Opening Session - June 10, 2004

By Cheryl Heppner

Editor: Again we are privileged to be able to bring you coverage of the national hearing loss conventions. Sadly, I don't think I'll be attending any this year. But reporter par excellence Cheryl Heppner is doing her traditional outstanding job of helping us feel as if we are there. And Denise Portis of Frederick County (MD) SHHH and wife of SHHH Executive Director Terry Portis, will be sharing her experiences with us.

We'll kick off this year's coverage with Cheryl's report on the Opening Session.

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Welcome

Jerry Hohnbaum and Marian Reyburn, the co-chairs of the convention's local organizing committee, gave a Heartland welcome to the conference. Jerry, who is with the North Platte SHHH chapter, called SHHH a family -- one that meets at these conventions. He paraphrased a section of the book by Rocky Stone, the SHHH founder, who said that in SHHH thousands of people who have never known each other moved the concept of family to new dimensions.

Marian Reyburn said that Omaha had wanted to host the SHHH convention for a long time. This year SHHH is 25 years old and Omaha is 150. Over the weekend a Taste of Omaha Festival will be going on near the convention hotel. She said she'd like to think the festival's fireworks on Saturday night will also be a celebration of SHHH in Omaha.

Ann Liming, President of the Board of Trustees of SHHH, welcomed a great crop of newcomers to the convention and talked about the many great choices of activities. She also recognized the other members of the Board of Trustees.

Terry Portis started his welcome by saying that the SHHH staff had been excited to see him with a snake wrapped around his neck earlier in the day. He recognized the staff, volunteers and participation of the members for making the convention a success.

Terry touched on SHHH's cause, to make a difference in the lives of men, women and children. SHHH, he said, is about hope, encouragement and advocacy. Among the advocacy activities he cited were SHHH's work in the areas of affordable hearing aids, the ability to use cell phones, go to a theater and watch a movie or performance with your family, and have a job that matches your qualifications and talents.

Terry noted another great value of participation in SHHH: the ability to learn from others who have found what works for them. He encouraged the audience to leave the conference tired from all they had learned and done.

Terry's family -- which he said he liked to embarrass -- was also recognized. Wife Denise had a dramatic hearing loss about six years ago. Son and daughter Christopher and Kiersten have been pressed into service at the convention -- one taking pictures and the other entertaining people whose pictures are being taken.

National Access Award

Terry Portis recognized America Online with the SHHH 2004 National Access Award for becoming a world leader in interactive services and the contributions it has made to the quality of life for people with disabilities. Among America Online's groundbreaking work has been the captioning of "Princess Natasha" for its Kids Online and captioned feeds of CNN quickcasts.

Tom Wlodkowski accepted the award on behalf of America Online. He called access a journey, not a destination, and said that there is still much more that America Online hopes to accomplish.

"I look forward to working with SHHH and other organizations to make it a reality," he said.

Tom recognized SHHH's representative on the America Online Access Advisory Committee, Joe Gordon, and WGBH's Media Access Group, which has consulted with America Online to iron out a lot of the technical details with its captioning. He said that he looked forward to going back to Virginia and putting the plaque on the table to thank the staff at America Online who made the access possible.

Some exciting news he shared was that soon America Online hopes to roll out, through use of its Instant Messaging, accessible relay service through use of a screen name, and the ability to use VRS.

Keynote Introduction

Donna Sorkin of Cochlear Americas, which sponsored the opening session, was called on to give some remarks. She said that her time as Executive Director of SHHH was the best possible preparation for her current position. Cochlear, she said, is concerned about many of the same issues: long wait times for cochlear implant services, insurance coverage, Medicare criteria, adequate public school access for children with cochlear implants through acoustics and listening systems.

Donna announced that Cochlear was proud to be a corporate sponsor for SHHH's first Hearing Assistive Technology Center and presented Terry Portis with a check for $10,000 to continue its support.

Donna introduced Jim Fowler, who hosted Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom for many years, working with alligators, anacondas and other dangerous animals. Jim is now actively involved in national wildlife conservation education.

Don't miss tomorrow's account of the keynote presentation. Jim Fowler had one of the great stand up comedy acts -- with animals thrown in!