I finally sat down to upload pictures from the last several weeks and came across photos from my trip to Vegas with the Z Team. I spent eight days in Vegas with my team– four days in team meetings and the other four days at the Deaf Seniors of America conference.
Lori shows the hubby Vegas via the Z
Here’s my buddy Lori– she joined the Z Team the same day that I did. We had our training together in Florida back in January. She’s talking to her hubby on the Z-340, showing him the view outside her room.
Sean talks about The Z
We started off our trip with a talk from our CEO, Sean Belanger and then we had an inspirational talk from Carl Gustin who worked for Kodak and Apple. Carl compared The Z to Apple in their early days, commenting on the amazing amount of passion we have as a team. We do have a lot of energy firing up a room when we all get together!
Each of the Sales Managers teamed up to give presentations– I had a blast being teamed up with U. S. Chung. Even though we didn’t win, we gave the audience some laughs with our presentation. In the photo below, Manny Johnson receives an award for “Salesperson of the Year.” Well deserved!
Manny Johnson receives award
Later that night we all wore our Z shirts and we gathered outside to chat. After a while, people started talking with us– they wanted to know where that “Z” place was in Vegas. “Where’s the Z Club?” “What’s the Z?” “Where do I find the Z?” Shannon joked that we should start sending people on a wild-goose-chase to find “The Z” in Vegas.
“Impromptu gatherings are always the best,” said Karen Calvin on Saturday night. It was nearly two a.m. and the last of our friends were about to head out the door.
It started out as one of those weekends where we planned to work on the basement with our friend Mike. Mike had been coming over with his kids for several weekends and tackling the basement with Joe. Joe emailed another friend, John Sullivan. “We need a tall guy to hold up the drywall,” he said. Tempted with free beer, John said yes.
Another friend, Dennis O’Brien volunteered his labor and joined us after installing some Z’s all day. His wife Laura and son Shawn came over. Laura texted the Facebook Queen, Lori Krakora, and told her to come on over with her kids. Lori brought her kids, and three other friends of ours–Todd and Karen Calvin and Mark Riedel.
The guys put up just two pieces of drywall and called it quits.
So we spent the night gathered around the kitchen table yakking and laughing. The kids were off playing somewhere in the house– we didn’t hear a peep from them. We talked about everything under the sun: the stinking economy, the difficulty of keeping a business going during hard times, our kids, our future– and our childhoods.
Connecting with Kent from Colorado
It was getting late, probably near midnight, when we decided to call our friend Kent from Colorado. Kent was part of our deaf investment club which disbanded not too long ago. So Kent joined the party virtually through the Z videophone.
“Damn, I wish I was there!” he said.
“Dude, you are here!” I said. We passed the Z-340 around and yakked some more. After Kent hung up, Julie and Jim Chavez called at one a.m. So we planted the Z in front of us and chatted away with the Chavez’s while munching on potato chips. There were grease marks all over the Z-340 from being passed around. Earlier in the day, the Z survived an encounter with spilled milk. I sat back and watched the conversations around me– marveling how neat it was that friends from far away could join us and be involved.
I think we’ve got a new slogan for Z: The next-best-thing to being there.
Last week, I was scheduled to speak at SOBCon’09 with Glenda Watson Hyatt but I ended up working at Deaf Nation in Ponoma, California. I drove down to Chicago on Thursday to meet with some customers and then headed over to Hotel 71 to find Glenda. Glenda and I have been online buddies for about two years, but this was the first time we met in person. As soon as I walked in the hotel and spotted her smiling face, I ran over for a hug. Sitting right next to her was Amy Derby, another fellow blogger who happens to be hard of hearing. Amy and I met last year for lunch at Chili’s. We mistakenly walked into a Baker’s Square and have been craving pie ever since.
The three of us chatted with Lorelle VanFossen, Liz Strauss (who looked quite hot with her new haircut!) and Chris Brogan (who looked great, minus hair!), then paused for a picture with others from SOBCon:
Glenda and I managed to communicate in a variety of ways. I used my super lipreading powers, she pulled out her fingerspelling skills and we connected. Occasionally we had a third person, an interpreter or her trusty alphabet sheet to rely on.
