From April 18-20, AFB hosted its annual flagship conference (formerly titled the Josephine L. Taylor Leadership Institute), together with Illinois AER, in Chicago. With over two dozen exhibitors and more than 400 attendees, we made many new friends and reconnected with old ones.
In spite of some initial bad weather, attendance was strong. A day of pre-conference sessions gave way to Friday morning’s keynote address from Chieko Asakawa, Ph.D., of IBM Research-Tokyo. Blind since the age of 14, Asakawa discussed the history of disability technology in a speech entitled "Accessibility Ignites Innovation." The keynote set the tone for the next two days, as the multiple sessions proved inspirational, informative, practical, and yes, innovative. Ideas were overflowing. There was a lot of information cramming involved and our brains still hurt!
Congratulations again to Migel Medal recipients Jim Fruchterman and Kay Ferrell, and Access Award winners AT&T, Best Buy, Panasonic, RNIB, and Regal Entertainment Group. And a huge thank you to all our exhibitors and attendees. We hope to see you next year (February 27-March 1) in Brooklyn!
In looking back, here's what a handful of AFB staff had to say:
George Abbott, AFB eLearning Director: The joint AFB Leadership/Illinois AER 2013 conference featured a diverse program enjoyed by practitioners, aspiring leaders, and legends alike. Over 50 sessions provided professionals with relevant, practical information by knowledgeable, dynamic presenters. We all left feeling better informed, reinvigorated, and exhilarated. Attendees were treated to presentations by such notable figures in the visual impairment field as Frances Mary D'Andrea, Marjie Wood, Deborah Hatton, and others.
Natalie Hilzen, Director/Editor in Chief, AFB Press: "Interviewing M. C. Migel Medal winner Dr. Kay Alicyn Ferrell was one of the highlights of my professional career. What a remarkable woman, and how could one person have so many multifaceted talents—educator, researcher, author, early interventionist, and technologist. Amazing. After practically drowning in Chicago and having to swim to get there, it seemed to me that conference attendees, AFB staff, and exhibitors settled down immediately and went on to have an excellent conference."
Priscilla Rogers, VisionAware Program Manager: "I attended to the IBM session and was fascinated by the possibilities of what they discussed. Making video accessible is so critical to the work we do and to date, it has been very expensive and time-consuming. The ability to do transcripts would really speed things up as well (not to mention the cost savings)."
Scott Truax, FamilyConnect Program Manager: "This conference had a very diverse menu of topics to choose from for both the direct service provider and agency leaders. It was good to come together to learn best practice and issues in the field. Rain, sleet, and snow did not keep 400 people from attending the conference in Chicago. A motivated bunch."
