Zona, baby, Zona! Part II

Good evening everyone. In the last edition of the blog, I focused on the excitement that the National Stuttering Association has opened registration for their 2009 conference to be held in Scottsdale, Ariz. I wanted to take this opportunity to address some more questions that are usually asked about the conference. The first one involves the hotel. Usually we have some attendees who may say "I have a friend/relative who lives in the area, is it necessary to stay at the hotel where the conference is?" We are aware that people may want to save money, and if you can stay free with someone else, that benefits you...it doesn't benefit the NSA. We are a nonprofit organization-we get no funding from any level of government-state, county, local, or federal. To pose an analogy, think of those concerts you see on PBS. After the show, they have pledge drives because they say "We want to keep bringing these shows to you, but we need your support." All the money we raise, goes back to the NSA. One person might say, "Well, it's only one room." Look at it from our perspective: one room for four nights at $139 a night equals $556.00. Now what if we lost out on ten rooms? That's $5,560.00. Here are some other reasons-you are right in the heart of everything...conference central. You never know who you'll meet, what you might want to do...staying at the conference hotel gives you great flexibility. The second question is what to expect about the weather. Arizona gets hot....just like Paris Hilton and her catch phrase. If you attend the conference in July, you'll see we will have our first ever golf tournament with air-conditioned golf carts and lavish pools. All I can say is make friends with Poland Spring and Dasani bottled water....you'll be drinking a lot of it LOL. Part III of the Arizona blog will deal with the types of workshops available. My name is Steven Kaufman, and I am a person who stutters. Until next time, stand up and be counted. Make your voice heard.