What to Expect at the 2024 2SLGBTQ+ Meaningful Care Conference
for in-person attendees
Location & Parking
The conference is at the Sheraton Portland Airport Hotel: 8235 NE Airport Way, Portland, OR 97220.
For those not staying overnight, parking validation is available. When you enter the parking lot, take a ticket from the machine. Bring the ticket with you to the registration desk, and we will give you a sticker so you can exit the parking lot for free.
Food
We will serve breakfast from 7:30am - 8:30am, lunch from 12pm - 1pm, afternoon snack from 3:15pm - 3:45pm, and appetizers from 6pm - 7pm. We are doing our best to accommodate all dietary restrictions provided during registration and will have vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, and pork-free options in addition to high protein/low carb options, and will label food with allergen information. Water, coffee, and tea will be available throughout the day. You are also welcome to bring your own food.
Mask Policy
Meaningful care is designed to center those among us who are, or live with others who are immunocompromised, disabled, aging, recovering, or otherwise more vulnerable to communicable diseases. Masking provides group protection against viral illness and can show solidarity among attendees. Therefore, attendees are strongly encouraged to wear a mask throughout the day. Masks will be required in specific sessions. These sessions will be clearly marked. Masks will be provided at the event, and you are welcome to bring your own.
Whova
The conference is hosted on an online platform called Whova. You can access Whova on your computer and on your mobile device. We highly recommend downloading Whova to your mobile device. Click here to learn more and download the app. You will need to log in with the same email you registered with.
Childcare
Free childcare is available from 9am – 5pm! Children are welcome in public spaces at the discretion of the parent. A chest/breastfeeding room is also available. Childcare will be provided by Reliable Nanny Connection.
Please sign up for childcare no later than this Friday, March 15th.
Continuing Education Credits
We will share detailed information on how to collect continuing education credits soon. Stay tuned!
Language Accessibility
American Sign Language (ASL) and Spanish interpretation will be available in select sessions. These sessions will be clearly marked on the agenda in the Whova app.
A mobile device and headphones will be required to access language interpretation. If you do not have a mobile device, we will have a limited number available at the conference.
Communication access real-time translation (CART) will also be available in select sessions. Where CART is not offered, we will use Zoom’s built-in captioning.
Breaks & Networking
There are regularly scheduled breaks throughout the day. You are encouraged to use this time for networking and visiting our many community table displays!
Agenda
You can access the agenda on the Whova app or at meaningfulcare.org/agenda.
Other Notes
Gender-neutral bathrooms will be available at the venue.
For the safety and comfort of all, please avoid using spray perfumes, body sprays, colognes, deodorants or other strongly scented products immediately before or during the conference.
We will have color-coded lanyards available so you can easily indicate your comfort level with physical contact and social interaction with other attendees.