Greetings from Nashville
By Cheryl Heppner
June 2009
Editor: It's that time of year again! The start of Hearing Loss
Convention Season! As is normally the case, HLAA kicks off the activity in
June. Char and I didn't attend this year, but super reporters
extraordinaire Cheryl Heppner and Bonnie O'Leary from NVRC will be
providing detailed coverage of the activities.
Here's Cheryl with the first report!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I just opened the curtains in my room at the Gaylord Opryland Resort
and Convention Center and walked out on the little terrace with its two
wrought iron chairs and jade green granite table. It's sheltered by lush
green plants which border a pedestrian path. Beyond the path a river winds
its way through the complex. Conferences are so tough!
This place certainly lives up to a good deal of its hype. The nine
acres of indoor gardens, the quirky pools and fountains, the interesting
shops and eateries, and the huge conference center are amazing. But I was
sold on the place yesterday morning, when I received an email from one of
the resort staff saying that because HLAA had informed them I would be
traveling with a hearing dog, they'd arranged for me to have a room on the
ground floor close to an exit where there was plenty of grass for Galaxy
to do her business. Attached to the email was a map of the resort showing
where my room would be, the exits to the dog relief area, and the most
direct path to the conference center. Call me impressed!
Bonnie O'Leary and I arrived in Nashville before 1 pm Central Time
after a flight on a small US Airways that was less than half full. It's
been a while since I've flown on the more petite planes and taking off
sure adds excitement, as does meeting any kind of wind. The landing was
smooth as butter, though, with less weight to plop on the runway and less
plane to brake. Bonnie spent her flight time wrestling with crosswords and
admiring the many shapes and forms of clouds we passed through. Her most
amazing find was the cloud that looked just like Yoda.
After picking up our bags, getting transportation to the resort, and
check-in, we two weary travelers and Galaxy trekked to the conference
center where the HLAA conference registration booths were working with
great efficiency. Picking up our conference bags and materials was a snap,
as was picking up our listening system receivers at a nearby table, to be
used throughout the conference.
Over dinner Bonnie and I reviewed the conference schedule and used
numerous very complex mathematical formulas to determine how we will
report on all the exhibits and presentations. I'm kidding and you knew
that, right? We mostly agonized over which things we could squeeze in
because the exhibits and so many good presentations are all going on at
the same time, with 5 presentations in each time slot as well as vendor
presentations and lots of other activities.
The exhibit hall opens at 11 am tomorrow and education workshops start
at 1 pm. Meantime there will be an orientation for newcomers, the annual
business meeting, the hearing aid manufacturers panel, and the evening's
grand opening and keynote by NVRC's good friend Vint Cerf. The day should
be tons of fun!
~~~~~
(c)2009 by Northern Virginia Resource Center for Deaf and Hard of
Hearing Persons (NVRC), 3951 Pender Drive, Suite 130, Fairfax, VA 22030;
www.nvrc.org. 703-352-9055 V, 703-352-9056 TTY, 703-352-9058 Fax. You do
not need permission to share this information, but please be sure to
credit NVRC.