I flew to Pomona, California the next day and Glenda went on to rock the audience at SOBCon’09. Take a look at some of the blog reactions:
While I was sad to miss this year’s SOBCon, I was thrilled to join the Z Team at Deaf Nation in Pomona, California. My team mate, Jack Busenbark, cracked me up as he brought some super-sized bottles of Hand Sanitizer and insisted that we all practice “safe sales” in light of the Swine Flu:
The next day, the news reported a shortage of Hand Sanitizer. Jack’s fault. But hey, the Z Team all went home healthy.
I’ve been out having fun and showing off some Z’s!
Mike Finneran from CSDVRS, Karen Meyer from ABC News, dunno who, Julie Chavez from Dupage Center for Independent Living.
Marion Dramin & Emma Danielson from Sprint, Karen Meyer, Julie Chavez
Watch for an upcoming segment on the ABC News– I will post a link here when it’s up. Mike and I joined the Joliet Deaf Senior Citizens later that day. This group is special to me. I started that group twenty years ago along with a handful of senior citizens. When I left my job, the seniors continued to run the group, growing it simply by word of mouth.
Barbara Hucek and her husband, Wendell were one of the original seniors and leaders in the group. She reminds me so much of my Aunt Velma, that’s probably why I love her!
We made a call to Chris Wagner at the CSDVRS headquarters in Florida. As we zipped the Z-340 around the room, the seniors all had the chance to say hi to Chris. Mike Finneran talked about 911, the ten-digit numbering and showcased the Z-100 and Z-150.
We finished off with a Pizza Night with some local people, giving them a chance to see the videophones and ask questions.
Tonight, there will be another opportunity to see the Z videophones at Duppies Night at 7 p.m. at the Other Side, 2436 N. Clark Street.
On another note, if you want to know why my hair is quickly going gray:
What better way to kick off a new job than to throw a party to show off some new toys?
On Saturday, I invited a few people over to see the new Z videophones from CSDVRS:
In the photo below, Roberta explains her experience with the Z-150 that she uses at work. With her previous videophone, she had difficulty with phone calls coming in. The z-150 has firewall transversal technology which works well with complex network systems.
Dennis O’Brien explained the various features and services that CSDVRS provides and also explained that Yes You Can use CSDVRS with other videophones. We also covered the new 10-digit numbering system and why this number is important for 911 services.
By the end of the night, people were saying this:
If you work for the federal government, here’s some information on how you can obtain a Z videophone for your workplace:
The Z™ Videophones from CSDVRS Now Available to Federal Employees Clearwater, FL [February 3, 2009] – CSDVRS, LLC, is now authorized to distribute its The Z™ 150 videophones to federal employees via the Department of Defense’s Computer/Electronics Accommodations Program (CAP). “This is an exciting step forward for federal employees who require high quality video that supports firewall traversal and encryption ability, such as The Z™ 150 for the purpose of secure visual communication.” said Chris Wagner, CSDVRS Vice President of Marketing. “Federal employees who are deaf or hard of hearing can now request The Z™ to be provided to them at no charge through CAP, which is a remarkable program that CSDVRS is proud to provide videophones for.”
The Z™ 150 uses the same technology as some of the most advanced videoconferencing systems in the world, and was designed specifically for deaf and hard of hearing callers in partnership with world-renowned videoconferencing leader Tandberg. With a built-in 8.4-inch LCD screen and an easy-to-use keypad, federal employees can make calls with the touch of just a few buttons. The space-efficient videophone has a multitude of features, including incoming phone call flasher, call history, video/audio privacy, speakerphone/microphone capability, access to video remote interpreting services, and the ability to work with Internet firewalls commonly found in federal workplaces.
CAP provides free assistive technology and services to people with disabilities, federal managers, supervisors, and information technology professionals. The program also increases access to information and works to remove barriers to employment opportunities by eliminating the costs of assistive technology and accommodation solutions. This is accomplished through partnerships with federal agencies and vendors such as CSDVRS.
