www.dbcusa.org

Thank You!

A transcript of this vlog is now available.

A BIG THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO CONTRIBUTED TO THE SUCCESS OF THE DBC'S FIRST EDUCATION CONFERENCE, LAST JUNE 2008, AT THE HYATT REGENCY HOTEL IN MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN.

>From Kristen Weiner (DBC National's Liaison with DBC Wisconsin):

“Special recognition, appreciation and thanks to Jason Altmann, who bravely took on the job of Conference and Rally Chair and succeed beyond our wildest dreams.

Thanks goes to the DBC Wisconsin team who excelled in getting everything together: signs, rally area set-up, volunteer interpreters for rallies, and making sure people were as comfortable as can be.

More thanks goes to the Chicago Deaf Club who also donated money and distributed free drinks and snacks at the rallies, and for bringing enthusiastic people by bus all way from Chicago!

Jack Barr, for his wonderful spirit, determination, courage, and his constant support with his creative vlogs! His vlogs show his support for Deaf babies and DBC. Thank you!

The DBC Baby mascot—who appeared out of nowhere and surprised us all. To this day, we still have no idea who was wearing that costume!

Big thanks to Butch Zein of CSDVRS for his enthusiast spirit! They provided drinks and snacks and the "platform truck" during the rallies. It was much appreciated! Thanks for everything!

Thanks goes to the interpreters who ensured access to both ASL and English in the many places we were found to be, whether at the hotel or the rally scene, or as floaters covering wherever was need.

Special recognition goes to the JRNAD from the Wisconsin School for the Deaf and the University of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. For your help and support we thank you!”

(Video scroll:)

Kristen Weiner, DBC National’s Liaison with DBC Wisconsin
Jason Altmann, DBC Wisconsin and Conference Chair

Andrew Altmann, Jack Barr, David Brody, Karla Gunn, Vaughn Hallada and his UW-M ASL students, and WSD’s JRNAD students

Chicago Deaf Club: Tom Lewensky, Marianne Jodie

DBC Baby Mascot

Rally Coordinators: Jason Altmann, Kristen Weiner
Rally Volunteers: Tom Armato, Jack Barr, David Brody, Andi Flynt, Steve Geier, Karla Gunn, Lia Manning, David Reynolds, Gary Schleicher, Diane White, and Stephanie Zito

CSDVRS Sponsorship!: Lissette Molina, Cliff Pearce, Butch Zein

Rally/Hotel/Float Interpreters: Ashley Arnoldy, Kim Bagley,Kate Block, Gigi Budzinski, Nancy Helen Hallada, Sarah Harwick, Patty Klabunde, Michelle Ktejik, Dana Leisgang, Sara Miller, Jill Naus, Maria Rivera, Kim Todd, Kerry Young

Hands Wave!!
Thank you!

>From Ella Mae Lentz (workshops and entertainment):

“We want to let you know that the conference was successful for many different reasons. But the presentations were especially  important in this regard. We give immense thanks to our six exceptional presenters: Dr. MJ Bienvenu, Dr. Patrick Boudreault, Dr. Genie Gertz, Dr. Barbara Kannapell, Dr. Marlon Kuntze, and Dr. Bobbie Beth Scoggins. They gave so generously of themselves, their expertise, their money, and their time to provide the Conference with credibility. The information they provided information had made and is making a great impact on many of us.

For providing the wonderful translating of the beautiful ASL and the valuable information shared by our presenters, we thank and appreciate Jeff Mosher and Amy Fryman of P.I.E for their hard and dedicated work coordinating volunteer interpreters for the presentations and programs.  Thanks to Beth Schreiber and Bunny Klopping for jumping in when we couldn't find available local interpreters for a presentation.”

(Video scroll:)
Special Thanks to the Wonderful Presenters….Dr. MJ Bienvenu, Dr. Patrick Boudreault, Dr. Genie Gertz, Dr. Barbara Kannapell, Dr. Marlon Kuntze, and Dr. Bobbie Beth Scoggins

More Heartfelt Thanks to

Presentation Interpreter Coordinators Jeff Mosher and Amy Fryman of P.I.E.

