HLAA Convention 2011 Special - Bits and Pieces

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NVRC News - June 17, 2011

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Bits and Pieces on Friday

By Cheryl Heppner, 6/17/11

As the evening moves perilously close to morning I can’t believe I’ve

already completed 2 ½ days of the conference with just one to go. There is

so much more I want to see, so many people I want to meet and talk with, so

much I want to experience. I am so glad that Bonnie and Marla are here

attending many of the things I’ve missed. We saw each other at the start of

the Research Symposium this morning, and I haven’t seen them since! This

place is really hopping.

One tradition that has survived many years is my Joe Gordon sighting. Joe

always seems to be the first person I see at an HLAA convention, or at least

one of the first few. The one year he wasn’t able to attend, I got email

hugs. Joe, who has done wonderful things for HLAA in New York, has worked

with me on several advocacy projects through the years. He is very modest

and likes to stay out of the limelight, but I know how much he has done

behind scenes. This year I turned the tables on this quiet hero. I saw him

first and got my annual welcoming hug when I first walked into the lobby of

the Hyatt Regency. That’s when the official conference started for me. It

also gave me a new goal to get that hug every morning, and when I find him

tomorrow I will have met my goal.

The exhibits seem to be especially popular this year. Almost every time I’m

there I have to wait behind others for an opportunity to talk with

exhibitors. When I do it’s worth the wait. Veteran readers know I’m a

technology junkie and I sure wish everyone could be here to see some of the

conference special offers. As an example, tomorrow T-Mobile has a “Free

Data for Daddy” special with one year of data free, a $120 savings when you

sign up for a qualifying Unlimited Talk, Text and Data Plan.

Communications has a show special of the $78.95 Dry & Store Zephyr for

$67.10, Clear Sounds SW 200 $89.95 for $76.45 and Silent Call Sidekick

$184.95 alarm clock for $157.20. Plus there are drawings, and if you visit

and get your “passport” stamped at all the exhibits, you get a shot at a

complimentary registration for next year’s convention in Providence, Rhode

Island.

Two things that were special at the end of the day today:

- I finally got to see a Tucker when we were both at the NOAA

exhibit talking about weather alerts, or more specifically their

shortcomings. a, long involved in research with Gallaudet’s Technology

Assistance Project, is usually somewhere behind scenes doing research on the

latest project.

- My husband was able to join me for dinner this evening with

Waldo and his wife. An increasing downpour finally forced us from the

terrace to finish dessert inside, but did not slow our conversation one bit.

What a lot of ground we covered! Our topics included advocacy experiences,

regional cuisine, and home horror stories when our spouses discovered common

ground, one being a home inspector and the other in real estate.

Thank you to the three readers of this email news who are here at the

conference and came up today to tell me how much they have enjoyed the

reports. You are the reason I continue to do this year after year.

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