The 2012 Annual Meeting is in the books – the record books that is! The 15th Annual Meeting surpassed all previous records for the IPPF: attendance, sponsor- ships, speakers, excitement, en- tertainment, and more! A very special THANK YOU goes out to the IPPF’s Annual Meeting Committee. Co-chairs Dr. Terry Wolinsky-McDonald and Will Zrnchik, Sonia Tramel, J. Gregory Wright, and Marc Yale were joined by Dr. A. Razzaque Ahmed and Mr. Alan Papert, both from Boston. The commit- tee started planning the Boston meeting in July 2011 and the re- sults were amazing. The 2012 Annual Meeting would not have been possible were it not for the generosity of our spon- sors and volunteers. Our Plati- num Sponsor was KabaFusion (www.kabafusion.com). Dr. So- hail Masood and his team did ev- erything from helping with regis- tration and handing out awesome gift bags full of swag, to answering patient questions and greeting arriving guests at Saturday eve- ning’s Gala Celebration. The IPPF is pleased to welcome KabaFusion as a partner and we look forward to continued success.
Our Gold Sponsor, AxelaCare (www.axelacare.com), has been a sponsor since 2009 and Mr. Brian Cleary has helped many pemphigus and pemphigoid pa- tients with insurance-related is- sues. Our Silver Sponsors were Cres- cent Healthcare, Inc. (www. crescenthealthcare.com), PNC Wealth Management (www.pnc. com), and NuFactor Specialty Pharmacy (www.nufactor.com). Crescent has been an IPPF spon- sor since our 2006 Annual Meet- ing in New York. Both PNC and NuFactor are new sponsors and the IPPF welcomes them to our family. Our Bronze Sponsors were BIOFUSION (www.biofusion. com), Centric Health Resourc- es (www.centrichealthresourc- es.com), and the Massachusetts Eye Research and Surgery Insti- tution (MERSI, www.mersi.com). Biofusion first sponsored the IPPF back in 2003 and has been a valued partner ever since. Cen- tric has been a sponsor since 2006 and helped develop the free IPPF Health Management Program (www.pemphigus.org/hmp). The IPPF welcomes MERSI as a spon- sor this year and looks forward to the future. The Blistering Disease Sup- port Group from Boston con- tributed hundreds of hours of work to help with planning, din- ner, and entertainment arrange- ments; packaging thousands of product samples; and greeting at- tendees to the meeting. A special thanks goes out to the Stillman’s and Peckrill’s for their leadership of this massive project. The Bos- ton Support Group, led by Alan Papert, helped with site surveys,
event planning and A/V coordi- nation. Alan’s wife, Gloria Papert, was her usual self helping with the registration table, answering attendee questions, and making the event an enjoyable one for ev- eryone. Thank you, Alan and Glo- ria, for your support. Bruce Heath, Vicki Garrison, Phyllis MacPherson, Dr. Shawn Shetty, and Dr. Marsha Fearing from Dr. Ahmed’s office helped with everything from sending let- ters and flyers, to attendee and speaker reservations and regis- tration. And the muscle behind the event, Ike Mahmood and Gh- ulam Ali, helped package, load and transport over 2,000 pounds of donated products. Lastly, Kendra Smith, Con- vention Services Manager at the Hyatt Harborside, worked with the IPPF Annual Meeting Com- mittee to make the impossible possible. Thank you everyone for mak- ing this THE meeting that has raised the bar to a new level. The IPPF invites this year’s attendees, and the entire pemphigus and pemphigoid community, to join us April 26-28, 2013, in San Fran- cisco for the 2013 Annual Meeting (information will be sent out lat- er this year).
Our Gold Sponsor, AxelaCare (www.axelacare.com), has been a sponsor since 2009 and Mr. Brian Cleary has helped many pemphigus and pemphigoid pa- tients with insurance-related is- sues. Our Silver Sponsors were Cres- cent Healthcare, Inc. (www. crescenthealthcare.com), PNC Wealth Management (www.pnc. com), and NuFactor Specialty Pharmacy (www.nufactor.com). Crescent has been an IPPF spon- sor since our 2006 Annual Meet- ing in New York. Both PNC and NuFactor are new sponsors and the IPPF welcomes them to our family. Our Bronze Sponsors were BIOFUSION (www.biofusion. com), Centric Health Resourc- es (www.centrichealthresourc- es.com), and the Massachusetts Eye Research and Surgery Insti- tution (MERSI, www.mersi.com). Biofusion first sponsored the IPPF back in 2003 and has been a valued partner ever since. Cen- tric has been a sponsor since 2006 and helped develop the free IPPF Health Management Program (www.pemphigus.org/hmp). The IPPF welcomes MERSI as a spon- sor this year and looks forward to the future. The Blistering Disease Sup- port Group from Boston con- tributed hundreds of hours of work to help with planning, din- ner, and entertainment arrange- ments; packaging thousands of product samples; and greeting at- tendees to the meeting. A special thanks goes out to the Stillman’s and Peckrill’s for their leadership of this massive project. The Bos- ton Support Group, led by Alan Papert, helped with site surveys,
event planning and A/V coordi- nation. Alan’s wife, Gloria Papert, was her usual self helping with the registration table, answering attendee questions, and making the event an enjoyable one for ev- eryone. Thank you, Alan and Glo- ria, for your support. Bruce Heath, Vicki Garrison, Phyllis MacPherson, Dr. Shawn Shetty, and Dr. Marsha Fearing from Dr. Ahmed’s office helped with everything from sending let- ters and flyers, to attendee and speaker reservations and regis- tration. And the muscle behind the event, Ike Mahmood and Gh- ulam Ali, helped package, load and transport over 2,000 pounds of donated products. Lastly, Kendra Smith, Con- vention Services Manager at the Hyatt Harborside, worked with the IPPF Annual Meeting Com- mittee to make the impossible possible. Thank you everyone for mak- ing this THE meeting that has raised the bar to a new level. The IPPF invites this year’s attendees, and the entire pemphigus and pemphigoid community, to join us April 26-28, 2013, in San Fran- cisco for the 2013 Annual Meeting (information will be sent out lat- er this year).