Cheryl Heppner, executive director of NVRC, writes a lively narrative each year about the Hearing Loss Association of America Convention. She has welcomed me to use her entries. So, without further ado, here is Cheryl.
HLAA Convention Opening Session
By Cheryl Heppner, 6/18/08
Brenda Does the Honors
An opening night crowd streamed into the Reno Ballroom at the Grand Sierra Resort to hear Brenda Battat give the official opening of the convention on Thursday, June 12, 2008. It was her 106th day as Executive Director of Hearing Loss Association of America. She ran through an impressive list of recent advocacy activities and the inspiring accomplishments of the Walk4Hearing, which has not only raised an astonishing amount of money but also a great deal of public awareness.
Brenda also recognized the many contributions of the state organizations and local chapters. “We are having a big impact with a small staff and thousands and thousands of volunteers,” she said, noting also the generosity of many companies. Brenda challenged the audience to go home and be ambassadors to eradicate the stigma of hearing loss.
Anne Pope, President of the HLAA Board of Trustees, also welcomed the attendees on behalf of the board. She talked about arriving at her first convention after floundering for four years with severe hearing loss. That first convention was a turning point for her; she realized she could take some control of her life and manage it. She left energized by the things she had learned.
A Surprise for Mark Ross
Barbara Kelley, HLAA’s new Deputy Executive Director, said she had a surprise for someone in the audience who deserved an award so much that one had been created. She called a very stunned Mark Ross to the stage for a Lifetime Achievement Award as the crowd gave him a standing ovation and the big screen showed the great photo of him that will appear on the next cover of Hearing Loss magazine.
“The Father of Audiology,” as Barbara calls him, said he was sandbagged and had no idea he was receiving an award. Barbara talked about his first entry into the field of hearing loss as a patient and how he has become an aggressive advocate of aural rehabilitation, contributing in so many ways as both an audiologist and consumer. She rattled off some highlights of his bio (”a million miles long”), and noted that in 18 years of writing a column for Hearing Loss magazine he has never missed a deadline. Mark has also been honored previously with the board’s Rocky Stone Humanitarian Award.
Mark, in his turn at the microphone, said he was completely overwhelmed, “maybe for the first time at loss for words.” Then he dug deep and found a few. He said that the most gratifying time of his life has been since retirement and expressed amazement that his wife had been in cahoots with the people planning the award.
Ollie Cantos Wows the Crowd
Brenda Battat introduced keynote speaker Olegario D. Cantos, VII, who is better known as simply “Ollie”. His official title is Special Counsel to the Acting Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights in the U.S. Department of Justice. The convention program book says he’s well known for his engaging personal style and ability to convey thoughts. Those of us here in the Washington area who have had the pleasure to know and work with him can attest to that. Now hundreds of HLAA convention attendees will too.
Ollie, who has been blind since birth, has received numerous honors. In addition to his work at the Department of Justice, he has served as an Associate Director for Domestic Policy at the White House. Ollie also has a very interesting personal life which includes being an assistant scoutmaster, a three-time finisher of the Los Angeles Marathon, rollerblading, ice skating, and horseback riding.
I’ve known Ollie for years but have only talked with him up close or in small groups. This was the first time I’ve seen him give a presentation to a large audience, and I was stunned by his booming voice, dramatic choice of words, and cadence that brought visions of Martin Luther King. As always, he made his speech very personal and powerful. He talked about civil rights in general and about cases in North Carolina and Florida where the rights of people with hearing loss had been violated and but they victims had ultimately won.
What really blew many people away was a segment where Ollie talked about how the act of one person in HLAA building up another would build a positive impression, and could spread and become more and more powerful for HLAA’s message and mission. To better illustrate the concept, he took a marker and began drawing on a large whiteboard. First he drew a circle, then put letter within it, then more circles and letters and lines to connect them, showing how the network starting with one person would build. It was a great tour de force from an individual who is blind who did not even face the white board as he wrote. As if for an encore, he erased that diagram and started drawing another. And then another.
Ollie said he is eager to have email contact from all the attendees “as a way of opening our two-way conversation”. He gave his email address: Ollie.Cantos@usdoj.gov. His position, he explained, gives him a good level of access to pass on concerns of people with hearing loss and share what the Department of Justice is doing.
©2008 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. Items in this newsletter are provided for information purposes only; NVRC does not endorse products or services. You do not need permission to share this information, but please be sure to credit NVRC. This news service is free of charge, but donations are greatly appreciated. To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your email address, or report problems, contact cheppner@nvrc.org
– Barbara Kelley
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