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U2FP's Blog > Keeping you current on the movement to cure paralysis

The Conference Formerly Known As ...

Murray Blackmore speaking at U2FP's Annual Symposium in 2017

I hope you are enjoying the heart of spring and the move toward summer….not to mention the lifting of restrictions and the move towards some sense of normalcy.

Speaking of which, we are knee-deep in the process of planning the in-person return to our Annual Science & Advocacy Symposium - October 22-23, in Salt Lake City.

And speaking of our Symposium, you might have noticed something different - we’ve updated its name. During a recent discussion at our monthly board of directors meeting, we unanimously decided to change the name of the Symposium, from “Working 2 Walk” to “U2FP’s Annual Science & Advocacy Symposium” (or, in short, “U2FP’s Annual Symposium”).

The reasons for this were twofold:

  1. “Working 2 Walk” does not reflect the complexity of the work we are doing to accelerate the delivery of all sorts of restored functions from SCI. And sometimes we all complain about the use of ‘walking’ as the sole image for curative treatments. We know that recovery from SCI involves so much more than a generalized notion of ‘walking’. So we didn’t want to continue to inadvertently reinforce that misconception.
     
  2. We at U2FP have all talked with folks who had attended our conference and did not make the connection between Unite 2 Fight Paralysis and the Symposium itself. We want our annual gathering to strengthen the continuity of our work, not cause unnecessary confusion.

Our board and staff all felt that a name change would remedy both of these concerns.

So the new name is simply: "Unite 2 Fight Paralysis Annual Science and Advocacy Symposium" (formerly known as Working 2 Walk). We will continue to mention “Working 2 Walk” from time to time, for historical continuity, leading up to the Symposium in October. But we want to fully transition to the new name over the course of this year.

With that being said, we’re very excited about this year’s gathering. Start planning your trip to Salt Lake City now by:

  • Booking a Room in our Block. Visit our Conference Hotel page to view information about our venue, the Sheraton Salt Lake City hotel, and then book at our special conference rate. These rooms will go fast, so make your reservations today!
     
  • Viewing our confirmed Speakers. We have an exciting lineup of presenters representing a wide range of science and advocacy strategies.
     
  • Checking out our Agenda. We’ve grouped this year’s presentations to give you a handle on what’s happening across nearly every area of the cure landscape.

Watch this space for upcoming announcements about registration, travel grants and more.

Finally, we still have room for sponsors. It's an excellent opportunity to place your organization in front of a very unique audience as well as support our ability to make the conference affordable for members of the SCI community.

Spread the word! Tell your friends in the SCI Community to join us. U2FP’s Annual Symposium is a one-of-a-kind event that brings the SCI Community together with the Scientific Community for genuine collaboration - all so we can speed the discovery and implementation of curative therapies for SCI!

Join us!