Articles from prior issues of The Advocate

March/April, 1999

Magnolia State To Host Southeast Regional Conference
by Sue Heflin, Southeast Regional Director and Leola Meyer, President, Southeast Region

THE MISSISSIPPI CHAPTER OF NADE cordially invites you to join us for the Southeast Regional Training Conference May 18-21 at the Hilton Hotel in Jackson. For a variety of reasons, this is the first NADE conference to be held in our state in over 12 years. We have been working hard to prepare an interesting and informative program as well as enjoyable social activities. We are confident that you will find that our infamous southern hospitality was well worth the wait. The conference opens on Tuesday afternoon with the Southeast Regional Board Meeting. The President’s Reception will be held from 6:00-8:00 p.m. pool side with a cash bar and hors d’oeuvres. The buffet will feature a roast steamship round of beef, carved to order and served on onion rolls. We are expecting a world famous celebrity to entertain us there. The program offers a diversity of topics which should appeal to all. In keeping with NADE’s active support of organ donation, we have scheduled a presentation with two former DDS employees, one who has already had successful heart transplantation and one who is facing a heart/lung transplant in the near future. Other medical sessions include topics relating to pediatrics, speech and language, ophthalmology, mental disorders, and HIV disease. Non-medical topics include SSA presentations from Central and Regional Offices, an administrators’ panel, and sessions with NADE President Jeff Price and NCDDD President Mike Brennan. Breakout sessions address work incentive programs, redesign, hearing officers’ concerns, malingering, and OHA workload as well as a focus on support staff. On Wednesday evening, an excursion to Vicksburg is planned which will include a dinner buffet and riverboat gambling. The Awards Luncheon on Thursday will feature motivational speaker Maggie Wade, a local TV anchor. The Hilton offers a fitness center, courtyard pool with jacuzzi, a gift shop, barber shop, complimentary airport shuttle and onsite limousine service. The hotel restaurant serves breakfast and lunch buffets with relaxing evening dining. You can meet with NADE friends for quiet conversation in the casual lobby bar or dance the night away in the high energy 2002 Night Club which features live entertainment. Our hospitality room will also feature lots of wonderful food and beverages. Hotel rates are $80.00 a night plus 7% sales tax plus 75 cents per room per night tourism charge, single or double occupancy. This rate is good beginning Monday, May 17 through Saturday, May 23, 1999. Conference registration which includes the luncheon is $70.00. We know you’ll enjoy the Southeast Regional Conference and the beautiful state of Mississippi, so y’all come!!!