At the Summit in Washington, D.C., seasoned Deaf professionals will gather and discuss 10 of the most important topics — five related to the workplace and five related to advocacy and driving change. They also will view innovation demonstrations of solutions that can be useful to Deaf professionals and leaders who create and use media and technology at work.. These discussions and demonstrations will be video recorded and shared at subsequent local summits throughout the summer and fall to foster further discussion at the regional level.
We are collecting topic ideas from the public and asking the community to upvote the topics they consider most important. Then we work with our team, sponsors, and presenters to choose a final set of 10 topics—five related to the workplace and five related to advocacy and driving change—and identify seasoned Deaf professionals in a related field to present each topic. You also can contact us about the topics.
Topics Schedule - at Foster Auditorium
Click the titles to expand and learn more about each topic.
Leah Katz-Hernandez will share insights she gained by working with some of today’s most dynamic, media-focused leaders; the President of the United States Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, and the President of Gallaudet University, Bobbi Cordano. Lisi Whitworth will be asking questions on behalf of entrepreneurs and tech-geeks, while Deborah Nathanson will ask questions with government offices in mind. The audience will also have an opportunity to ask questions.
Creating accessible videos isn’t simple – it takes a know-how and a bag full of tips and tricks. Rikki Poynter will be sharing a few of her favorite tricks and biggest lessons learned in her journey as a lifestyle vlogger.
Poynter, having built a large following of over 90,000 fans across multiple social media networks, will be providing her knowledge related with providing accessibility for her viewers. Poynter, through her videos, advocates heavily for equitable access across social media platforms.
Diversity and inclusion are hot keywords today. Elvia Guillermo will discuss how minorities typically navigate media and review lessons learned by major corporations who initially failed to attract target demographics, then succeeded. What lessons were learned, how does it apply to the Deaf community, and the work of professionals? Today, most media professionals are expected to convey a sense of diversity and inclusion in marketing materials. This information will be useful not only for those targeting the Deaf community, but for any Deaf media professional to apply to their work.
An experienced contractor, MJ worked with numerous well-known people and contracts in numerous capacities ranging from editing to social media work to filmmaking. Bringing a fresh insight by being in the trenches of contracting, MJ will talk about how to create connections and work for different types of businesses and non-profit organizations as a contractor.
Lauren Benedict, an experienced digital media specialist that has led successful campaign efforts for Gallaudet University will share her tips and tricks in having a successful branding and marketing targeting specific audiences through social media platforms. She also will talk about how to increase one’s presence on social media platforms, sharing tips on how to increase followers and interest.
The presentation will summarize McLuhan’s work on New Media and help the audience understand how we, as a Deaf community, can utilize the “Global Village” mindset to effectively achieve impact on social media platforms.
Lisi Whitworth is currently in the Online News Association (ONA) Mentorship Collaborative. Lisi is asking the mainstream journalists she has met through ONA the question, “How can we push for accurate portrayals of Deaf and hard of hearing people?” and gathering answers. She will share their answers and explain the technical aspects of how to accomplish the suggestions, if applicable.
This presentation will discuss how Deaf media professionals – including news producers and Deaf federal employees involved in communications and outreach at agencies – can increase “government literacy” in the Deaf community so Deaf people can better understand how government works and participate more effectively in the democratic process, as voters and as advocates for Deaf interests.
