I know the conference was over a week ago….I’m sorry!

There aren’t really any excuses – other than I’ve been busy with this huge raft of “post event” jobs that seem to still be ongoing…but you don’t want to hear about that…you want to read about the conference!

I remember advising that there were all these boxes that had started to arrive…dozens & dozens of boxes full of the amazing samples donated by our Goodie bag sponsors…and we had run out of room in the home office, so they were filling the hallway & part of the kitchen too!

On the Wednesday before the conference I decided I needed to start packing said bags because we would run out of time on the Thursday if we tried to pack them there. So I enrolled some little helpers, created a conveyor belt & the packing began….until….The Mr returned from work…and sort of had an “enough is enough” moment….the front room sofa was completely covered with 95 bags so you couldn’t sit down & the kitchen table was covered in boxes. I had lost track of time & completely forgotten to cook dinner so the little people could eat before cubs & as a result my grand plan to be organised was less genius & more epic fail. Worse still 95 packed bags takes up a hell of lot more space than the boxes!

Thankfully having been convinced to leave the remaining bags until Thursday, sanity resumed.

I was basically nervous & panicking…& in reality I didn’t need to!

The sound & stage company, who were to film the event arrived, on Thursday & by the time I had arrived at the venue the room was practically set up…a few hours later &, with the help of my friends, the remaining bags were packed…and by 7pm the room was set & ready for the conference on Friday.

I don’t think it was until that point…when I looked around the room & saw how many chairs were there that I really absorbed how many people 250 people are…although we had seats out for 275 just encase there were unexpected delegates!

My job was almost done…everything that I could do to make this event run smoothly was almost sorted…I couldn’t magically get the last remaining presentation to be emailed beforehand & had to cope with my nerves as it didn’t arrive until 8.30am on a USB stick!!

The hotel / venue staff processed all bedroom arrivals perfectly & on Thursday night the bar was a buzz with Melanoma patients, their partners & and a few professionals that had arrived the night before. We were connecting – laughing – commiserating….it was what we had come together to do!

In the morning as the delegates all arrived there was a real sense of accomplishment….yes ,I was still dreading the prospect of standing up in front of these people to talk…& I was nervous that the day, & all I had been building it up to be wouldn’t meet mine, or anyone else’s high expectations. But the sea of faces before me as I took to the stage to welcome everyone that had made the journey to be there made me hopeful – they wanted to be there.

There is a real sense of satisfaction when you receive powerpoint presentations from speakers – and you read through them beforehand thinking “thank goodness X was the perfect choice to talk about this subject”….but when you see them on stage & the presentation comes alive and the audience look captivated, you understand that these people are not just “the best” on paper…the speakers who took part at the conference are the best for another reason.

The speakers who came & fully engaged with the conference totally accepted that these patients had their own stories…and that just generic facts & figures would not work for us.

It was personal – and we wanted interaction. I cannot be happier than to say we got what we wanted – the medical professionals that attended worked the room & talked to the delegates not just within the Q & A sessions but also during the coffee breaks, at lunchtime and afterwards…it was a treat to watch happening.

There were a few moments when things didn’t go exactly to plan….. my agenda was packed & needed to run to time….but there was a BBC crew interviewing Dr James Larkin during the morning coffee break & that meant the start of session 2 was slightly later than planned. So Q & A was shorter than planned & I don’t think we even got around to the survey results slides at the end of that session because we had overrun into lunchtime slightly.

I say ‘I don’t think’ – because I wasn’t even in the room at the end of session 2! I was outside the hall having a live interview with ITV…there was this amazing coincidence that happened the day of the conference – one I couldn’t possibly have planned for but worked to our advantage every step of the way! NICE announced approval of a drug combination treatment for patients & it was making national news & we happened to have the experts they wanted to talk to in Bristol at a Melanoma conference!

Magic timing!

I think the only other crisis was the fact that at the very end of the day my slides to wrap up the conference had disappeared…which in itself wasn’t a problem – I mainly needed to thank the sponsors, speakers & everyone who had attended for making the day so impressive…but I was so annoyed with myself because I had spent 3 hours creating a marvellous map that showed how far our patients had travelled & how spread they were from all over the UK.

Not so much a crisis…but a personal “darn it”!

The food was amazing, my feet survived all day in heels, the dinner in the evening & patient’s talks were just wonderful. A showstopper cake arrived to wow the delegates & it was everything that we could have asked for.

I might have been exhausted but I was running on adrenaline & the happiness of everyone that I spoke to was fuel for my fire.

I didn’t really absorb the day – it just happened & I have found myself reliving it through slides, and photographs since then. I loved getting to see the highlights video so that I could watch how it looked from the other side of the panic zone! WATCH THE HIGHLIGHTS VIDEO!

I was “Imogen who organised this conference” not a Melanoma patient….and on Saturday I got into the hired van to drive home and it was like this wave of emotion suddenly hit me.

I did it!!

That dream I had, that thing I had to push for – that people said was too big for me to take on – or that I would never get funding for – it happened & it didn’t just go OK – it went so well that it was a huge success & that they were looking forward to next year already!

I wept not just out of relief, and pride….but personal tears – tears I had not cried for 3 years. As a patient this was what I wanted to happen & this is what I believed was need for patients in the UK to give them hope.

I am grateful – obviously to the sponsors…but to my family & friends for supporting & encouraging me…and to the lovely people who spoilt me with gifts which are very much enjoyed x