About
HCBA
About
HCBA
About
HCBA
Teaching ourselves how to help the bees and each other.
hayscountybeekeepers.com
2021 World Bee Day
Natural Beekeeping
WEBINAR
Sponsored by:
THIS EVENT IS NOW PAST (May 20, 2020) BUT YOU MAY STILL
PURCHASE TICKETS ANY TIME AND RECEIVE THE LINKS TO WATCH THE RECORDINGS OF THE ENTIRE EVENT
OVERVIEW
Date and Time:
This will be a 12+hrs Live Interactive Broadcast on May 20, 2021 with 11 amazing speakers, which will also be entirely recorded. You will both be invited to join us live the day of the event, as well as receive the entire event recordings a few days later.
Cost:
$55
How does this work?
Register anytime before, during and after the event to join it live the day of and/or receive the recordings of the entire event afterward.
Upon purchasing your tickets, you will receive the webinar registration link. Once registered, you will receive the link allowing you to join this virtual video conference live the day of the event, which will be entirely recorded. All registered participants of the live event as well as after-the-day-of-the-event ticket buyers will receive a download link for the recordings a few days later, to watch on their own schedule afterward as many times as they would like. Tickets may be purchased before, during and after the event, even years later.
Note: HCBA Members will receive the link to the live event as part of their membership perks and will also have access to the recordings after the event as they will be posted on the Members Only Content pages, along with the 2020 Webinar recordings. Consider becoming a HCBA Member to access this event and the 2020 event recordings.
Why this conference:
Beekeepers new and old need to know there is a different way to keep bees from the conventional approach.They also need tools to address the biggest challenges in keeping their bees naturally and sustainable, which are:
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a lack of science-based information on Natural Beekeeping
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a lack of understanding of the underlying mechanisms honey bees use to fend off pests and pathogens on their own, and what best practices beekeepers can use to leverage those natural mechanisms
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a lack of conviction as to why it is so important to keep bees naturally
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peer pressure, misconceptions and repeated myths
What you will learn in this webinar:
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Our Featured Speakers (Bios and Topics listed below) are internationally recognized authorities in Natural Beekeeping, who will share with you their expertise and core philosophy throughout the day for a deep understanding of those natural mechanisms and how beekeepers can work with the honey bee's nature to boost their colonies' health naturally. Featured Speakers for 2021 are (subject to some change):
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Dr. Tom Seeley
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Dr. David Heaf
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Michael Bush
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Les Crowder
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Sam Comfort
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Dr. Ferhat Ozturk
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Our panel of Natural Beekeeping Specialists will provide you with real life success stories of how they put in practice Natural Beekeeping principles in their apiaries and business models, and how they reap the benefits with clean, chemical-free hive products. Panel Speakers for 2021 are (subject to some change) :
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Fonta Molyneaux
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Dorian Pritchard
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Nathalie B.
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Brandon Fehrenkamp
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Adrian Iodice
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You will learn about core principles of Natural Beekeeping, best practices, and tips and tricks on how to grow your apiary sustainably while focusing on a chemical-free, natural approach to beekeeping.
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These principles apply to backyard beekeeping, small scale businesses, and even large commercial operations mindful of the long term implications.
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You will discover how many beekeepers successfully keep bees leveraging their nature, and get inspired to do the same with your bees
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With Dr. Ozturk's presentation on medicinal honey, you will also witness how keeping bees naturally also contributes direct benefits to human health through clean, pure hive products, that can be used in apitherapy (a branch of alternative medicine that uses honey bee products to improve human health)
KEYNOTE SPEAKERS & TOPICS
""HONEY BEES IN THE WILD" by Dr. Thomas SEELEY
The honey bee, Apis mellifera L., is native to Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.
Until around 1600 AD, the species lived only in these regions, but since then humans have introduced honey bees to the Americas, Australia, east Asia, and many of the Pacific islands. Across this vast range, honey bees live both as wild colonies inhabiting natural nest sites and as managed colonies occupying beekeepers’ hives.
In this talk, we will look at how honey bees of the European races live as wild colonies, and what this tells us about the practices of modern beekeeping.
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Thomas D. Seeley, biologist and writer, is a retired professor in the Department of Neurobiology and Behavior at Cornell University. He continues to do research on the behavior, social life, and ecology of honey bees. He earned his PhD in biology from Harvard University in 1978
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Tom is an avid beekeeper and began keeping bees while a high school student, when he shook a swarm into a box and brought it home.
