Recent developments in the Washington DC Meetup

Much to our dismay, in order to get the tickets for a tour of the White House, MEBO Research would need to fill out one spreadsheet given to us by a Congressional Aid answering personal questions about each visitor attending the tour. It wouldn't be so bad if it was just the name, address, and phone number, but it gets very involved, including each person's Social Security Number required by the Secret Police that guards the White House and the president and his family. Even that might be understandable if they would ask each individual to submit this information personally via fax maybe; but instead, they want everyone to give their Social Security number to one of MEBO's representative for this person to create a list of each person in the group's Social Security number along with other information, so that the MEBO representative would then email the spreadsheet with all this information to the Congressional Aid.

Well, I am truly sorry, but I think that is treading on very dangerous grounds for everyone involved. I would prefer not to receive anyone's Social Security information, or to send it to someone via email. That is an invitation for hackers to have a field day with us. So unfortunately, the White House part of our Washington experience as a group will be cancelled. Therefore, I think it would be a good idea to perhaps meet at the hotel for our conference after breakfast, around 10:30a.m., and after lunch, we can decide where we want to go visit in the city. There are so many places to chose from near the hotel for lunch and then places to visit, and perhaps the weather may be a determining factor as to where we should begin.

Afterwards, at 5:30pm, we can return to the hotel for the Manager's Reception until 7:30pm to then go to dinner, and we'll ad-lib it from then on through the evening.

Sunday would be more of a social day, and after breakfast, we can meet again for follow-up discussion on the presentations and to have the opportunity for open discussion about what we've learned from each other regarding the different types of body odor conditions and what it's like to meet other sufferers, etc. Once that is concluded, we can spend time together for lunch and visit sights as the day takes us. Some may be leaving us on Sunday, and others are staying the night to return home on Monday or later.

The aim of the meetup is three-fold - to learn about some of the latest developments and management options of the various types of body odor, to establish close relationships with people with whom we share similar experiences, and to share these special experiences together amongst the beauty that surrounds us in the city and even in the hotel. The most meaningful aspect of a meetup like this is that it combines intellectual experience with an emotional and social experiences as a very special bond instantly forms and develops as we share time together. This healing process always happens when we meet with people whom we know have had very similar experiences day in and day out living with this condition. We already know what each other have been through without even having to mention it. And to add another very special element to this bonding experience is to be amongst the beauty of our surroundings in the spacious and inviting hotel lobby and in the city we visit.

I wish everyone in this community from around the world could make it. I know we will be having some new visitors from oversees this year, and I wish more would come as well. If you are planning on coming from a distant country, please let me know to see how I can help with your journey.

See you all soon!

María


María de la Torre
President and Executive Director

www.meboresearch.org
maria.delatorre@meboresearch.org
MEBO's Blog (English)
El Blog de MEBO (español)

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