Funding Desmond to go to WCHR 2014

[garethbale]

Serious question but does Desmond plan on speaking to Dr Nigam?

[nameless]

I would be happy for you guys if you succeed at raising the funds to get Desmond there and inside the congress to check out all the information. That would be a real accomplishment for you guys. If you guys pull this off I would not do anything that could in any way hamper Desmond, put him in any kind of bind or put any additional burdens on him.

Desmond is a smart guy and he would not need to interview anyone to gather information from the presenters so if he's uncomfortable with doing interviews I don't think you guys should worry. If you can get him there with airfare, lodging, and access to all of the presentations then you all will have accomplished something surprising and you all should be proud of that and pleased with that because Desmond is smart enough to come back with any important information just by attending the presentations.

I'm already impressed at how close you guys are to getting this done. It's really amazing that you are so close.

[Desmond84]

Hey guys

Just an update. As of now we have raised $1102.67

Thank you so much. Lets keep going

[Thinning@30]

Are we certain that the conference and all of its associated events are open to the public? It would suck to travel half way around the world only to be turned away at the door.

[Arashi]

Are we certain that the conference and all of its associated events are open to the public? It would suck to travel half way around the world only to be turned away at the door.

Yeah they even sell student tickets.

[hellouser]

Ofcourse. This is just a suggestion. Some people might be shy about doing that sort of thing. Just the fact that he is going is awesome. If he wants do do some interviews that's even more awesome.

And Desmond, noooo pressure what so ever regarding the interviews if you decide to do them. It doesn't matter if it looks like/and/or sounds like shit. The only thing that matters is the information we get. I think most guys here will agree to that.

And being a journalist myself I can tell you that researchers/scientists are the best people to interview. They are totally in to what they are doing and love telling other people about their research. And remember, they are just regular people who are a lot more nervous than you about the interview. So no need to feel intimidated.

And most of all you don't need to be an expert on every topic. Or any topic for that matter. The whole purpose of a journalist is to ask "stupid" questions. And really, no question is too stupid.

I think a VERY important question would be to address the following:

The hair loss community has thus far been met with failure for superior treatments over Finasteride and Minoxidil that have been on the market for 20 years. If an initiative to have the findings be put into a commercial product, what guarantee is there that someone like Dr. Jahoda would be fully committed to a fast release of a treatment?

It's one thing talk about plans for crowdfunding, but we really need to know how eager Dr. Jahoda or someone else would be to actually see that the whole project takes off and actually COMPLETES clinical trials. This is crucial because as I've bitched about it before, all I ever hear is breakthrough after breakthrough only to have all these breakthroughs get SHELVED.

[J_B_Davis]

Are we certain that the conference and all of its associated events are open to the public? It would suck to travel half way around the world only to be turned away at the door.

I think this needs to be said since it’s apparent that people are blindly sending money to an anonymous person over the internet. No offense Desmond if you are being sincere in your efforts.

Did it ever occur to you guys that you are sending your hard earned money to someone who could just to take it an run? None of the conferences are open to the public, at the very least you have to be a registered guest of a delegate unless you are a student delegate representing a University and then you have to send proof of that before you are allowed to register.

I’m sure that Desmond is going to have to register a couple of weeks in advance to get the credentials to even enter the conference center, so it seems very unlikely that an unaffiliated person will ever get through the door.

If I were you guys I would ask to see the following from Desmond:
1. images of his registration credentials
2. screen shots or images of his printed out plane tickets from where he lives in the world to Korea and back.
3. Email confirmation that he is registered with the congress
4. Hotel confirmation

Also , since you are sending him money, he should divulge his identity to you guys so you can confirm that he is actually going to be going to Korea to attend the conference.

You might even call the congress directly to ask how to register and who is allowed in.

Just my 2 cents, I hope Desmond is for real and that everyone who has donated to this ends up being satisfied with the results.

[efedrez]

I think this needs to be said since it’s apparent that people are blindly sending money to an anonymous person over the internet. No offense Desmond if you are being sincere in your efforts.

Did it ever occur to you guys that you are sending your hard earned money to someone who could just to take it an run? None of the conferences are open to the public, at the very least you have to be a registered guest of a delegate unless you are a student delegate representing a University and then you have to send proof of that before you are allowed to register.

I’m sure that Desmond is going to have to register a couple of weeks in advance to get the credentials to even enter the conference center, so it seems very unlikely that an unaffiliated person will ever get through the door.

If I were you guys I would ask to see the following from Desmond:
1. images of his registration credentials
2. screen shots or images of his printed out plane tickets from where he lives in the world to Korea and back.
3. Email confirmation that he is registered with the congress
4. Hotel confirmation

Also , since you are sending him money, he should divulge his identity to you guys so you can confirm that he is actually going to be going to Korea to attend the conference.

You might even call the congress directly to ask how to register and who is allowed in.

Just my 2 cents, I hope Desmond is for real and that everyone who has donated to this ends up being satisfied with the results.

Friends, I do understand that some of us can be suspicious about this, mainly considering that the balding community is one of the most skeptical group of people out there.

