State of the IOCDF: Support for All at the Annual OCD Conference in Orlando

hello everyone welcome to the stream thank you so much for being here we are so happy to have you here tonight for tonight's version of the state of the iocdf I'm Amanda I'm the communications manager here at the iocdf I'm going to be your host tonight and I'm so grateful to you for joining us we're going to give everyone a few moments to come in and get settled in and then we'll get started with introductions and get to into this great discussion that we're planning for this evening so thank you so much for being here as you're coming in feel free to jump in the chat and let us know where you're joining from we love hearing where everyone's able to to join the stream from so we're really grateful to have you all here and thank you for joining us I want to say a huge thank you to my panelists who are here tonight who I'll be introducing in just a moment we're really looking forward to this discussion and just so glad that everyone's here so as everyone's filing in feel free to jump in that chat and say hello to let us know where you're joining from and we'll get started in just a moment I see Nathan is here from Athens Georgia hi Nathan it's good to see you thanks for saying hi that's where I went to grad school Ah that's amazing you've got a connection there we see Matthew banisters here hi Matt how are you it's good to see you Mike batter from Jacksonville hi hi Spence Robert from Houston says hello Maya from North Carolina hello hi everyone thank you so much for joining thank you for being here we're so glad to have you so we're going to go ahead and get started tonight we have the state of the iocdf support for all at the annual OCD conference in Orlando like I said my name is Amanda and I'm the communications manager I'm so lucky tonight to be joined by these amazing panelists and I'm going to go ahead and have them introduce themselves I'm going to go ahe and get started with Becky if you want to go ahead and introduce yourself Becky sure good evening I'm Becky duser I'm the executive director of iocdf um I've got almost six months under my belt uh since I saw you last time in January and it's been an exciting ride already it's great to be here tonight thank you so much for that Becky it's so great to have you and it's great to be having another discussion so soon and then I'll go ahead and go to you Matt please yes thank you Amanda really appreciate appreciate you I'm Matthew anelli director of operations I'm really excited to dig in more around the upcoming Orlando conference thank you for that and of course last but not least we have Marie Jacob hi everybody I'm Marney Jacob I'm a clinical psychologist in batan Florida I'm president of the iocdf affiliate OCD Central South Florida and thanks for having me we're so grateful to have you here with us thank you than you so much for being here thank you to all of you for being a part of this conversation we're really looking forward to this discussion and to digging in with you so before we dig into everything I wanted to go ahead and start with you Becky like you said it's been a few months since we checked in so I just wanted to give you an opportunity to talk about you know the state of the iocdf and getting ready for Orlando where we are as an organization sure um and again Marne I want to thank you too for joining us tonight it's great to see you um so the state of the CDF is exciting and strong it's been a great first few months I've met so many amazing and interesting committed people uh the staff I'm getting to know very well and I just couldn't be more thrilled to be here I think I said this in my first uh Town Hall This truly is a dream job for me and um every day I'm just so thrilled to help Advance our work together and really excited about the conversation tonight too I do have a couple of updates uh one just with the conference in enal uh we have 850 people registered so far which is ahead of where we were last year and they're good early numbers and we're also seeing some exciting interest in the new virtual option that we'll be testing out this year uh and we hope to learn a lot from that and how that'll help us shape the conferences for the future too we have our largest number of sponsors ever and uh we're still going so there's more interest from stakeholders outside of the general Community whether it's from businesses or clinical providers and others and uh it's great to see so much support for the conference already this year and kudos to Kristen Lynch who's our uh director of development for all of that work that she's doing we'll be talking more about this in detail but uh we have a really exciting program plan this year on topics that are going to be engaging for all of our audiences and we've prioritized having a lot of new and diverse voices this year and speakers even more than years past I also wanted to mention we have a really fantastic keynote speaker who are not ready to publicly announce yet um but I think many of you will know who she is and uh she's going to be sharing a really unique lived experience and treatment Journey with us in her keynote uh it's a woman of color and um I think as we get to learn more about her in her story she'll be familiar to a number of you and that's all I can share right now um as a teaser for who it is and I will hope have that update soon a couple of non-conference related updates I just wanted to share quickly uh first is we've launched officially our five-year strategic planning process we'll be holding numerous listening sessions this month I think some of you I've seen some names pop up have already been on some and it's been great to get that engagement so far so we're on track to have a final strategic plan by the end of this year possibly in January and um we'll be providing updates and touch points with you all as we move along um I just want to reiterate again there'll be more opportunities over the summer and the fall to engage with us and I'd really love to hear from every single one of you about what you think is most important as we're thinking about our future for the next five years and Beyond I did want to share two quick leadership updates um I had just mentioned earlier that Kristen Lynch has been promoted to be director of development for iocdf uh very welld deserved she's been with us for several years and she's already doing