I know that the rewards are great and the profits monetarily aren't gainful in this field,but I suppose that if I had written anything for an ABM manufacturer,I would require a statement on the pamphlet stating that I completed the work for the advancement of breastfeeding families at no cost and that I was in no way endorsing the products of the company.(Does writing for a company automatically indicate that one IS endorsing their products?Hmmm.) I cannot accept gifts of any sort or funds from such markets because of the ethics involved--period.Even if the $ goes for certain BF projects,the money from the consumer is where the profits come from and to me that money is blood money.I do not want $ from a product which increases the probability of families' poor health. Nor do I wish to purchase products made in Chinese prisons.(The ethics behind a child's meal toy and toys in general is mind boggling) Also,it is the 6th year that the Indiana Perinatal Educator Conference has been supported by a manufacturer of ABM. And while a lot of people overlook the listed members on the planning committee, and while the topics and speakers are informative and gifted, it is truly a shame that the financial support is accepted and thus depended upon annually to continue this conference.The sponsors are clearly stated on the cover of the registration: St.Vincent Community Health Network,Indiana Univerisity Medical Center and Mead Johnson nutritionals.It is also a shame that because of the continued sponsorship it is not a conference which I have chosen to attend, mainly because there are many other conferences from which I can gather the same info. AND receive cerps. I am employed by one of the hospitals sponsoring this event and last year an associate and myself were vendors of our LC practices for this event. Wouldn't an alternative to having a certain sponsor on one's planning committee be to increase the cost of the event to the consumer,the conference attendees? To me, $35 for a 6 1/2 hour conference is unreal--and cheap.And this fee includes a continental breakfast,a large luncheon in a very ritzy hotel,with many door prizes. In attending this conference, IMHO each attendee is accepting $ indirectly/directly from families who have used a suboptimal product,either by coersion,misinformation or lack of accurate information, or expensive marketing techniques which each formula feeding family is paying for every time they buy the product. If anyone has any other suggestions,send them my why ...I have shared a copy of Marsha's "Hazards....." with my supervisor last year,and had said that I would like to sell them at the conference,an idea which was poorly received; ( and my husband had to have his 2nd sinus surgery on that very day so I wasn't able to exhibit with associate.) This year or next could be a turning point as we are forming an LC group for Southern/Central Indiana. I plan to share the above ideas and try to enlist the help of others. Just reading "Hazards of ...." in JHL is enough to take one's breath away. How can anyone ignore the actual problems with expensive, inferior, artificial alternatives especially with all the autoimmune diseases people are faced with these days? (diabetes, multiple schlerosis, rheumatoid arthritis .....to which no cures have been found, despite all the generous gifts and non-profit orgnizations' yearly fund raising events.) Off the Suds, Denise Ferrell,IBCLC in Indiana