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 *********************************************** Archives: http://community.lsoft.com/archives/LACTNET.html To reach list owners: [log in to unmask] Mail all list management commands to: [log in to unmask] COMMANDS: 1. To temporarily stop your subscription write in the body of an email: set lactnet nomail 2. To start it again: set lactnet mail 3. To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet 4. To get a comprehensive list of rules and directions: get lactnet welcome