amazing work and I'm thrilled to see what else she'll be able to do in the years to come and I also wanted to mention that we hired a new director Communications and digital strategy named Rachel proofit and she'll be meeting you along the way as we continue with these live streams in many uh touch points and at the conference and I hope you all get a chance to get to know her too I did want to make one more announcement that's somewhat related to tonight's discussion and uh Matt can share in more detail uh next week we're going to be making public a new and detailed statement about our organization's commitment to advancing diversity equity and inclusion through all the work we do uh it's taken some quite some time to work with many of you who are on this call and a lot of our other uh stakeholders and our staff and others uh to get to this point and um I'm very very proud of uh the commitments and the statements that we're going to be making and uh keep keep your eyes peeled for that early next week so I just wanted to turn the conversation towards the conference and then I'll quickly hand it over to Matt Marne uh who can speak in a lot more detail than I can um just as a level Set uh many of you know the annual conference is the largest International Event that's solely focused on OCD and the Related Disorders and it's really extraordinary I could not be more excited to go to my first conference this year in just a couple of months um it brings together loved ones people with lived experience clinicians researchers and many many other people uh who are all committed to learning and building Community with one another I have to tell you in all of the different jobs I've had and industries I've worked in I've never seen anything like this community that is so tight-knit so supportive and so excited about the future and um I think it's important to focus on that when we're thinking about the conference and what it's all about so with that I just want to State again our commitment this year and every year is that the environment at the conference is safe and it's exciting it's engaging it's fun and it's inclusive and I think you'll be very happy he some of the details and updates that we have to share with you tonight so thank you for giving me a few minutes and I'm going to turn it over to Matt and Marney thanks thank you Becky you know it's such an amazing event that we get to put on to connect directly with the community and provide resources and benefit from each other's lived experience and learned experience and have the clinicians researchers lived experience family and loved one all Under One Roof it's just something something that motivates me personally and annually um and you know we we have this conversation around why Orlando and how do we choose the cities that we go to um you know the way to think about this is we intentionally move the conference around to different cities and states every year that's to reach and serve different populations one of the um you know things that we like to brag about about our conference is a large percent ag even you know sometimes half of our attendees come from driving distance so it's really important to have the conference move locations so that we add that level of resource and uh Community throughout the country um you know we book these things eight to 10 years in advance and we really try to strategically prioritize the areas that we have in been it's been a long time since we've been in the southeast of the us and we're really excited to bring this life-saving resource back to that vulnerable region um you know we're an organization that's committed to supporting everyone impacted by OCD and related disorder disorders essentially that means we have to move the the conference around we have to give this opportunity to individuals who may not be able to afford a flight or be able to you know travel long distances um so it's about the accessibility and the affordability um but this is a value that we've maintained since the Inception of this conference and continue to prioritize to this day this year we very intentionally folded in a lot of Community Voices to our Dei planning um you know every year around the conference we try to see what's unique about these cities what unique challenges are we facing by going there and the staff Works diligently to to try to safeguard a lot of that this year with us being um in Orlando we tapped a much wider Network to have feedback given to us suggestions boots on the ground in Florida like Marne you know all of these folks who are doing this work in that region who can help point us to like-minded Partners who can help share resources with us to be able to deliver to our community it's really been an inspiring exchange and this task force that we've assembled um you know we've have been meeting many times and it's something that we've now laid a foundation and a groundwork to continue in perpetuity so this conference planning Dei task force will live on in every uh iteration of this in-person conference that we do in future years and it really allows us to establish an action plan around what it's going to look like when we're there what the months and in this case even year took leading up to that event to execute um so a little later in the conversation we'll go go more explicitly into you know what that action plan is and where that came from and uh where we're where we're at in terms of accomplishments as well but we're so grateful to Partners and our Affiliates uh you know like you Marne so I'd love to hear from you uh in terms of the importance of bringing this conference to Orlando as well sure well I think um I know that clinicians in the State of Florida um and the OCD community in the State of Florida supporters family members um are really going to benefit from having the conference here we see people with OCD everywhere regardless of where you live regardless of um political affiliation religious denomination um and I think regardless of sociopolitical issues in the area there's always people who can benefit from our Outreach and our resources and I think that um this is just going to highlight all the incredible resources that we have and hopefully bring more access to clinicians here um I'm excited that so many local groups and Statewide organizations are going to be involved in the conference and are partnering with the conference um