Ageless Passions by Karen Putz

Author: Karen Putz

  • Steak ‘n Shake Issue Still Creating PR Waves

    Remember when I had the drive-thru window shut in my face (not once, but twice!) back in January?

    The issue continues to ripple on. In April, it was the subject of Laurel Papworth’s presentation at the RMIT Communicator of the Year event in…

    Australia.

    That’s right, Steak ‘n Shake has gone down under. Laurel has an excellent presentation on why companies need to be aware of social media and how it can impact public relations for their companies. Be sure to check out the slide show on her blog.

    Two days ago, I was doing a search and spotted the Diversity, Inc. article and the video featured as an ad on the search page. And just yesterday, a friend sent me a screen shot of his email page showing the same:

    Over at Disaboom, they’re sharing my two-part series that takes a look at the solutions for drive-thru access:

    Two Milkshakes, Please–Discrimination at the Drive-Through

    Two Milkshakes, Please–Discrimination at the Drive-Through Part Two

    Ironically, this morning I saw a Steak ‘n Shake commercial that featured Steak ‘n Shake employees pulling customer feedback suggestions out of a jar– and it wasn’t captioned.

    As for me, I’m still waiting to hear back from the Steak ‘n Shake corporation to see if they plan to turn this drive-thru issue around and make it accessible for their customers. Many people have assumed that I’ve filed a lawsuit and I have not. I want to work out an accessible solution. Can you imagine the fantastic PR that would result if Steak ‘n Shake would take the steps toward welcoming their customers with access?

    Steak ‘n Shake, are you listening?

  • SOBCon’08–What’s the Deal with those Klondike Bars?

    On Friday night, the SOBCon bloggers hopped on board for a cruise down the river and out to Lake Michigan. During the week, we were keeping an eye out on the weather as Chicago is known for making fools out of the local weathermen.

    Friday called for severe thunderstorms in the late afternoon into the evening, so when I saw the predictions that morning, I thought for sure the cruise would be canceled due to rough weather. I guess enough bloggers were talking to the weather gods at the same time, as we ended up with a beautiful afternoon and the cruise took off despite a few raindrops.

    Christine Kane entertained us with some beautiful songs and we all received a copy of her album–thanks Christine! Stephen Hopson and I were very fortuante that Hannah and Tammi, two interpreter students, donated their time to interpret Christine’s singing as well as the conversations that flowed on the cruise.

    We had some great food and plenty of drinks and just when we thought it couldn’t get any better, Chris Cree and Liz Strauss came along with…

    Klondike bars.

    What’s the deal with those Klondike bars?

    Over at Liz Strauss’ blog, every Tuesday night, Klondike bars in every flavor are a regular staple. If you view past conversations, you’ll see Klondike bars being tossed around the comment section.

    So for SOBCon ’09, maybe the Klondike company would like to hop on board as an official sponsor, who knows?!

  • SOBCon ’08 –An Amazing Weekend

    I’m sitting at home now with Stephen Hopson from Adversity University and we just finished talking about what an amazing weekend it was for us at the SOBCon ’08. Like Stephen said, “It’s all about the love.” And there was plenty of it this weekend.

    So here are some pictures to browse through– there will be more tomorrow!

  • Shawn Lockhart and Mike Dyas, Systems Specialists


    Shawn on left,
    Mike on the right

     

    At the Federal Aviation Administration building in Illinois, two deaf guys, Shawn Lockhart and Mike Dyas work in rotating shifts to keep the facilities humming along. Shawn and Mike both work as an Airway Transportation Systems Specialist. Both men graduated from NTID/RIT with a degree in Electromechanical Technology.

    “We provide system support to air traffic controllers,” explained Shawn. “They really depend on our systems to function properly in order to do their jobs.” Mike and Shawn are responsible for keeping the control center “out of the dark.” They check to make sure the primary and secondary systems, including the heating and cooling, alarms, batteries and generators are always in order.

    Mike was the first to be hired at the FAA facility. After graduation, he worked at Eastman Kodak in Rochester but soon realized that he wanted to move back home to Illinois. An employment advisor from the Rochester Institute of Technology pointed him in the direction of the F.A.A.

    “I left Rochester immediately and started knocking at the door of the F.A.A. Regional Office headquarters for Great Lakes,” said Mike. Mike worked with Linda Ross, who oversaw the disabilities hiring program. Linda suggested that he meet with the administrator at the Aurora office. At first, the administrator was reluctant to meet with Mike.

    “After a brief interview, they took me on a tour and the managers were so impressed with me. From there, I was the first deaf person to be hired to work in the control center as an engineer technician,” said Mike.

    Shawn started working at the F.A.A. facility four years after Mike was hired. Mike and Shawn don’t often see each other on the job due to the rotation in their shifts, but their shifts occasionally overlap for two hours.

    “I love my job and it is challenging,” said Shawn. “People don’t often realize how complex our jobs are. Systems don’t discriminate. It’s all about getting the job done. Deaf or hearing—it doesn’t matter. You just have to have the knowledge and skills to keep the systems running.”

