The Power a Diabetes Conference

Last week, I had the HUGE privileged to attend an amazing conference in Orlando Florida. It came about because of a scholarship award from the Diabetes Hands Foundation, through the Diabetes Advocates program. They covered the costs of my travel, registration and lodging while at #MasterLab, which was a fantastic mini-conference before the main event, ChildrenwithDiabetes/FriendsforLife 2015 (cwdffl15)

I covered my own expenses for the Friends for Life (FFL) conference, as I was already there.

I was waiting outside the exhibit hall on the first night of the #cwdffl15 conference. As we waited in.... em, mass (there were way to many people to call it a line) for the official opening of the exhibit hall, my new friend from, MasterLab & FFL, Kim, asked me if I had ever been surrounded by this many people with diabetes?

My new friends for life, Kim and Mona.

There were 2,000 families at FFL. Most of them were standing in the foyer waiting with us. My answer was no!

While it's not possible to have those numbers at Thrive-abetes, I think that having 200 people with type 1 diabetes in one location will be impressive and so powerful.

Come join us!

Register here for Thrive-abetes.

Tickets for Thrive-abetes cost €35 each, or €60 for two tickets (this includes the administration fee from Eventbrite.ie). Lunch and refreshments will be provided to all delegates.

Sponsor Spotlight: Diabetes T One Support network

Diabetes T One (formerly Diabetes T1 Ireland) was set up specifically to raise awareness of Type 1 Diabetes. It is a social and support network on Facebook for people with type 1 diabetes. The also have a website to store all type 1 diabetes related information in one location.

The network is run by volunteers Davina Lyon from Co. Kildare and John O'Reilly from Co. Laois, both living with type 1 diabetes and they offer information, support and research to people living with type 1 diabetes.

As soon as Thrive-abetes was a twinkle in somebody's eye, Diabetes T One were quick to get behind it. They sponsored the first prize in our fundraiser raffle and have continued to offer assistance wherever possible.

Registration here for Thrive-abetes.

Tickets for Thrive-abetes cost €35 each, or €60 for two tickets (this includes the administration fee from Eventbrite.ie). Lunch and refreshments will be provided to all delegates.

Introduction our Sponsor Spotlight Series: Insulcheck

Thrive-abetes is proud to announce that we have 13 companies exhibiting at our event. We will publish the full list of our exhibitors and sponsors over the summer.

We also have some companies who who donated to Thrive-abetes and will have coupons for products included in our Delegate Welcome Packs.

This is the first installment of our "Sponsor Spotlight" series, which will continue over the summer.

Sponsor Spotlight: Insulcheck

The people responsible for Insulcheck are an Irish company based in NovaUCD , Belfield Innovation Park, Belfield , Dublin.

Insulcheck is a gadget that clips on to your insulin pen and records the time that you last took your insulin injection.

Thrive-abetes is very proud to have William, John and the team at Insulcheck as a supporter!

From Insulcheck's website:

"Like many genuine innovations, InsulCheck was born from personal experience. It was set up in 2009 by founders John Hughes and William Cirillo. John has Type 1 diabetes and is insulin-dependent. He suffered a hypoglycaemic event and was hospitalised because he double injected by mistake. As he negotiated his recovery, he began to think about how he can make sure he and fellow patients with diabetes would not find themselves in this position again. The concept was born there and then.

InsulCheck removes the doubt for insulin pen users while offering their care team an extra level of security as their patients deal with their complex condition. Using a simple, light, add-on that clips to their existing pen, the time since the last injection is recorded on a digital display. People with diabetes and their families now have peace-of-mind like never before.

Innovation Zed Ltd. (trading as InsulCheck) is a company registered in the Republic of Ireland. It is based in the Learning and Innovation Centre at the Institute of Technology, Blanchardstown, Dublin."

Insulcheck have a website and a facebook page where you can find their contact details or order your very own Insulcheck.

Registration here for Thrive-abetes.

Tickets for Thrive-abetes cost €35 each, or €60 for two tickets (this includes the administration fee from Eventbrite.ie). Lunch and refreshments will be provided to all delegates.