like the Florida Psychological Association will will be present um Nami Florida will be present um there's going to be state representatives that have been invited and should be making some appearance is there so we're just really excited that our state is excited about the conference and we're you know pumped to welcome everybody um and yeah we just we're GNA warn you about the humidity but um we we really can't wait to have everybody here and um from what I've seen thus far I have just seen really great um activism on behalf of iocdf in terms of working to address any of the concerns that have been exped by the community and um just really taking making a concerted effort to making sure that this conference is inclusive um and really does Reach people in need everywhere thank you for that Marne and thank you all of you for your input it's really helpful to hear from you about the importance of Hosting this in this location and you know the reasoning behind it and what this really offers the community in this act I have one of the questions that I have is you know there's been a lot of conversation about holding this conference in Florida how is the iocdf handling the feedback I know you touched upon this a bit in your response Matt so if you want to start us off I'd love to hear a little bit more about that definitely you know I think it's uh the aim of the foundation to include as many voices as possible across the board and when it comes to conference planning it's no different so we pre proactively sent out a survey to try to see you know what people thought about us being in Orlando and what safety looks like to them what inclusivity looks like to them you know have different perspectives shared with us so outside of our mission we can really consider unintended consequences that could come from us being there and you know something that Marne was touching upon is is Le leaving this Legacy after we're gone as well all those clinicians who are down in the State of Florida will learn and evolve from this conference so you know hearing from those individuals about how important this was really help shape the feedback that we received as well you know we outside of that survey we really took this task force um very seriously you know we wanted to find a way to include as many uh voices in this conversation to make sure that we were making the event as safe and as inclusive as possible um of course we can never guarantee or ensure safety but we can do things and take actions to promote how people are coming together and what that looks like as a community um so you know we've really intentionally sought out these diverse perspectives to make sure that we were truly considering diverse um outcomes here so it's something that has again been the most intentional around Orlando but has been so helpful in this planning process and as we continue to plan future conferences we want to continue to have you know ongoing conversations with our community we encourage that feedback we grow and are better when we get to hear from all of you so thank you to all of those who have submitted feedback in the surveys and in emails and conversations with us this is what's helping shape and grow this program so that we can deliver this life-saving resource in the state of Florida thank you for that I really appreciate that Becky or Marney did you have anything else you wanted to add to that um no I'm just taking um a peek at some of the the comments too and questions I wasn't sure if we are going to do those at the end or if we should incorporate them um I wait for your what we can absolutely incorporate them as we go I'm seeing everyone in the comments having you know different conversations um it looks like um we can't talk about which state reps yet Mike thank you for asking I'll just say this though we're focusing on the delegation from the Orlando area um and we're working really closely with people in volunteers iocdf volunteers who live in Orlando and know the community very well um so we'll continue to keep people posted on that but um I don't anticipate at any additional issues with that okay um in terms of Charles comment about why it's controversial you know this is something that we don't Define as controversial that again this is something that based on your political you know stance or your socioeconomic stance or you know even just which part of the country you live in you're going to have different views and different assumptions and different biases and they this was something that we heard from our community um you know so we do not label this controversial at all in in fact by doing this work and building up to this conference you know there is so much good happening in Florida and in the Orlando region there's so many amaz amazing organizations that we've had an opportunity to work with and as Mike was saying in state reps and politicians as well as the clinicians and institutional members um so yeah just so we're speaking to wider concerns and not putting that out uh there ourselves I appreciate you taking the time to respond to that Matt thank you we'll keep an eye on the comments and please continue to drop your questions in there we'll keep responding as we go um I did want to you know it's I appreciate how we've talked about you know how we're hearing from the community and the input that we're receive it receiving and responding to I'm curious um you know can we talk a little bit more about the response and maybe make talk a little bit about the action plan as well that we've put into place definitely you know this is this is kind of the exciting part we're finally seeing the fruits of this last year of planning coming to fruition um you know it's we call it an action plan because this is us taking action in the state to you know at the conference to really again promote safety and inclusivity try to reach as many people as we can um some of the exciting highlights of the action plan are for the first time ever we're offering a hybrid track uh attendees will be able to view an entire everybody track from home um so those who are unable or do not wish to travel um will be able to attend this in-person conference for the first time it's going to be a really meaningful way to participate both in the tracks and uh through other ways to connect with the community so there'll be more information that continues to come out around that and we're