You are probably asking what Family Café is. No, it’s not a restaurant but an amazing annual conference.
The Family Cafe Annual Conference began with a simple idea. Why not bring together individuals with disabilities and their families with state agencies, non-profit organizations and other service providers. This was done so families could network with each other, learn what services are available to them, and find out the best way to go about accessing those services. The conference provides a unique environment where families could connect with peers, commercial service providers, and public entities. The Family Cafe has always believed that well-informed people make the best possible decisions for themselves and their loved ones. Our Annual Conference provides the opportunity to put that principle into action.
That initial vision has spawned the largest state-wide conference of its kind in the nation. The 14th Annual Family Cafe Conference, which occurred this past June, hosted more than 7,800 people, and included 160 educational sessions.
On June 14 my dad, nephew and I headed down to Orlando the day before the conference started. We checked in and waited in our hotel room until we could go set up my booth. We went downstairs and met my great friends Heather and Michelle. We all walked down to the exhibit hall to set up my booth and my friend’s booth.
After we set up our booth we got together in the lobby and waited for my friends to get ready for dinner. My friend Jennifer, Heather and Michelle came to dinner with us at Don Pablo’s. We all had a great dinner with great conversation.
We went back to hotel and decided to hang out by the pool. I put on my swimsuit and went down to the pool to swim. We decided to head to bed since it was getting late.
Friday arose and it was time to register and go down to the exhibit hall to run my booth. I set out my new book I wrote called, “The Squeaky Wheelchair” and put out all my literature for my motivational speaking tour and contact info. The day went along as I met a lot of people and sold and autographed about ten books.
I was getting tired so all my friends decided we wanted to get together again and go to dinner. We went to dinner and again had a great night of friends and conversation. Again it was time for bed since we had to get up early for presenting and running my booth.
Stay tuned for more of this great conference story/adventure.
Squeak, I think I need some WD 40.
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