Thanks to Workshop Interpreters!
Lisa Perry Burckhardt, Pam Sommers-Conine, Tamara Fuerst, Sie Gudenkauf, Laura Heesen, Stephanie Kerkvliet, Bunny Klopping, David Letkiewicz, Sandy Peplinski, Bambi Riehl, Theresa Schmechel, Beth Schreiber, Chris Skoczynski, Alyson Urdahl, and Tera Cater Vorphal

and Ella Mae Lentz
for coordinating all this!

THANK YOU!!!

(Ella continues:)
 
“We thank the theater group for the wonderful Saturday night entertainment at the Milwaukee Repertory Theatre that was filled with lights, music, visual techniques and more! 'The Rosa Lee Show'! Wow! We thank Rosa Lee Gallimore and Damon Timms for their support. It means so much!

Thanks to the Milwaukee Repertory Theatre for graciously working with us and making it possible to use their beautiful theatre that added to the magic of the show!

Thanks to Dan Houlihan for his amazing coordination of all aspects of The Rosa Lee Show, from transportation, rehearsal, being the liaison person with the Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, to selling tickets. Thanks also goes to the volunteers who assisted Dan Houlihan who made sure everybody got in safely and securely at both the hotel and the theatre.

Thank you, Matt Morgan, the Deaf magician, for being willing to come to the conference to provide shows for the children at very little cost. The children truly enjoyed your shows very much! Thank you Matt!

Thank you CSDVRS for sponsoring 'The Rosa Lee Show.'

Thank goes to Ronai Brumett, a hearing ASL student, who came to sell ribbons at her booth. She got together with her classmates and friends and created 1,000 beautiful blue ribbons for our special Blue Ribbon Ceremony. We were touched! Thank you!


THANK YOU!!!”

(Video scroll:)

The Rosa Lee Show!: Rosa Lee Gallimore & Damon Timm
CSDVRS’s sponsorship!
Dan Houlihan for RLShow Logistics!

Milwaukee Repertory Theater

RL Show Volunteers: Jake Hartmann, Marika Kovacs-Houlihan, Joel Mankowski, Jamie Pieper, and Andy Swanson

Matt Morgan, Magician!

Ronai Burmett and her crew
for lovely blue ribbons!

EXTRA Special Thanks goes to…
Leela Chaitoo, Lance Forshay, Matt Fowler, Tom Haribson, Ruthie Jordan, Ryan Kelly, David Kerr, Dr. Gina Olivia, Dr. Cindy Plue, Deb Robarge, and Beth Ticehurst

and to all the beautiful children who joined in the Blue Ribbon Ceremony!
These children represent all of the children who should be allowed to sign!

THANK YOU!!!

Kristen signs for David O. Reynolds and herself (DBC state chapter coordinators):

“We have dedicated ourselves to the task of coming up with the whole state chapters concept, working on the budding operations manual, and have spent tireless hours, contacting potential representatives in various states all over the country, as well as other countries.

Special appreciation, recognition and thanks goes to Sandra Ammons, Sean Virnig and Tami Hossler for presenting in their areas of expertise in the State Chapter workshops, in addition to Kristen Weiner and David Reynolds. They were articulate, well-organized, and gave their best.

Thanks to all the State Chapters' contact people who believe in Deaf babies' right to use ASL, for having committed themselves to this movement, raising funds to be able to come to Milwaukee to interact and work together, and taking on the responsibility of bringing the information back home to share with their local contacts.”

(Video scroll:)

Extra Special Appreciation for…State Chapter Presentations by Sandra Ammons, Sean Virnig, and Tami Hossler
State Chapter Leaders & Participants
Coordinators: David Reynolds, Tami Hossler and Kristen Weiner

Thank You!

Ella signs:
>From John Egbert (data, registration, and fundraising)

“He would like to thank the following wonderful and hard working people for volunteering and coordinating several parts of the conference with him:

For the registration area, many thanks goes to Judy Gough, the registration chair, who worked endless hours throughout the conference making sure everyone was accounted for and who withstood whatever contingency arose, making for as smooth a flow as possible. Also thanks goes to Colin Piotrowski, assistant to Judy Gough, for providing support, and to Alyce Reynolds, DBC's Treasurer, who handled all the money coming in from donations, T-shirt sales, and auctions. Thanks goes to all the registration volunteers for generously helping out with this team.

John also wants to thank MJ Bienvenu for being a wonderful auctioneer. She brought in generous donations on Sunday night. John also thanks Dawn Sign Press for their donation of the beautiful and appropriate postcards and booklets that were distributed to the many families who attended the DBC (and even many who were AG Bell attendees, too). Thank you!