planning on and hoping for huge success so that we'd be able to maintain that hybrid aspect if not grow that in future years as well um something else exciting that we've kind of touched upon are all the local Partnerships and conversations that we've been having through this past year we've met with many local organizations and nonprofits we've been finding local organizations who are doing this Mission aligned work helping serve vulnerable populations locally in Florida and we're finding ways to promote these groups and their work throughout the conference you know the hope is that these individuals with new and growing local resources will feel that impact long after the conference has left and meeting with you know other partnership organizations that we hadn't even been connecting Ed with has really been blessing through this whole through this whole conference planning season um and I really do want to shout out as well um you know we have such a hardworking team here um Margaret Harrison our event manager Tia groden our uh director of Systems Operations um Julie our event coordinator there are so many people putting in so much work behind the scenes of this as well that couldn't be or are not on this live stream um so just a big shout out to all the work that they've been doing as well um you know we've been extending our reach in terms of local stakeholders local clinicians and institutional members like Marney other Affiliates um you know I see a few of you on the on the in the chat there as well um as well as advocates and community members who live in Florida and you know are volunteering their time to meet with us to help identify local resources what they do with with you know their uh communities and their networks to promote safety and inclusivity it's really just been such an amazing Evolution to see all these people come together and support this truly life-saving event um we're also exploring additional security measures what safety looks like is different depending on your lived experience your you know culture where you come from so we're very mindful of that and working with both the hotel and local security companies to find you know additional and maybe less traditional ways to promote Safety and Security we're also promoting diversity of vendors it's one of our values across the organization to try to contract vendors from the wide range of backgrounds and cultures that we see reflected in our community and we're doing just that in Orlando as well finding those uh individuals that we can help promote their businesses and to use their resources our um you know we've also uh made changes in terms of how we're doing the program of the conference itself we've made some um restructuring with our speaker agreements this year and an effort to encourage more new voices as well as more diverse perspectives um our speaker pool is really exciting this year and again I see a lot of you in the chats that are going to be speakers with us this year um so we're happy to say we're including many diverse voices from many different cultures ethnicities races genders lived experiences different countries um and so much more it's just such a beautiful reflection of the true diversity that makes up this wonderful Community thank you for that mat sorry go ahead Marne oh that's okay I was just gonna highlight um just kind of in reference to some of the other comments I'm I'm seeing um yes there's been FL has been in the media um over the the past you know year couple years just as lots of other states have too and um I think one thing that is important for people to know who who are expressing safety concerns while we certainly can't guarantee everybody safety all the time um Orlando is considered um a an area that is that promotes inclusivity that is welcoming to individuals of all backgrounds um there's lots of Dei initiatives in association with the Orange County Sheriff's Office um and so I think the city of Orlando as well as iocdf staff are really there to help anyone who does feel unsafe for any reason and and the hope is that you'll get there and you will feel safe and there won't be concerns um but if there are there are going to be initiatives in place to support you um someone me mentioned a buddy system I think there is something like that in the works um involving involving Advocates potentially involving um security um some security that is going to be discreet so there's there's going to be lots of options if that is a concern but the hope is that you um will join us in Orlando you'll see that it is an inclusive community that is very supportive um and there are lots of allies all throughout the State of Florida you know we don't have just one voice in Florida we have uh um so yeah we're we're hoping that um you'll join us and if there are any concerns definitely reach out to the iocdf and I have no doubt that they will work with you um to address any individual or group concerns to make sure that you feel safe and supported at the conference thank you for saying that Marty you're exactly right very well said um you know there are less conventional offerings that we're trying out this year as well and things still in the works um every year we have our room Brigade which helps those who are struggling with their OCD symptoms be able to come down from their room and attend um the conference we are looking to expand those efforts and make that really accessible to everyone um you know when we're talking about I see accessibility coming up in the chat as well you know that is definitely a priority of ours as well and again something that has always been baked in into how we do the conference so it is something we prioritize in terms of the locations we choose how the layout of the event goes um and we're always looking to add more accessibility um we have a sensory room for those who may be neurod Divergent and not uh you know who get overwhelmed easily that they will have a tranquil um private place to relax we're also having a creativity corner I know I saw one of you mention in the chat earlier um it's really exciting New Edition there'll be lots more information around that to come out soon um but just finding ways to help regulate any stress people are going through and like Marney said find a way to embrace the positivity that is down in Orlando as well um so we're just so grateful for the opportunity to bring this conference