a way to keep hgb up high-what made yours go from 14 to 11? I’ve heard other people say that they can definitely feel it if their hgb drops, but our family member on dialysis says does not experience a noticeable change in energy/stamina either way. Wonder why some can feel it and others can’t?
Probably would be a good idea to put next year’s expo in a more confined area if most dialysis patients have bone problems and find it difficult to walk extensively.
I would say that my feeling tired is an obvious (and understandable) result of having a hemoglobin of 11 this year instead of a hemoglobin of 14 like last year. This low hemoglobin not only makes sustained effort, an effort, it also feels allot like depression.
This last month and a half, as it got into crunch time for the Expo, it was a struggle to do all the things I am use to doing - from posting online, to making phone calls, tying up loose ends, motivating others and working my “real” job (this has been our busiest six weeks of the year at Triumph) - everything was a struggle. It’s hard to explain to urinators but I would think that those of us with CKD5 know what a low hemoglobin feels like - it’s not just a lack of energy it is also a lack of desire, in the words of Jo Dee Messina “my give a damn’s busted”.
I can relate to that feeling, its quite hectic and it just come to the point of not beeing able to continue with activities as expected. I would simply run out of breath in just a short distance or by just try to stand as long as I can! But is this the first time this ever happened to you> Never used EPO before? You know, the early years of my dialysis I felt better and more energy than today, it just seems to me that the body on dialysis can take so much until you start noticing what long term dialysis does to one… dang, Bill, I think you should take easy…don’t push it too hard. Try to relax espcially in these moments that your in
The less walking comment is a reference to the layout of the Expo these last two years the Expo has required allot of walking. The Expo starts in the end zone lounge. You enter what’s called the FSN Lounge looking down on the south end zone of the football field (where they were setting up the Stones concert). This was our 100 section. Here there were booths facing each other, forming an aisle - about 24 (including HDC) - and a large health screening area behind the run of booths, at the end opposite the entrance we had a side stage featuring PEEP speaker Shari Gilford and PEEP speaker Sharon Pahlka. Connected to the FSN Lounge by a pretty long hallway lined with doors to suites was the second area of the Expo. Our 200 section.
Oh okay I get you now, try to keep all activities closer together…
The 200 section had 12 booths, an NKC Logo store - selling things with the NKC logo at a glass case that is used for souvenirs during football games - and a Kids Korner. The kids Korner featured a Sponge Bob Square Pants inflatable jump up and down in thing, kid height tables to color on and face painting. Down another (shorter) hallway was the 300 section. This had 30 something booths, a food concessions area and a KidneyTalk Live seating area. At KidneyTalk Live Lori Hartwell and Stephen Furst recorded their podcasts for the first time in front of an audience. It was an experiment, we’ll have to wait to see how they turned out - I was one of the guests on a potential show about having a Kidney Expo - if the shows make it through the editing process I’ll be sure to post a link.
Wow, that’s quite a day! Don’t forget the links or any media from that event!
Then from the 300 section, down yet another hallway, was our Main Stage area with seating for 200. By the time you walked from the entrance to the Expo to the Main Stage you had walked a long way, if you include the walk from the adjacent parking garage you had walked half way around the perimeter of a football stadium. And now you have to walk back to your car, so by the time you’re done you’ve walked around an NFL football stadium. That is a long walk for many people and after about my twenty-second round trip I was getting tired of it too.
heheh, I don’t think I’d survive a walk like that! lol!
Now movement, walking, counting steps are all good ideas and are things the Northwest Kidney Centers values, however, there are many challenges that come with having such a spread out event and even though we did have plenty of rest area seating and scooters (scooters with Seahawk numbers - the one for players and their family’s use) and wheelchairs that people could borrow it is a bit much.
Oh wow, that really comes in handy for people who can’t do long walks…just as myself…
I think if we decide to have the Expo again next year then we will have it in a more compact space somewhere else in the Stadium. The suit level is very nice - beautiful with large flat panel TVs on every wall and wall to wall carpet - but I think Triumph, the company I work for could make other areas of the Stadium nice for Expo III.
That’s really great, very nice Bill! Perhaps, if I get a chance I’d make a trip over there…
Congratulations Bill
What a mammoth effort! You must be very proud. As Gus says, maybe taking it a bit easier for a while to get your strength back might be the go. You don’t strike me as the "feet up on a tropical isle type of guy " though.
You guys sure know how to run a good show though. i am off to one in Sydney in a fortnight but it is just in a large hotel conference room where everyone just sits and listens. But I am looking forward to hearing Prof Agar there again, hopefully with some news on Allient, Nxstage or Akseys or something for us Aussies to dream about.
If you ever get a chance, go see a new Aussie movie called “Kenny” which is taking the world by storm. It is about an Aussie portable toilet unit truck thingys manager that does all those big outdoor concerts. It is just soooo funny, particularly when he goes to a massive conference for fellow outdoor toilet people in the states. It is totally mind boggling! make sure you catch it.
If you’ve listened to previous KidneyTalks you know they choose music that reinforces or plays off the topic - so for the Northwest Kidney Centers Family Health & Kidney Expo podcast Lori &
Stephen used the Little Big Town song Boondocks. Boondocks! Seattle? Heh. I guess if you’re from LA.
This is my second time on KidneyTalk - I think that makes me the first repeat guest.
The third Annual Northwest Kidney Centers Family Health & Kidney Expo will be held this year at the Qwest Event Center on the Concourse Level; I think it will be October 20th or 27th. It all depends on the football schedule and they don’t announce that until April.
This year we are trying to have 90 booths and over 1,700 attendees. As soon as I have the date I’ll be sure to post it. Seattle is beautiful in October and this year there is a new hotel directly across the street from the event - the Silver Cloud Inn. I’ll try to set-up a`good guy discount at the hotel for Expo attendees. Think about coming out - Third Time’s the Charm.
I’ve been the contact in the past, but we’re doing it differently this year. Exhibitor information should be up on the NKC web site shortly, with registration handled through NKC.
The Expo is 9:30 to 3 on the 27th; exhibitor move in is at 4 on Friday or 7:30 on Saturday. We’ll be out of there by 6.
The Expo is in the Qwest Field Event Center on the Concourse Level which is adjacent to the stadium. In previous years we’ve been on the Suite Level of the stadium which is nice but it makes for an awkward layout with lots of walking.
[quote=jedimaster;13436]Do you mind, when available, giving more details?..I will go from Vancouver BC and it would be my first time!.
Thank you for doing this!!![/quote]
The information for being an exhibitor will be available shortly but to simply attend is free and no registration is needed (although we may develop incentives that require preregistration for NKC dialyzors). In fact every person who attends generates a donation to NKC.
Here’s how it worked last year, every person who attended generated a $26 donation to NKC. In year one it was $37. As the Expo has attracted more attendees it is getting harder to line up attendance underwriters, this year an underwriter would have to consider the potential of 2,000 attendees (our official goal is 1,700 - with a focus on dialyzors and their circle of support). A $5 pledge to underwrite attendance could well be a pledge to donate $10,000.
The main underwriter - at $20 a person - for the first and second year Expos is likely taking a break this year so I’ll be working hard to line up some replacement underwriters. But no matter how well I do getting sponsors and underwriters the event will be free for anyone to attend and there will be free kidney health screenings with a free post screening one on one consult with a nephrologist. Last year 199 people went through screening, this year we’ll be geared for even more with a focus on the blood relatives of diayzors.