John gives a big heartfelt thanks to Jill Lestina who coordinated the very successful Children's Program for toddlers up to age twelve. Nothing but praise came as a result of the wonderful program that satisfied everyone and brought joy to the children!

Thanks to Marian Lucas who provided excellent art activities and other creative activities for the Children's Program. We thank a very impressive long list of volunteers for the children's program that made things safe, fun, happy for the children and made it possible for their parents to watch the presentations.”

(Video scroll:)

Many More THANKS to…

T-Shirts by Merle Baldridge of the “No Hear” Company

Registration & Fundraising Judy Gough, Colin Piotrowski, Alyce Reynolds, MJ Bienvenu, Dawn Sign Press and John Egbert

Children’s Program Coordinator: Jill Lestina & Marian Lucas, Assistant

Amazing Childcare Volunteers!!! Diane Abbott, Tiffany Baker, Sara Bolster, Sara Brewer, Sharon Broxton, Daniel Campuzano, Nina Coyer, Karen Donah, Patti Durr, Adele Ann Eberwein, Val Erato, Jen Grueneberg, Amanda Harvey, Nicci Hess, Erica Hossler, Denise Johnson, Ruthie Jordan, (Storyteller), Melani Kaplan, Rebecca King, Dyan Kovacs, Pamela Kujawa, John Lestina (Storyteller), Rachel Moberg, Matt Morgan (Magic Show), Jerry Nuzzo, Diedra Nuzzo, Patricia Pfitzenmeier, Cindy Plue, Amy June Rowley, Melody Rupp, Susan Schaller, Leslie Styles, Robin Taylor, Bethany Telschow, Nancy Vincent, Carole Virnig, Debbie Virnig, Tom Virnig, Kelly Wandel, and Katherine Wisniewski

DBC Indiana’s Donation for Art materials!

CSDVRS’s Sponsorship!

Thank U! Thank U!! Thank U!!!

Kristen signs:

>From Tami Hossler (logistics)

Tami was responsible for handling the conference logistics and making sure everything went smoothly at the Hyatt Regency hotel in regard to the rooms, workers, and much more.

“Tami thanks Patty Klabunde and Kim Todd who were responsible for the Silent Auction. They coordinated the fun event that brought in money to be split between an organization in Wisconsin, the other half being donated to the DBC. Thank you so much!

Special thanks goes to Deb Robarge who volunteered as the conference nurse, providing everybody with basic first aid, as well as medical information.
 
Thanks goes to Erica Hossler, the DBC "floater" who didn't just float, but ran to and fro, all day and night, assisting with technical issues, providing snacks to committees, and also giving wonderful feedback and support. Her spirit was very inspiring!

Thank you Matthew S. Moore of MSM Productions, Ltd. for his generosity in providing us with beautifully designed registration materials, the program book, the registration buttons and much more.

Thanks goes to the Indiana Association of the Deaf and the Wisconsin School for the Deaf for gladly loaning us several LCDs and other technical equipment. We appreciate your support.

Thanks goes to Stefanie Saltern for coordinating and working with us through WiASLTA organization. Thank you!”

Hands Waving! Thanks to…

Conference Logistics: Tami Hossler

Hyatt Regency Hotel

Silent Auction Coordinators: Patty Klabunde and Kim Todd

DBC Volunteer Nurse: Deb Robarge

DBC Floater: Erica Hossler

Registration Materials: Matthew S Moore of MSM Publications

Technical Assistance: Indiana Association for the Deaf & Wisconsin School for the Deaf

Wisconsin ASLTA: Stefanie Saltern

Thaaaaaaank Youuuuuuu!!!

Ella signs:
>From David Eberwein and Barb DiGiovanni (public relations):

They handled Public Relations for the conference, which included video tapes, vlogs, blogs, filming documentaries and more. DE and Barb worked hard to coordinate the public relations being done by many different people.

“They would like to thank and recognize the following people:

Thank you Leslie Riggs, our wonderful webmaster! Thank you for having a booth and for designing and maintaining the DBC website during Conference.

Thank you Ruthie Jordan, and Ruthie's assistant and crew for working hard at documenting the conference and the rallies.

Thanks goes to Linda Slovick for her generosity in providing filming and support on her own. Thank you Linda, especially for your "Tell Your Story" booth.