to you all and really hope that this action plan is executed in a way that makes you all feel included and safe when you attend thank you for that Matt you know what's really striking me is just you know what's coming through is the intentionality that's going towards the planning and it's it's really incredible so I really appreciate that um I'm wondering if you can talk a little bit about what attendees can expect definitely you know hopefully the same incredible conference that they see every year um but you know we are enhancing the event with measures around accessibility inclusivity um were things that have come up in the planning process that we want to address directly we're going to be having gender inclusive bathrooms throughout the venue we've you know not only had the support of the hotel but they already have that in place as well um we have lgbtqia plus special interest groups meetups and events throughout the weekend we you know using this as a a way to promote our Advocates voices and finding ways that we can have bipo individuals representative and feel you know included and that their voices are heard and recognize um you know again the diversity in the speaker pool it's some like you said Amanda we're being really intentional with and trying to in increase the diversity of our speaker pool um as well as just new voices that we haven't heard um so this conference is really the focus is access for all we're really trying to find a way to reach everyone impacted by this disorder um so you know from the research end to the lived experience and everything in between it's really going to be a incredible program um we have a new director of uh clinical research um uh sanj who is just incredible been helping us plan this uh from the program end as well so we really think that the whole Community is going to have so many exciting things to look forward to um and as Becky teased we have a really exciting uh keynote speaker this year that we will hopefully be announcing in the very near future um but just with an incredible well incredible experience in life in general but incredible story around for OCD and her treatment and what that meant culturally to her family and just such a relatable impactful uh story um we are also going to have uh multiple opportunities to honor the late Mike jeni who uh just has done so much incredible work not only for the OCD Community but for the iocdf specifically um so with his passing we really wanted to take this conference as an opportunity to thank him and to honor him to acknowledge the contributions he's made um so for all those who are attending whether in person or H or virtually you'll be able to find ways to honor Mike's Legacy and memory um and hear more about the life and those that He Touched thank you for that Matt it sounds amazing um I did see in the chat some conversation about the hybrid track and I know you touched upon it briefly but I was wondering if we could talk a little bit more about what those attendees can expect yeah for sure I mean you know we have everybody tracks every year that we do this conference so if you don't know what that means it means that these sessions are appropriate for anyone over 18 um so that could be individuals impacted by OCD and including the professionals who treat them as well as researchers in the OCD space so it's something that's more digestible and we have a range of talks that go all the way up to expert level and wouldn't necessarily be the most welcoming to to a lay person who has a lived experience who hasn't gone through some kind of clinical training so we make sure to put uh the every one of the everyone tracks virtual hybrids so that whether you're calling in from home as a clinician or um someone with lived experience OCD you'll be able to benefit from these resources you'll be able to understand the concepts and you'll be able to participate in in some chat and dialogue as well um this year we're also making the professional plenary and the keynote address um hybrid as well and there will be continuing education credits um for independently licensed clinicians who attend virtually as well so you can't be there in person you can still get your cus through us if you can be there in person though there's a water slide at the hotel just just that is true as well well thank you for that I appreciate those details I wanted to Circle back to the discussion on safety because I think you had some great points in that Matt and I just wanted to talk a little bit more about the actions we're taking to to enhance safety at the conference definitely um you know thank you for that Amanda it's something that continues to be a conversation honestly in whichever City we go to um and the prioritization that we put in the intentionality around the safety of our attendees is always at the Forefront of our minds and the utmost importance um obviously when you're putting on an event of this size we can never guarantee anyone's safety but we can ensure that there are measures in place to promote safety and to promote inclusivity I think that this is something that you know feels different to everyone and there's going to you know be multiple ways that where we try to deliver this this uh sense of safe event um you know we've taken extensive measures to work with the hotel and with local um uh security companies to really find what the best way to promote safety for attendee well-being is um that includes less visible Security Options um and we've been having extensive feedback from our community members around this uh this year we are also increasing all of our staffing hours from the iocdf end we will have um employ we will have staff at registration and at the iocdf booth in the exhibit hall present during all activities that are happening um you know we really want to make sure that if you have questions if you have concerns if something's going wrong if something's going great you always have someone that you can connect with and we will increase the hours that we've done in the past just to make sure that there's even more ample coverage in that way thank you for that that's really great to hear Mar or Becky anything you wanted to add to that no I think Matt covered it very thoroughly I did want to talk you know we've we've spoken a lot about inclusivity and the commitment to inclus inclusivity that we have can you elaborate a little bit more on