2011 National Patient Education Conference

I want to take this opportunity to inform you that the date of the 2011 National Patient Education Conference in San Francisco has changed. Originally scheduled for July 22-24, 2011, it now will be held July 8-10, 2011, in San Francisco at the Hilton San Francisco Union Square.

Why the Change?

We recently learned that the International Workshop on Scleroderma changed its originally-planned dates to the same weekend as the Foundation's conference. The International Workshop on Scleroderma is one of the largest international meetings of scleroderma researchers and clinicians. It alternates between Boston and Cambridge, England. In 2011, it will be held in England. It is important for the scleroderma medical community to meet and share advances in research, and the Foundation did not want to conflict with this important meeting.   

Fortunately, we were able to move our conference to earlier in July to avoid any scheduling conflicts, thus allowing scleroderma experts to participate in both conferences.

This is a truly unusual circumstance. We've never had to change the date of a major event. However, in this situation, we felt it is best to change the dates of our conference to ensure that we had the strongest program with the best experts in the field.  

I'm confident that we're going to have a great conference in San Francisco, with many thanks to the help of the Northern California Chapter leadership and volunteers, and the dedicated scleroderma medical community that always supports our event so generously with their time and expertise.

I look forward to seeing many of you Friday, July 8, through Sunday, July 10, in San Francisco!

Sincerely,

Robert J. Riggs

Chief Executive Officer