2024 Preliminary conference Schedule for
PCB Conference
October 17-20 on Zoom & ACB Media
Thursday, October 17, 2024
Zoom Connection:
11:20 AM Zoom Webinar Opens.
11:30 AM Virtual Exhibits Begin
4:00 PM PCB Board of Directors’ Meeting. All are welcome. (Not streamed on ACB Media.)
4:00 PM Auction Item Showcase Preview. (On ACB Media 8 only.) The bidding won’t begin until Sunday, but you don’t have to wait any longer to hear the parade of great items up for bid this year. Start making your wish list!
5:15 PM Dinner Break
6:15 PM Music Prelude
Conference General Session Begins
6:30 PM Call to Order and Welcome, Debby Hill, PCB President
6:35 PM Invocation & Necrology Remembrance, Jacqueline Wissinger, PCB Chaplain.
6:45 PM President’s Address, Debby Hill, PCB President.
7:00 PM Door Prizes & Announcements
7:05 PM Accessible Ballot, Democracy Live
7:35 PM Hearing Aids: Audiologist Prescribed VS Over the Counter Purchase, Tony Swartz with Dr. Rebecca Blaha. This presentation will explore the options, differences, benefits, and drawbacks of obtaining hearing aids relying on an audiologist opposed to purchasing hearing aids over the counter.
8:35 PM Candidate Statements, PCB Nominating Team. Prepare for Saturday’s elections by getting to know more about each of the candidates through their pre-recorded remarks.
8:40 PM Door Prizes & Announcements
9:00 PM My Three Songs! With DJ Doug. Join the fun by listening to a sample of three songs and then shout out the common theme between them. All are invited to play!
Friday, October 18, 2024
Zoom Connection:
9:00 AM Rise for a Prize Community Coffee, Conference Program & Planning Team. Grab a cup of coffee or tea and join us for some light conversation. Oh yes, and prizes too!
9:30 AM Creating Accessible Environments for the Blind and Visually Impaired, Idan Meir and Darren Gladstone. This will be a discussion around the challenges of making buildings more accessible and how the RightHear audio format signage system can help to turn buildings into more accessible spaces.
10:00 AM Coming Out of the Dark: Emergency Preparedness for Those Who Are Blind, Low Vision, and Deafblind, Valerie Claire Haven. This workshop will present information and resources individuals with visual impairments can use to keep themselves safe during emergencies and disasters. Topics will include how first responders are trained to deal with individuals with disabilities, decisions we need to make before a crisis happens, and resources to increase safety.
11:00 AM Break
11:15 AM High Tech, Low Tech and No Tech: strategies for self-communication of important reminders, appointments and other valuable information, Doug Hunsinger and the PCB Communications Team. The communications team panel will present methods of accomplishing important personal tasks. Whether it’s jotting down that phone number, making a grocery list or keeping that doctor’s appointment, the team will present high tech, low tech and no tech solutions for dealing with these tasks. We don’t have all the answers, so audience participation will be requested throughout the session.
12:15 pm Lunch break, PCB Meet-up, Questions, suggestions, reflections on PCB lead by The Peer Engagement Team with audience participation.
1:00 PM Accessible Appliances: a Menu of Options, Joe Fagnani with the PCB Technical Access Team. Audience members will learn how many options they have for accessible appliances.
2:00 PM Creating Art As Vision Changes, Lisa Busch with Lynda McKinney Lambert, Carol Farnsworth, and Tara Arlene Innmon. Come find out how to continue or begin practicing visual art while losing sight or totally blind. Enjoy learning the various art forms available to explore. Discover how three women overcame barriers and created paintings, felt art scenes and clay sculpture.
3:00 PM Break
3:15 PM SSP Services, Sherri Rodgers and Heather Snyder. This session will help hard of hearing and vision impaired members to realize the independence of doing their own shopping with assistance, such as an SSP. You get up to 15 hours a month for shopping, banking, doctor visits, dining out, etc.
3:45 PM A Resource Toolkit for Empowerment: an in-depth look at Community Resources, Suzanne Erb, Cathy Long and Pamela Shaw. Have you heard about some resources in passing, but would like more in depth information about them? In this workshop, Suzanne Erb, Cathy Long and Pamela Shaw will look at several resources for shopping, transportation, and community engagement. All of these resources can be accessed both using a standard telephone, as well as with more high tech devices. Not only will we explain how these resources can be accessed, but we will provide background information about them. We will discuss ACB community calls, several resources for obtaining food, and Go Go Grandparent—a transportation resource that you can use to access LYFT and Uber rides without using a smart phone or computer.