the ioc cdf's commitment to I to inclusivity sure you know and Becky mentioned this at the top of the the stream as well um this is a value and a pillar of the organization to promote inclusivity means to reach everyone to reach a wider Community we truly put on this programming we develop our resources to reach everyone and those resources that aren't reaching everyone we are creating a new version or we're revamping through consultant feedback you know we we take this to heart and so seriously in is embedded across the board in everything that we do um you know we have an unwavering dedication to hosting this event in a diverse and inclusive way we really want everyone who is impacted by OCD and Related Disorders to feel supported and to feel valued um so we will be launching a wider Dei statement that represents the organization's values around diversity Equity inclusion accessibility Justice belonging and really showing you you know showing you all out loud the work that we're doing what we've done so far and we still have a long ways to go so the hope is that everyone can see us building this out loud and that we are putting our mission forward and letting that guide us and be our North Star and the hopeful result will be increased inclusivity and increased feelings of safety I'll just add to that Matt and I just want to acknowledge Matt specifically Ally in our um deac that spent a really long time many months not just talking about the conference and sort of the situational things that came up this year and will probably continue to come up in other locations in the future but um very thoughtful approach and a lot of work and listening uh to get to this point and we're just we're just getting started and we're going to keep building on that work I also just to answer your question Amanda I think inclusivity um is going to be incredibly important for the organization as we grow you know my charge is to help all of us grow and broaden our reach dramatically um there's almost 240 million people in the world who are who have OCD alone and we have a lot of work to do and I think it starts with how can we evolve our thinking on how we're reaching people how we're including people what voices aren't involved in decisions that we make about things that might seem simple and we've got the a really good cast of characters and supporters already and um I think we'll have to keep thinking about that and pushing ourselves to get really real about are we truly reaching everyone we want to reach and it will be a journey you know there's no right answers and it's not something you can do in two years but I'm excited to work with everyone to take it on thank you for that Becky it's really inspiring to hear um I see in the chat about Chicago Chicago is next 2025 and will be in Seattle in 2026 and then New York City in 20127 um and yes Erica in terms of these types of conversations around safety again this is something we've always done behind the scenes of staff and now we're bringing it to the community and asking for your feedback and asking for you to contribute to this conversation so this will not only continue to New York City and Chicago and Beyond but it will continue to grow in terms of what we're able to accomplish with these Community conversations so we're really building this framework this year to be able to establish frequency of meetings what to expect what do we have on agendas what do we ask for feedback was that survey that we sent out last year were those even the right questions you know it's a really big Learning lesson for us and we don't want to pretend like we have all the answers that is why it's so valuable for us to have such an active community that can come in and offer this feedback and help us be able to execute that on the other end so all of this that we're talking about Orlando will continue and even strengthen as we move move through uh Years Around the conference thanks for that Matt yeah it's really amazing to hear just the lessons learned and what we'll be able to apply to Future years and how we'll be able to grow and improve just from the lessons learned so it's really encouraging in terms of uh attendees and the experience what resources are are we making available that's a great question you know I think we've touched upon a lot of them in this conversation kind of naturally um you know including explicit uh meetups and resources for lgbtqia plus attendees as well as bipo resources in the city of Orlando as well as at our event um you know these are these May things from a a list of local vendors who are you know minority owned businesses that if you want to find a local restaurant to own where would you want to be spending your money there are different levels of um you know resources that the city already offers that we just want to make readily available to you all so we've really been working uh you know with the travel tourism people in Orlando as well as the hotel again as well as this amazing community um to really be able to offer these resources around the city and the location and the state that will will again hopefully live on and become the legacy of this 2024 conference we want everything that we're doing to really leave this Mark that these individuals who are living there will have these resources moving forward um and again just to reiterate we have the sensory room um where you can steal away and have that uh tranquil moment we will also be adding this creativity Corner also a calm space for unwinding um and like I said before we're upping what we're doing around the room Brigade just to make sure that we have even more trained professionals readily available for those who may require um additional assistance overcoming their OCD challenges while they they try to participate at the conference wonderful thank you for that Matt Marney I had a question oh and we will be having a prayer room as well sorry to cut you off a minut prayer room for very important to add that thank you yes the individuals who you know are looking for a quiet place to pray away from the busyness that is this conference um we will be having a dedicated prayer room so just want um Marty I was going to ask you just from your perspective and in your role with OCD Central and South Florida what has it been like to work with the iocdf on this project um I mean it's always I I feel like I'm a um it's always great to work with