Save the date

Dry Eye in DC starts with dinner and training on Thursday, July 16th. On Friday, July 17th, you’ll attend 3-6 meetings with all of the Congressional offices representing members of your small advocacy group. Your meetings will be scheduled from about 9:30am - 4:00pm. These meetings can be as short as 15 minutes. You’ll have time to briefly introduce yourself and share some of DEF’s asks for Congressional staff. Getting around the Capitol will require walking or taking a taxi, so please reach out if you need accommodations. 

Throughout the process, we’ll support you with info sessions, advocacy training/workshops, and opportunities to meet with fellow advocates from your state or region. There will be a mandatory virtual training session in June. 

Applications open on March 26th. Applicants will be required to submit a short 60-second video or audio recording.

Plan to arrive in time for dinner at 5pm on Thursday, July 16. Advocacy Day meetings will last until 4pm on Friday, July 17. 

Thursday, July 16: 

5-8pm: Welcome reception, keynote, dinner, training, and breakout sessions.

Friday, July 17: 

9am-4pm: Advocacy Day Meetings

Break at 12pm for Dry Eye Disease Congressional Briefing and lunch

Hotel

We’ll be meeting at the Holiday Inn Washington DC Capitol and have a group rate of $239 per night plus tax. The hotel is a 15-minute walk from Capitol Hill.

Virtual Training

There will be a mandatory virtual advocacy training in June.

You already have the lived experience needed to be an Advocate; you’ve likely had to advocate for yourself with doctors, employers, family, or friends. Many patients feel that dry eye isn’t taken seriously. By sharing your story, you can help make change. You’ll be standing up for all the dry eye patients, past, present, and future, who can't make it to DC. 

Some people assume they are not brave or extraverted enough to join an Advocacy Day. We’ll be sure to provide you with training and support. By joining in person, you’ll meet fellow patients who will sit beside you in meetings. By the end of your first Advocacy Day, we hope you’ll want to come back for more. Becoming an advocate can be empowering.

Applications will open on March 26th. We will ask you a few questions about yourself, including any previous advocacy experience. You will be asked to share a 60-second video or audio recording of what you would like your elected officials to know about dry eye.

You can join a webinar or info session to learn more about dry eye advocacy. 

By the time you come to DC, you’ll want to have prepared a 60-second introduction with your dry eye story that you can share in your meetings. 

We’ll be compiling even more resources soon to help you prepare.

Yes, travel scholarships will be available to cover coach airfare, ground transportation, some meals, and up to 2 nights in a hotel. 

The application for travel scholarships will open this spring. 

There will be NO Dry Eye Symposium this year (in-person or virtual).