4:45 PM Dinner Break
6:15 PM Music Prelude
6:30 PM Practical Uses of AI With Your Favorite Screen Reader or Without! Jason Miller and Anthony Ballou. Have you ever needed information really fast that is challenging to find? Let’s face it, as students, parents and regular people, sometimes we may need information, or as blind people even forget things, may be more than we tend to admit. With today’s technology, helping with the kid’s math and science homework is no issue, did you say your fingers are tingling? Let’s get some possible reasons, slow cooked taco brisket, yes, we can get that recipe! This presentation will describe how to use the popular Chat GPT to research practical information, in fact, our presenter will demonstrate how he used the Chat GPT to research, locate and find a lost love. Moreover, we will use both a free & paid screen reader to gain the information using the GPT technology. Lastly, another presenter will use a mobile device (iPhone), with the GPT app, to have a live conversation, topics of this conversation will include the following: Various resources for blind careers, How to gain information on Vocational Training–Helen Keller, Pennsylvania Council of the Blind. To summarize, this presentation is aimed at demonstrating how to use three different screen reading technologies with AI/GPT as a practical, and accessible resource of information, no matter what platform you choose, we aim to broaden your accessible horizons!
7:15 PM Door Prizes & Announcements
7:25 PM Worship: Recipes for Accessibility, Sue Lichtenfels and panel. This presentation is an exploration of accessibility within worship practices. Regardless of the religion or the tenants of a particular faith, we want to examine how people who are blind or visually impaired are accessing the basics: fellowship, volunteerism, participation, and leadership. What have their experiences been facing both physical and attitudinal barriers to full inclusion in the worship process? What are the tools and strategies they utilize to make worship accessible to them?
8:40 PM Door Prizes & Announcements
9:00 PM “Who said this,” a famous quotes game, with Lisa Busch. There will be competition among people who pay attention to who says what and can identify the sayer. Points will be given for correct answers.
IF you want to compete, remember to sign up on the registration form.
Saturday, October 19, 2024
Zoom Connection:
8:30 AM Rise for a Prize Community Coffee, Conference Program Planning Team. Grab a cup of coffee or tea and join us for some light conversation. Oh yes, and prizes too!
9:00 AM Caring for Pets When You Have Limited or No Vision, Debby Hill and Dr. DeAnna Moore. If someone is blind or has low vision and they have not had training for a guide dog, what do they need to know to take care of a pet. This will be a presentation plus audience participation.
10:00 AM Achieve Greater Independence with the Meta Ray-Ban Smart Glasses, Lisa Salinger. In this session, learn about the Meta Ray-Ban Smart glasses: their features and possible drawbacks, and how to incorporate them into your daily life.
10:45 AM Door Prizes & Announcements
11:00 AM Get Involved with Accessible Adaptive Sports.
11:30 AM Creating and Promoting Your Chapter’s Identity, Thadeus Graham, PCB Outreach and Engagement Specialist.
12:00 PM Lunch Break
12:50 PM Get Connected for the PCB Business Meeting. (Access through the special Zoom connections below. (Not streamed on ACB Media.) Only paid 2024 PCB members who are registered for the conference may attend this event. All who expect to vote should be sure to join the meeting as an individual to retain their individual PCB vote. Since we will use Zoom’s hand-raising function, married couples, those using three-way calling, and others who typically share a connection should plan for accessing through their own device. If you need toll-free calling for this session, contact the PCB office no later than Noon on this day for the toll-free number.
4:00 PM Door Prizes & Adjournment for dinner.
6:15 PM PCB Virtual Banquet Music Prelude
6:30 PM Greetings and Sponsor Acknowledgements, Debby Hill, PCB President
6:35 PM Drawing the 50/50 Conference Raffle
6:40 PM Banquet speaker: Karla Gilbride, General Counsel of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Title TBA
7:30 PM PCB Award Presentations,
8:00 PM PCB Merit Awards, Suzanne Erb, PCB Peer Engagement Team
8:15 PM Door Prizes & Announcements
8:30 PM Performance: Jason Castonguay, after Banquet music and a presentation of his strategies for making good audio engineering accessible for those who are blind or who have low vision.
Sunday, October 20, 2024
Zoom Connection:
9:20 AM Zoom Webinar Opens
9:30 AM Audio Described play: To See or Not to See—This is a play written and produced in Canada from VocalEye. It’s about a blind woman who becomes overwhelmed with life and turns to a Shaman to help her revisit various stages of her life so she can overcome family trauma and the difficulties of growing up as a person with a disability. While there are some funny points, it is very serious content.
11:15 AM Break: Door prizes & announcements
11:30 AM Audio Described Movie: TBA
1:30 PM Pre-Auction Showcase. Tune or Zoom in to hear the prerecorded parade of great items up for bid this year. Familiarize yourself with the bidding process to give you the best chance of nabbing your favorite item.
3:00 PM PCB Live Auction, PCB Fund Development Team. Join the fun of raising funds for PCB and have a blast winning a great item. All conference registrants are automatically eligible to bid. Encourage your friends and family who want to join in the auction fun to sign up before Noon on Saturday, the 19th. Have them call 877-617-7407 Ext. 800 or email pcboffice@pcb1.org with their full name, city and state, phone number, email address, and type of payment they plan to use (check or credit card).