the iocdf I think um you know they the conference is just an incredible um event that brings together so many people I I've always thought that this conference is just so special in um the fact that it brings together clinicians researchers supporters family members just so many different people um and has programming to Target all of those different individuals and um I think that the emphasis this year on really promoting inclusivity and diversity equity and accessibility um I I just see the iocdf has been really listening to some of the concerns um and really doing their best to address them and I think um being in Florida um I think as I said earlier there's tons of allies in Florida too who um share that that same vision Orlando itself is is actually an incredibly diverse um welcoming inclusive community I think as HG mentioned a little bit earlier in the thread and so um I think just with all the the voices and the individuals who are working together on this I I agree I think it's going to one of the best conferences ever um and yeah I think that you know all of us are limited by our own lens so if there's something that we're missing um just speak up and and share your voice so that we can do our best to address it um yeah that's what I would say thank you for that thank you Marne because people like you are the reason why this is going to be such a success so we just really appreciate your volunteering so much of your time around this I second that same to you guys I guess to to turn The Coin on the other side Matt and Becky what has it been like to see all of these stakeholders you know really get involved and be so helpful in this process I can start you know being newer to the organization as Community I think it's fantastic you know I think we took a situation that was difficult for for some people and it was turned it into an opportunity to listen and learn and I think some of the changes and resources we're adding in uh for this year we're going to carry forward into future years and I think that's what it's all about when you're um helping support a community that is so diverse and so different has so many different types of stakeholders in it um I think the best you can do is just learn every year and just try to make it better and better and I think that's our that's what we're trying to do yeah well said Becky um I think you know just thinking about the organization right the iocdf is very small we just hired our 22nd employee um and we're able to accomplish so much because of the hundreds of Volunteers in our community you know our affiliate groups our SCB our board of directors our deic our Advocate groups you know LGBT sigs are sigs in general you know there are just I could keep going on and on I'm going to stop going on on because I don't want to leave anyone out but there are just countless hundreds of people who volunteer their time and their efforts to not only help themselves in situations access resources or find Community but to help others to share their story to say this resource worked for me so this Dei you know task force that we had around conference planning is really a microcosm of this incredible community that we get to serve that brings so much passion knowledge expertise and willingness to leave the world in a better place than they had received it and that love that the 20 of us get from all of you is what drives me what drives a lot of the staff members we're just so grateful for you all and seeing it all play out in the context of this conference has just been really reaffirming we've all come together around this common Mission and now we're executing something that quite biased but I think will be the best conference that we've ever put on that's incredible it's so exciting to hear and we definitely have a lot to look forward to is there anything in particular as we're you know we're coming up on our time on this conversation is there anything in particular that you want to leave everyone with anything specific that you think is a really important takeaway for this conversation um I'll go first you know I think the main takeaway I want people to walk away from is knowing there is a place for everyone in this community it is our job and our role at the iocdf to make these events accessible diverse and to promote safety um you know there's there's endless things that we could do and we're trying to be strategic around what's going to have the biggest impact what's going to help the most people what's going to put on the best event and this is something that we're going to continue to re-evaluate each year we won't get it perfect um an ultimate exposure here but we're going to you know in increase the um intentionality around the efforts that we're making and really commit to this in a long-term way so what you're seeing now in terms of the ioc cdf's commitment to Dei is really the beginning yes we've been doing this for a long time and there's still so much more to go and like Becki said as we continue to grow it needs to be a continued high priority to truly reach everyone within our community the only thing I'll add is please come you know come see it in person if you can um I agree with everyone that I think it's going to be the best conference we've put on yet and um if you can't make it in person I encourage you to check out the hybrid track and I think by participating you can only help us inform how we can do an even better job next year I'm excited to see everybody I I think Becky mentioned that our registration is ahead of any number at this time in the past so I think that's um just a reflection of how much excitement there is and um I'm I'm excited to see everybody meet new people see old colleagues new colleagues and um yeah I just think it's always a great time and I'm pumped yeah Amanda I'm gonna turn it on you what are you excited about for this year's conference I love the intersection of lived experience researchers clinicians I just love seeing the entire Community come together it's such a special environment and it's just a special it's it Jeff B wrote a fantastic blog for us I highly recommend everyone check it out about the iocdf conference being a family reunion and that's really a fantastic description for it it really is just one big family reunion and it's just such a happy environment and I just really looking forward to people being able to participate this year in more