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His scientific work is summarized in five books:
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Honeybee Ecology (1985)
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The Wisdom of the Hive(1995)
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Honeybee Democracy (2010)
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Following the Wild Bees (2016)
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The Lives of Bees (2019)
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In recognition of his scientific contributions, he has been elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (AAAS), and a member of the German National Academy of Sciences.
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He writes: "These honors are gratifying, but for me, the most important prizes by far are the discoveries that I have made about the natural lives and inner workings of honey bee colonies"
"FIFTEEN SEASONS OF BEEKEEPING WITH THE WARRE HIVE WITHOUT VARROA TREATMENTS" by David HEAF
The 'People's Hive' of Abbé Émile Warré and its low interference management. Swarm management, not control. Winter losses when letting the bees manage varroa unaided
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David Heaf, a former biochemist, started beekeeping in 2003 and now runs 10 colonies in Warré hives distributed among six apiaries.
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In 2007 he and his wife Pat translated Warré's book 'L'Apiculture pour Tous' into English and published it for free on the internet, leading to the hive and Warré's method being adopted by beekeepers on six continents.
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He is the author of 'The Bee-friendly Beekeeper, 'Natural Beekeeping with the Warré Hive - A Manual' and 'Treatment-free Beekeeping'.
"FOUR SIMPLE STEPS TO HEALTHIER BEES"
by Michael BUSH
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Michael Bush is an internationally recognized author and speaker on natural beekeeping. He is the author of "The Practical Beekeeper", which has been published in five languages and is one of the authoritative sources on sustainable beekeeping without chemical treatments.
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His website (bushfarms.com) is an invaluable source of information on natural, chemical-free beekeeping and just plain beekeeping. The topics are based on the questions that come up on beekeeping forums over and over.
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The wisdom of his methods is evidenced by the fact that he successfully keeps bees through the harsh winters of Nebraska.
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"His talks are like his writing, with more content, detail, and depth than one would think possible with such few words...his website and PowerPoint presentations are the gold standard for diverse and common sense beekeeping practices." D. Stiglitz
"PLUGGING INTO THE NATURE OF BEES" by Les CROWDER
Les will share his tips on how to work with the bees instead of against them. By practicing beekeeping many hours for 5 decades, usually without gloves, he has learned from the bees how to approach, open and move around a beehive full of stinging insects without fear. He explains how our breath, scent, and movements may cause bees to either sting, or better yet to perceive the beekeeper as a peaceful part of the landscape.He also discusses how even the fundamental choice of what kind of beehive we keep them in affects the relationship, as some are harder to open and inspect without crushing bees or destroying combs and others preserve the integrity of the brood's nest, keeping bees calmer and less stressed. In Les's words, this presentation is intended to help beekeepers interact with the bees as fellow creatures that we can learn to appreciate and collaborate with, rather than dominate.
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Les is an authentic Bee Whisperer, an expert beekeeper, professional educator and Head Teacher at the Bee Mindful Beekeeping Academy in Austin, TX, where he and Nathalie B. teach Natural Beekeeping.
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He started beekeeping at 14, and is both a biologist and a true veteran of the beekeeping world. Earlier in his career, he worked for a commercial beekeeper with 4,000 hives. Ever since, he has looked for ways to eliminate toxic inputs in the hive.
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He now is an internationally recognized expert in Natural Beekeeping, and specializes in Top-Bar Hives. He wrote “Top-Bar Beekeeping: Organic Practices for Honeybee Health”, an authoritative source for Natural, Mindful Beekeeping and a very popular book all over the world.
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He has been teaching highly popular Natural Beekeeping classes domestically and abroad for over 35 years (both in English and Spanish), and now offers a Professional Apprenticeship at Bee Mindful (www.Bee-Mindful.com)
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Every Thursday at 5pm Central US Time, he co-hosts a free "Chat With The Mindful Beekeepers" with Nathalie B., where they answer beekeeping questions from all over the world, simultaneously on Instagram #BeeMindfulHoneyFarms (see past recordings there) and via ZOOM..
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Les was a honeybee inspector in New Mexico.for 5 years, the President of the New Mexico Beekeepers Association multiple times, and now is the President of the Hays County Beekeepers Association, a Natural Beekeeping club in Austin, TX (join their Facebook group for Natural Beekeeping advice).
"THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE BUGLY: Recent Efforts To Simplify A Complex Bee World" by Sam COMFORT
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After winning 6 hives in a poker game, Sam Comfort worked for several years in commercial beekeeping across America.
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He started Anarchy Apiaries in 2005 to explore permaculture ideas of low input natural cycles. He breeds queens from hardy survivors, experiments with splitting techniques, and messes around with hive designs.