“In the federal government, fast and reliable connectivity is paramount,” Sean Belanger, CEO, CSDVRS stated. “CSDVRS works closely with our customers to deliver world-class, dependable video communication solutions, such as the Z-150 videophone that enhance operational efficiency and, ultimately, allow deaf and hard of hearing federal employees to communicate effectively in their workplace.”
Federal employees may request for a Z-150 by visiting www.tricare.mil/cap <http://www.tricare.mil/cap> or e-mail z150@csdvrs.com for more information. More information about CSDVRS products and services may also be found at www.csdvrs.com.
About CSDVRS CSDVRS, a video relay services provider, launched its inaugural service to the nation in 2000. By 2001, CSDVRS became the nation’s only 24/7 provider, and also was the first to offer Spanish VRS, video mail and personal 800 numbers. CSDVRS was developed by and for deaf and hard of hearing individuals based on feedback from the nation’s deaf and hard of hearing community. While other providers have followed our lead, CSDVRS is dedicated to that same spirit of innovation and commitment to excellence that took VRS from a dream to reality, by becoming the nation’s premier VRS provider.
Last week Tuesday, I headed down to Clearwater, Florida, to meet the Z-Team from CSDVRS. It turned out to be an overwhelming, intense, exciting, fun, brain-jamming week. I teamed up with Lori Koch from South Dakota, who took the position of Assistant Director of Sales. The two of us spent three days getting to know all the employees and soaking up the nuts and bolts of our jobs. Lori did a much better job of remembering who was who, but she had a head start, as she knew nearly half of the employees from her former job.
On Sunday, the Sales Managers from all over flew in and there were even more names to place with faces. On Monday night, we played a fun, team-building activity and then headed over to an employee’s house for dinner and a swim. We fired up the Z-340 videophones and took turns using them. I called home and connected with my kids. It was so neat to walk around in the backyard and introduce everyone to my family, including the ones in the pool. Wi-fi access rocks!
I was able to test out the new Z-100 software for PCs on my laptop at the airport. I called my mother-in-law and chatted with her using VCO (Voice Carry Over, using my own voice to speak directly). Just before boarding, I talked with CSDVRS Outreach Specialist, Dennis O’Brien (whom you might remember from his Obama vote) via my built-in laptop webcam. I closed the laptop to board, but once I sat down, I called him again. You should have seen the look on his face when he realized that I was calling from the airplane before take-off.
The year ahead promises to be an exciting one with the Z-Team and I look forward to connecting with deaf and hard of hearing customers from all over. I will be covering Illinois and Wisconsin, plus nationwide with those who use VCO. I’m teaming up with Mike Finneran and Hope Turpin on the nationwide level.
I will be hiring Outreach Specialists in Illinois and Wisconsin and looking for VCO and Spanish Outreach Specialists as well.
For more information about the Z products or to learn more about our services, I would be happy to chat with you. If you, or someone you know is struggling with phone access at work or at home, let me know. I will help work to find a solution to your phone needs.
Today, I’m heading over to Harper College for the Deaf Nation Expo. I’ll be at the CSDVRS booth, where we have an exciting line of new “Z” videophone products and services.
You may recall that I worked previously for Hands On and for i711.com before they merged into one company. I have to say, I love the videophone companies that I’ve worked for, but I had an exciting opportunity come forth that I couldn’t pass up.
With CSDVRS, I have the opportunity to focus on VCO, which is voice carry over. With VCO, I make and receive phone calls using my voice and the other party can hear me directly. On the screen, an interpreter signs everything that the person on the phone is saying to me. VCO has enabled me to participate in tele-conference calls for Hands & Voices, interview people from all over and chat with hearing friends directly. Just recently, I completed a taped interview that will soon be going up online. So with CSDVRS, I have the wonderful opportunity to share this technology with others who will benefit from it.
So if you’re planning to attend the Expo, stop by the CSDVRS booth and say hi!
Today, I’m heading over to Harper College for the 