    “I love this job because we face so many different, challenging problems each day,” Mike agreed. “We get to tackle the problems, troubleshoot the solutions and repair them as quickly as we can to keep the National Airspace System running.”

  • Rachel Coleman of Signing Time Nominated for Emmy

    “It’s singing time and laughing time and playing time and now it is my favorite time, signing time!”

    The first time I saw a tape of Signing Time, I couldn’t get the lyrics out of my mind. I suspect that’s one of the reasons that Signing Time has become successful in the mainstream. Little toddlers everywhere are listening to the songs, watching the videos and moving their hands to communicate.

    Rachel Coleman, the mom behind Sign Language for Baby!,was recently nomimated for an Emmy. It’s been an amazing trip for her, especially since the intitial production was a family affair with her sister and husband helping to create the videos.

    I did an interview with Rachel several years ago when the Signing Time series of videos was beginning to take off:

    Meet the Colemans: The Story Behind Signing Time

    Congrats to Rachel– all of her hard work has paid off!


    Clean Up with Signing Time DVDs

  • SOBCon ’08– I’m Off to Learn More!


    I’m having a bad hair day today. I’m praying that the rain gods will take their dance somewhere else tomorrow. Raindrops and my hair don’t mix well.

    Why all this concern? Well, I’m heading downtown to the SOBCon ’08 and the forecast calls for rain.

    And possible thunderstorms.

    Ah, but who really cares? We’ll be inside a boat, cruising the Chicago shoreline and connecting with one another. Look at all the cool bloggers who will be there:

    SOBcon2008 Chicago Attendees:
    Cliff Atkinson
    Shashi Bellamkonda
    Chris Brogan
    Harry Brooks
    Anita Bruzzese
    Dave Bullock
    Mark Carter
    Brian Clark
    Tom Clifford
    Valerie Combs
    Chris Cree
    Lisa Cree
    Thomas Croghan
    Donna Cutting
    David “Chicago Mobile Marketing” Dalka
    Kevin Dixie
    Tim Draayer
    Andrew Dubber
    Monica Duncan
    Easton Ellsworth
    Kevin Ferrasci O’Malley
    Jonathan Fields
    Sarah Filipiak
    Mary-Lynn Foster
    Annie Galvin Teich
    Brian Gardner
    Chris Garrett
    Jon Gatrell
    Phil Gerbyshak
    Jared Goralnick
    Karen Hanrahan
    Joseph Hauckes
    Vicky Hennegan
    Scot Herrick
    John Hong
    Stephen Hopson
    Robert Hruzek
    Timothy Johnson
    Sara
    Pete Jones
    Todd Jordan
    Bob “Internet Advertising” Kakoliris
    Christine Kane
    Adam Kayce
    Kristen King
    Jen Knoedl
    Stephen Koernig
    Bryan Kress
    George Krueger
    Amy L
    Tammy Lenski
    James G. Lindberg
    Eli Litscher
    Rick Mahn
    Sim Margolis
    Michael Martine
    Becky McCray
    Maria Meadows
    Cory Miller
    Ann Michael
    Dawud Miracle
    Debra Moorhead
    Matthew Murphy
    Paul O’Flaherty
    Tim Padar
    Jesse Petersen
    Melissa Pierce
    Wendy Piersall
    Sandra Ponce de Leon
    J. Erik Potter
    Karen Putz
    Susan R Quandt
    Levy Rivers
    Barbara Rozgonyi
    Jeff Sable
    Sheila Scarborough
    Mary Schmidt
    Derek Semmler
    Maria Sharon
    David Sherbow
    Steve Sherlock
    Brad Shorr
    Louise Silberman
    Sonia Simone-Rossney
    Julien Smith
    Stephen Smith
    Michael Snell
    Derrick Sorles
    Terry Starbucker
    Liz Strauss
    Jon Swanson
    Ruth M Sylte
    Windsor Tanner
    Michelle Vandepas
    Lorelle VanFossen
    Colleen Wainwright
    Denise Wakeman
    James D. Walton
    Randy Windsor
    Joanna Young

    So let it rain. We’ll have fun anyway!

  • Sparkplugging–An Emoms At Home Transformation

    I’ve been hanging out at Wendy Piersall’s new place–SparkPlugging, and I’m liking the digs very much. Wendy took her personal blog and grew it into a network with 17 other bloggers writing for her. And she has plans to expand her site even more!

    Wendy started her blog as “Emoms At Home,” and it began to outgrow the name as the audience expanded to fathers and people without children. Wendy began to realize that she needed to re-name and re-brand to showcase the direction that her business was growing in.

    Darren Rowse over at Problogger had the honor of unveiling the new name in his interview, Renaming Emoms At Home to Sparkplugging. As I told Wendy, when I first saw the name, my mind immediately flashed to a picture of an autobody shop. But the more I visit the site, the more the name has grown on me. I think Wendy is on to something that’s going to re-frame people’s minds. There will be a point where people are at a conference and asking, “Do you SparkPlug?” or “Are you SparkPlugging?” and people will know instantly what they’re talking about–the work-at-home generation.

