By Henry Ehrlich
Before the glow fades, Dr. Paul and I would like to thank the organizers of FABlogCon for the great time we had in Las Vegas. The brainchild of Jenny Sprague of the great State of Maine and field general, Las Vegas attorney Homa Woodrum, the event was two years in the making. If nothing else, the conference was a reminder that Facebook is no substitute for Face-to-Face. But of course it was much more—highly informative, collegial, and a nice break for large numbers of moms for whom managing their homes and children’s issues seem to occupy 110% of their time. How they find the energy for blogging and advocacy and everything else is beyond me.
Over the past three years, I have observed again and again that try as we might, this website will never achieve what these bloggers have done. You might say that asthmaallergieschildren.com is from Mars and almost everyone else at FABlogCon was from Venus. That said, it was a privilege to finally meet contributors Jessica Martin, who has written three wonderful pieces for us, Elizabeth Goldenberg, and see Caroline Moassessi for the first time since her post on life in Reno during the Yosemite fire—all of whom are obviously on the Venusian side of the equation.
Other high points: making the acquaintance of Eric Edwards, one of the twin brothers who invented Auvi-Q, and State Senator Debbie Smith of Nevada, (Dem.) who helped shepherd Nevada’s epinephrine law; it was reported that as of the conference 6 children had received injections under the terms of the law. Last but not least, seeing Tricia Gavankar, Danielle Bollettieri, Sharon Wong, Lori Fletcher, and Selena Bluntzer (who seemed to be everywhere at once helping out), all of whom have given me special insight into the day-to-day challenges of raising food allergic children, as well as Yael Kozar, who interviewed me at length about my new book for an upcoming podcast.
A couple of very personal notes. Thanks to Susan Weissman who introduced me before my speech in terms so flattering I didn’t recognize myself. And finally, I was thrilled that after a couple of days of non-stop activity, during which very few managed to breathe any outdoor air let alone visit The Strip (six miles away), there was a full house for my speech and they laughed at my jokes.
Thanks for a great weekend.
Photograph by Selena Bluntzer
Thank you for this wonderful recap. It was a pleasure to meet you, too! I would argue that we all come from planet earth, though! Keep up the great work, Henry and Asthma Allergies Children.