But we also need to consider that first, Desmond did not nominate him self to attend the meeting, it was the rest of the forum acknowledging that he is the most suitable member to attend the conference.

Second, if we review Desmond contribution to the forum is clear that the guy has invested a fair amount of time doing research and sharing information that can benefit all of us, so I highly doubt he has done all this just to run away with a few dollars.

I'm sure Desmond will provide registration documentation as soon as he register to make everyone comfortable with donation but ultimately I believe we need to trust each other on this one.

If we don't believe that something as simple as sending a person to a congress can be done, finding the cure for baldness will be more than impossible

[Sogeking]

Friends, I do understand that some of us can be suspicious about this, mainly considering that the balding community is one of the most skeptical group of people out there.

But we also need to consider that first, Desmond did not nominate him self to attend the meeting, it was the rest of the forum acknowledging that he is the most suitable member to attend the conference.

Second, if we review Desmond contribution to the forum is clear that the guy has invested a fair amount of time doing research and sharing information that can benefit all of us, so I highly doubt he has done all this just to run away with a few dollars.

I'm sure Desmond will provide registration documentation as soon as he register to make everyone comfortable with donation but ultimately I believe we need to trust each other on this one.

If we don't believe that something as simple as sending a person to a congress can be done, finding the cure for baldness will be more than impossible

Seconded. If this were some other forum and some other member who is not Desmond than we would sure check him. But I trust Desmond, he will do this.

No need for additional verification. And I think he wants to remain anonymous and we should allow it.

Besides if this doesn't work than we as a community will fail at anything else.

All of us want hair more than money and no matter how much money you throw at it you can't get all the hair back.

[hellouser]

Seconded. If this were some other forum and some other member who is not Desmond than we would sure check him. But I trust Desmond, he will do this.

No need for additional verification. And I think he wants to remain anonymous and we should allow it.

Besides if this doesn't work than we as a community will fail at anything else.

All of us want hair more than money and no matter how much money you throw at it you can't get all the hair back.

I'd actually encourage Desmond to stay anonymous. He'll be doing us a giant favour already, I don't have any need to pry into his personal details. His privacy should remain intact.

[J_B_Davis]

Seconded. If this were some other forum and some other member who is not Desmond than we would sure check him. But I trust Desmond, he will do this.

No need for additional verification. And I think he wants to remain anonymous and we should allow it.

Besides if this doesn't work than we as a community will fail at anything else.

All of us want hair more than money and no matter how much money you throw at it you can't get all the hair back.

That’s ridiculous! Anyone could just read the abstracts and do a write up without ever going to the conference. Trust is a wonderful thing, but let’s be real here, Desmond is nothing more that an anonymous person typing on a keyboard, just like me or you. You guys have no clue who this person is and if he will actually be using your money to go to this conference. Also, the likelihood of him even getting in and attending multiple sessions with no credentials is next to zero. I’m just being real.

Get the confirmation then send him all the money you want.

[efedrez]

That’s ridiculous! Anyone could just read the abstracts and do a write up without ever going to the conference. Trust is a wonderful thing, but let’s be real here, Desmond is nothing more that an anonymous person typing on a keyboard, just like me or you. You guys have no clue who this person is and if he will actually be using your money to go to this conference. Also, the likelihood of him even getting in and attending multiple sessions with no credentials is next to zero. I’m just being real.

Get the confirmation then send him all the money you want.

Referring to someone comment as ridiculous is not necessary.

If you are not comfortable contributing by all means please don't.

This is an amazing initiative and we should be working on getting the most of it.

It will be more beneficial to keep working on the a list of questions prior to the congress to send Desmond better prepare to the event.

[Arashi]

Seconded. If this were some other forum and some other member who is not Desmond than we would sure check him. But I trust Desmond, he will do this.

No need for additional verification. And I think he wants to remain anonymous and we should allow it.

Besides if this doesn't work than we as a community will fail at anything else.

+1.

[Thinning@30]

Just to clarify, my comment wasn't meant to insinuate anything about Desmond or Arashi, who are both valuable members of this community who I trust. I was merely trying to anticipate any logistical hurdles we might encounter in sending someone to the conference. I'm just wondering if there any barriers along the lines of registration fees, events that are closed to the public, limits on attendance for the sessions, or anything else that could be problematic.

[J_B_Davis]

Just to clarify, my comment wasn't meant to insinuate anything about Desmond or Arashi, who are both valuable members of this community who I trust. I was merely trying to anticipate any logistical hurdles we might encounter in sending someone to the conference. I'm just wondering if there any barriers along the lines of registration fees, events that are closed to the public, limits on attendance for the sessions, or anything else that could be problematic.

Neither are mine, and all of your concerns are valid, since the likelihood of Desmond attending the conference is very slim based on several factors one of which includes the fact that he has yet to attempt to register. Do you really believe they are going to accept walk-ins? Don’t you think there would be security issues etc.? It’s not like you can just buy a ticket and walk around. I’m also curious what you think will be accomplished if Desmond is actually able to attend? All the information will be made public anyway, do you think that some scientist is going to pull Desmond aside and say” hey listen, the cure is 1 year away, go tell your friends on the forum”?