    For more information and an inside look at Wendy Piersall, Stephen Hopson from Adversity University featured Wendy in his interview series recently:

    Adversity University Interviews Wendy Piersall, Part I
    Adversity University Interviews Wendy Piersall, Part II

  • Working in Government? Training Conference Coming Up

    On May 1, 2008, the Deaf and Hard of Hearing in Government (DHHIG) will host its Employment and Technology Forum at the U.S. Department of Transportation, West Building Atrium and Conference Center, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE, in Washington, D.C. from 8:00 am to 4:45 pm.

    The theme for the forum is “2008 DHHIG Employment and Technology Forum —Building Bridges with Innovative Technology”

    This forum will feature subject matter experts from the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission (EEOC) and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) who will be providing presentations in the area of reasonable accommodations, career management, and technology advancements. Part of the program also features a special track series of presentations that are designed for managers/supervisors and other people with an interest in working effectively with current and future deaf and hard of hearing Federal and government employees. The forum is being expected to attract a large number of participants.

    Christine Griffin, Commissioner of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission will provide the keynote address.

    To view the agenda of the forum and register to attend, please visit DHHIG’s website: www.dhhig.org.

    The deadline to register is by April 30, 2008.

    The Deaf and Hard of Hearing in Government, a non-profit 501(c)3 organization since 1998 serves as an advocacy group for several thousands of Deaf and Hard of Hearing federal employees throughout the country and overseas alike on employment issues. DHHIG is committed to improving the opportunities among the members by providing education, training, and resources that may not otherwise be available elsewhere.

    DHHIG sponsors several programs and events such as highly-acclaimed National Training Conference which takes place every two years. The 2009 National Training Conference (NTC) will be held on May 5-7, 2009 at Gallaudet University’s Kellogg Hotel and Conference Center, which is conveniently located several minutes away from the our nation’s capital.

    For more information or any further inquiries, please contact either Kirsten Poston at 1dayseminar@dhhig.org.

  • Women’s Club, ASL Expo and a Baby Shower

    It was one of those weekends with nary a break! On Saturday morning, I headed out to Egg Harbor Cafe to join the gals from my Deaf Women’s club for breakfast. Egg Harbor has to be my number one favorite restaurant for breakfast. Their breakfasts are so delicious and their fresh-squeezed orange juice tastes as if they picked the oranges that morning. I’m not much of a breakfast person, either! Do any of you have other favorite places that you dine at for breakfast?

    I went over to the ASL Expo to meet another friend there. It was the first time I’ve attended the ASL Expo which features lots of products centered around American Sign Language. I picked up some ASL t-shirts for the kids and then headed home to watch my youngest son’s baseball game. It was so cold at the game, that I felt like I was experiencing a Chicago Bears game while huddled under a heavy blanket.

    On Sunday, we had a couple of people over for Stephanie and Walter Lipe’s baby shower. You may remember Stephanie when she won the Miss Deaf America title in 1992-1994. Stephanie is pretty as ever and sporting a cute little belly. We all took turns guessing her belly measurements with pieces of pink yarn. Walter was pretty confident that he could figure out the length of yarn but he was off by a few inches. Marianne Jodie and Lenny Kepil had the closest measurements, with Lenny winning the prize.

    The hubby jokingly asked me if I’d like to have another kiddo…

    I’m not too sure he was really joking though!

  • Michigan Loses a Friendly Face– Marlene Phillips


    I met Marlene for the first time last summer. She and her husband Dale stopped by my parent’s house on Christie Lake to spend the day with us. My sister Linda met Marlene and Dale through the local Deaf Clubs in Michigan and they quickly bonded. Together, they worked the Dingo games and cooked large amounts of food for the gatherings. Linda began spending time with Marlene and Dale and enjoying their friendship and company.

    As we took a slow pontoon ride around the lake and chatted with Marlene and Dale that day, I said to myself– this is a couple I wouldn’t mind getting to know better.

    Someday, you know?

    Someday, when there’s more time to sit down and connect.

    Marlene and Dale found each other later in life and were married in 2005. It was easy to see that they were happy with one another and they were a couple that enjoyed life. They went on the Deaf Freedom Cruise last year. Before we left, Linda reminded me to find Marlene and Dale on the cruise and we planned to connect with them. Joe ran into them once during the week and we talked about getting together.

    With 3,800 people on the ship, we didn’t connect with them again.

    After a sudden, brief battle with cancer, Marlene passed away yesterday morning.

    I guess the moral of this post is something to take with you today–those “somedays” that we promise ourselves may not happen. Each day, each connection, is a gift.

    I know that my sister is really grateful for the connection she had with Marlene, for she enjoyed Marlene’s humor and friendship.

    Marlene will be missed.