Thanks goes to Ron Hirano, and Sandra and Frank Germinaro who donated their photos. We will have slide shows on our website to view when the photos are ready.

Thank you Darrell Roby, Vlog chair, who worked with Ruthie's film crew and Vlog editor Adele Ann Eberwein in getting vlogs up on our website!

Thanks goes to all people who took the time to vlog about their experiences in v/blogs which were made quickly after the conference: Patti Durr (People of the Eye), David Kerr (Deaf Chimpunk), and many more!

Special thanks goes to Brian Riley, our reporter for conference and who helped with many hours of editing work on the various documents we produced.

Thanks to Karla Gunn, who was the local contact person, for the interview with Milwaukee Sentinel-Journal.”

Conference Public Relations: Barb DiGiovanni and David Eberwein

Millions of Thanks to all those who volunteered their time & energy!

More Volunteers here…Dana Leisgang, Charles Klusman, Andy Swanson, Mario Pizzacallo, Kevin Clark, Robin Taylor,and  Cynthia McElroy

THANK YOU!

Kristen signs:
“The DBC is gratefully Indebted to...

We must give important recognition to the California Association of the Deaf for their strong faith in us, believing in us, and for supporting DBC from the very beginning! The DBC would not be here if it were not for the CAD! We thank you from the bottom of our hearts!

Thank goes to Carol Finkle, for her wisdom as an experienced 'hearing mom' of Deaf children, and for her wisdom gained in experience. Thank you for coming to Milwaukee and joining us with your wonderful cheering spirit and passion in supporting what the DBC is doing.

Thank you Susan Schaller, a hearing linguist, who has passion in fighting for language rights and her service as an advocate. Thank you for joining us in Milwaukee and helping us with various things.

Many thanks to Maureen 'Moe' Klusza, for so generously allowing us to freely use her wonderful cartoon, 'The Greatest Irony.' This cartoon shows pictures of two babies, one Deaf and one hearing. The Deaf baby is shown crying and is wearing handcuffs, not being able to sign. The hearing baby is shown as a happy child and signs 'I love you,' which shows how hearing babies are being allowed to sign. Thank you, Moe, for your support!

The conference was composed of many important parts which had to be all coordinated together. Each part was as important as any other in making the conference  successful. One essential part was finances. There were many people, organizations and groups who gave their financial support, which included small donations all the way in range to huge amounts of money. Special thanks to CSDVRS for supporting several programs, plus sending several of their people to help us with so many different things at the conference. We were very impressed and thank you!

Also a few more groups who've helped from the very beginning when DBC began its existence, who started to seek donors and support. Even though the DBC had no track history yet, these groups trusted the DBC. They invested largely in the DBC!

Parodi Trust Fund, associated with the California School for the Deaf, Fremont and also the San Francisco Deaf Club gave greatly, for they believe greatly in DBC. We were impressed with these generous people. Thank you! The same goes for many other organizations and people who continued in giving, donating and contributing more than we expected. Wow! The list of names is long and continues to grow.  We thank every and each one of you for every dollar and every minute donated! Thank you!

We have thanked so many people who all are equally important. Another important group that we cannot forget to thank is to all of you who came IN PERSON, bringing your wonderful energy, warm hugs, amazing spirit, and a sense of great unity…as well as those who couldn't come but did their part by sending good wishes, donating money, and sharing information with others and more. Thank you!”

Special Appreciation and Heartfelt THANKS to our Donors….

Signs for Intelligence, Deaf Life, ASL Presents, Tina Jo Briendel Family & Friends, Chicago Deaf Club, DBC Indiana, CSDVRS, DawnSignPress, Shawn Elfrink, Ron & Kay Hirano, Gilmer & Maryellen Lentz, Ken & Audree Norton, Parodi Trust Fund, Paula Reynolds,  and San Francisco Deaf Club

Wonderful Exhibitors and Advertisers!

Deaf Life, NAD, Deaf People of Color, Alternative Solutions Center, Deaf Seniors of America, Inc., Academic ASL Approach, Viable, ASL Rose, Keystone, Signing on the Spectrum, Deaf Mac, WisASLTA, Bay Area Communication Access, DawnSignPress, Signs for Intelligence, Gallaudet University, Sprint Relay, The OnlineWorks
and to everyone who creatively donated what they could!

Heartfelt THANKS!