Dear all:

All this talk about the Code and accepting donations has got me dreaming of an entirely 
different model.  I think in the past the process was not as corrupt, but the term "public-
private" partnership came on the scene.  I'd say that the partnership has turned out to be 
woefully lopsided because there were no checks and balances.

Here's the conference I would envision:

Anyone who wants to display their products at the conference would have to agree to:

1) Submitting their products to independent testing by a group that has never received 
any funding from that company, nor ever received money as an "expert witness" in 
lawsuits against that type of company (I added the second because I discovered the 6 
figure amount paid to one expert witness for testimony against a particular product 
unrelated to breastfeeding)

2) Agreeing to have the rating posted on their product while it was being displayed.

3) Agreeing not to sue the testing group regardless of their rating (since there is another 
Voldemort out there who has sued those that rated that company's product badly)

4) Allowing a member of the testing group to present the findings of their comparative 
analysis of that product and all similar products in the conference

5) Pay for the testing, regardless of the outcome.

6) Pay for the privilege of displaying their products.  The fee could be prorated based on 
the size of the company so that there would not be a bias against small businesses.

And in addition, submit their product to a Zagat guide style rating system that would be 
updated annually. The Lacta guide could include ratings by IBCLCs, consumers and other 
professionals that use the products.  Again, they could not sue the Lacta guide for 
unfavorable ratings.

In this way you wouldn't get the "sponsors" that conference attendees should feel 
"grateful" to, you would have a business model whereby the product sellers would be 
forced to feel grateful for the "privilege" of displaying their products

Best, Susan Burger

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