than one way I think it's amazing that we're offering the hybrid track I just think that you know it's going to be an incredible opportunity for everyone really to be a part so I'm really looking forward for to it that was actually going to sorry go ahead oh good no no I was gonna say I'm looking forward to the social media plan that you've been putting together probably since last year you know just finding ways for people to continue to connect while they're in Orlando or if they're on the hybrid track but all the programming and highlights that you do on social are just really incredible thank you for that no we love getting everyone engaged so we're so excited to see everyone's stories too that's one of my favorite parts of the conference is reposting everyone's story content from on Instagram we got a ton of Engagement last year and it's just so much fun to experience it with you all in that way and see it through your eyes so please keep tagging us and keep sharing with us because we love to see it but that was actually going to be my my closing question for you all was what you were most looking forward to at this upcoming conference I mean I can start this will be my first conference so I just want to take it all in um I can meet so many people in person that some I've met virtually and some I've just heard about and um just in the short time I've been here you know I really just haven't seen anything like a community like this where there's so much um commitment and loyalty to one another um and an openness to to growing and changing too so uh that's what I'm looking most forward to is just get the first one under my belt um well all you're inspiring me so kind of the opposite of that is this will now be my fourth conference I believe and every year that I attend it's just so inspirational and the connections you build the work that gets done the long-term you know relationships seeing the impact of the resources we're delivering it's it's truly unlike anything I've ever experienced and for someone would Liv to experience OCD but also just from I've attended many conferences over my life and career and this is truly lightning in a bottle and I love what you said about a family reunion because you see this may be the only opportunity you see someone but you see them every year and that tying together helps us all feel you know know that we're not alone that this is something that we're navigating as a community and the intersectionality like you said Amanda between the clinicians and lived experience is just so valuable um so I love just seeing all of you and having opportunities to meet new individuals um and of course like Marne said the water slide so have to in the keynote I'm very excited about the keynote but we can't um I would say I one of my favorite aspects of this conference is just seeing colleagues and friends um that I've met through working in the OCD community and you know who are all over um the country or outside of the country and it's just really wonderful to get to connect you know in person once a year have dinner together um do talks together um and just catch up so that's one of the things that I'm really excited about so yeah look forward to seeing all you guys we have a lot question in the chat oh sorry um about cost for hybrid there will be a cost Associated we're still trying to make that as low as possible for the community as you can imagine by adding you know the accessibility of the cameras the microphones everything that goes into that hybrid track for all of those talks is a cost that the foundation has to navigate so there will be a price associated with that and we should be announcing that in the next few weeks so um thank you for the question pack your flipflop s we have a few moments left if anyone has any final questions for us we're happy to take any last moment questions make sure you come up and introduce yourself and say hello when we do see you in Orlando and you know continue to have this conversation in person if you are from Florida and you're coming we would love to have you involved in our affiliate so I'm going to give a plug for that so come visit our booth and um let us know if you're interested in being involved because we would love to have you thank you for that we're seeing some folks who are saying good night Matt is in for the water slide I heard that the whole Executive Board of iocdf was going to be going down the water slide it's a great IC breaker I mean but I I heard that I see some folks talking about uh our next stream is going to be uh tomorrow we have asked the experts with Liz and Chris and that is tomorrow at noon eastern time so we're looking forward to that conversation their guest is Leslie Arty who is a iocdf Advocate and it's going to be a great conversation so we're really looking forward to that I do have a few closing announcements for us so if you all would bear with me iocdf is a donor supported nonprofit organization please consider making a donation at iocdf orgate we'd love to hear from you please take our live stream survey to tell us what you'd like to see on this platform we look forward to your feedback the survey can be found at iocdf dorg livestream survey subscribe to our YouTube channel and be sure to follow us on Facebook Twitter and Instagram this live stream is one of many you can see the entire schedule of future streams at iocdf livestreams you can also view recordings of past live streams as well as watch our hosts answer your presed questions on icf's YouTube channel youtube.com iocdf remember to like And subscribe to get notified when live streams are scheduled if you need resources or looking for a therapist please visit iocdf dorg this that's the end of our formal announcements I just wanted to see if any of our panelists had any closing thoughts that they wanted to offer before we signed off for the evening well I do want to also plug go register go sign up um you can find out all that registration information on ioc cdf.cl and please reach out to us with feedback or questions and make sure you come up and introduce yourself in person in Orlando as well thank you everyone so much for being here have a great night night thank you thank you all thank you

Channel: International OCD Foundation

Views: 225

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Id: LLZb5fpAz7g

Length: 58min 17sec (3497 seconds)

Published: Wed May 15 2024