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The mission is to 1) make more beehives than there are televisions, and 2) have a good time, all the time (with bees).
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Anarchy Apiaries runs around 1000 hives that split seasonally into around 2000 mating nucs with no treatments, minimal feeding, and do-it-yourself "comfort hive" boxes in New York and Florida and spots in beetween.
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Through teaching independent, biological beekeeping, he hopes to make it more affordable, approachable, and enjoyable; thus bring the means of production back to the beekeeper.
"MEDICINAL USE OF HONEY FOR WOUND HEALING AND CURRENT TREATMENT OF Covid-19" by Dr. Ferhat OZTURK
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WARNING: This presentation contains some graphic images of wounds treated with medicinal honey
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Dr.Ozturk is currently serving as a Volunteer Research Scientist at The University of Texas at San Antonio & Biomedical Science Teacher at School of Science and Technology.
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Dr. Ozturk specializes in medicinal use of honey with a strong Ph.D. background in gene therapy, molecular and cellular biology, bioinformatics, and biochemistry research.
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He has taken this knowledge and applied it to the unique biological and chemical makeup of different mono-floral honey from around the world allowing him to unlock the hidden knowledge of age old wisdom regarding the healing benefits of honey.
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His current research is helping to identify U.S. based honey sources that contain high bioactivity levels and medicinal properties that can not only compete with but outperform those of current medical grade honeys.
ALSO SPEAKING....
The Wheel of the Year: Bioregional Beekeeping and beyond
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Fonta Molyneaux will help use explore practical techniques and traditional ecological knowledge toward centering your beekeeping on Bioregional and seasonal cycles in Nature.
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Bio: Fonta Molyneaux is a Mother of three, Beekeeper, Master Herbalist, and Regenerative Organic Farmer living in the Pacific Northwest on her farm Wild Everlasting- 30 acres devoted to exploring the relationship between People, Plants and Pollinators. She also founded and facilitates Sun Queen School of Apiary Arts where she offers all skill levels of bee-centered beekeeping instruction to students near and far. Find out more about her work at www.wildeverlasting.com or on Instagram #beekeepingbotanist. She was a featured speaker at the 2020 HONEY LOVE NATURAL BEEKEEPING CONFERENCE
Fonta Molyneaux
Horizontal Beekeeping For Healthier Bees and Happier Beekeepers
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Nathalie B. will make the case for horizontal beekeeping as a most practical, economical and sustainable way to keep bees in a way that is accessible by people of all means and physical abilities, and describe how 19" Kenyan Top-Bar Hives are the modern "Hive Of The People"
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Bio: Nathalie is a Master Beekeeper from Texas A&M University, and the. host of "The Natural Beekeeping Corner" on the popular beekeeping podcast "The Hive Jive". She has designed a simple yet efficient way to transition Langstroth frames into top bar hives (overview here), and has redesigned Les Crowder's hive into "The Bee Mindful Top-Bar Hive" (free plans at www.Bee-Mindful.com/plans)
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She created, leads, and tirelessly volunteers for the Hays County Beekeepers Association and its community outreach programs, including the Shamba Ya Amani Congolese Refugee Farm of Peace beekeeping project. A seasoned speaker, she also leads Bee Mindful (www.Bee-Mindful.com), a beekeeping education and professional consulting company that provides services in and around Austin, TX, where she works with Les Crowder. A native French speaker and polyglot, she was hired by the Congolese government to design and lead their country-wide beekeeping training program for trade school, for which she spent over 6 months in the Congo in 2019. An MBA grad from The Ohio-State University, she was a Project Director for an optimization company and a French conversation school Director in previous lives.
Nathalie B.
Northumberland native bees' three-strategy defence against varroa mites
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Dorian Pritchard will describe three defense strategies honey bees spontaneously use to control varroa mites on their own:
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“Entombment” of mites by infested brood failing to emerge;
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Splitting of the colony, by absconding of the queen with many flying bees;
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Aggressive allogrooming by house bees, resulting in lethal mutilation of up to 70% of fallen mites.
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Bio: Dr. Dorian Pritchard, BSc. Dip. Gen., PhD, Hexham BKA, UK is a retired university lecturer in medical genetics. With a PhD in developmental genetics, he is author of “Foundations of Developmental Genetics” and first author of the BMA prize winning “Medical Genetics at a Glance”. He has kept bees for over 40 years in Northumberland, and now runs around 30 national hives. He was inspired to concentrate on the native Dark Bee, A. m. mellifera, after comparing the honey quality of localand foreign bees side by side in an oilseed rape field. He has been prominent for many years at local, national and international levels of beekeeping, serving as Conservation Officer of BIBBA and for 10 years as President of SICAMM, the international association for conservation of the Dark Bee. He has taught more than 300 beginners in his classes at Kirkley Hall Agricultural College. His map correlating home ranges of A. m. subspecies with summer temperatures was included in the UN report “Climate Change and Crop Pollination” and his publications in the beekeeping press reflect his deep concerns for native honey bee conservation and his success in selecting Varroa resistant, near-native bees.
Dorian Pritchard
Working With Honey Bee Natural Resiliency To Rehabilitate Them After Disaster
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Adrian Iodice will describe how he works with honey bee's natural resiliency and adaptability, using his understanding of the superorganism's natural instincts and working with their nature to rehabilitate them after disastrous fires in Australia/
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Bio: Adrian has a deep passion for natural sustainable bee care. He started his beekeeping journey with standard conventional Langstroth hives and since 2010, he began experimenting with and studying various hive designs. Adrian is one of the pioneers of the Natural Beekeeping’movement in Australia. In 2012 he studied biodynamic beekeeping at ‘Mellifera Centre for Organic Beekeeping’ in Rosenfeld, southern Germany. He has come to the conclusion that the Kenyan Top-Bar Hive (KTBH) is the better hive suited to his needs and he feels that every ‘backyard beekeeper’ should truly consider the hive design they will eventually use for the well-being of their bees. He teaches natural, ethical beekeeping in KTBH in Melbourne, NSW, Canberra, Brisbane and the Northern Territory. He has been featured on 4 episodes of the popular TV show ‘River Cottage Australia’, has made the front cover of ‘Earth Garden Magazine' and written a couple of articles for ‘PiP’ magazine. In 2018 Adrian was invited by 'The Natural Beekeeping Trust' to present at the 'Learning From The Bees' conference in Doorn, The Netherlands. Adrian is extremely passionate about natural beekeeping and the Kenyan Top Bar Hive and is currently travelling in a caravan with his family throughout Australia on a bee teaching tour.
Adrian Iodice
Catching, Trapping and Retaining Swarms as a source of Local Treatment-Free Bees
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It's often said that if you start out with "treated" bees and go treatment free, you are bound to fail. Starting with bees that have been raised treatment free and locally adapted is a must. Catching and trapping swarms are two excellent ways to obtain treatment free bees. This not only supports your local gene pool, but also can save you some money if you are willing to put in a little work. Join Brandon Fehrenkamp as he explains the ins, outs, dos and dont's of swarm trapping and catching, and how to keep the bees from absconding after.
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Bio: Since catching his first colony as a swarm nearly two decades ago, Brandon has been enthralled with honeybees. This fascination soon grew to encompass conducting live honeybee removals as well, which he has done for a living for about 15 years. By removing bees out of everything from trees, houses, water meter boxes to electrical structures 70ft in the air, it's given him special insight into how the superorganism honeybee colony functions when left to their own devices in a home of their own choosing. A big proponent of natural and foundationless beekeeping, Brandon keeps mostly feral colonies in both top bar hives and foundationless Langstroth hives. It's his belief that the answer to many of the problems currently facing the honeybee can be solved by locally adapted "wild" genetics. He also enjoys tinkering and building things for bees in his shop just outside of Austin, Texas.
Brandon Fehrenkamp
TENTATIVE SCHEDULE
in US Central Daylight Times
AFTERNOON:
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02pm-03pm - Les CROWDER
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03pm-04pm - Dr. OZTURK
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04pm-05pm - Dr. SEELEY
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05pm-06:30pm - Michael BUSH
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06:30:pm-07:30pm - Adrian IODICE
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07:30pm-08:30pm - Sam COMFORT
MORNING:
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08am-09:30am - Intro + Nathalie B.
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09:30am-10:30am - Brandon FEHRENKAMP
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10:30am-12pm - David HEAF
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12pm-01pm - Dorian PRITCHARD
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01pm-02pm - Fonta MOLYNEAUX
RULES OF ENGAGEMENT:
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The video conference will be hosted via Zoom
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Once you receive the meeting link, you will need to register your information ahead of the meeting by clicking on the meeting link prior to gaining access so we can validate your ticket
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During the live event, participants will be muted but will be able to interact and ask questions via the public Chat Window
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Proceeds will go toward paying our speaker fees and meeting costs.
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We are not responsible for any technical difficulties on participants' end or on Zoom's end
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Participants will be able to access the video content and Chat Window from a computer, a tablet or a phone. In addition, they will be able to dial into a regular phone connection if need be.
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All ticket sales are final and non-refundable.