Attendees at the 2018 Hearing Loss Association of America’s (HLAA) annual convention held June 21-24 in Minneapolis, Minn., welcomed NCRA as an exhibitor to the event and shared with Executive Director and CEO Marcia Ferranto how much they appreciated the services of captioners and CART providers.
“Working with the end user of CART captioning was an enriching experience, and many of them shared with me their love for the service and their willingness to help advance the profession,” Ferranto said.
Ferranto also held a breakout session onsite where she explained to attendees how NCRA is working toward attracting more people into the profession. She also shared that NCRA members who are CART captioners represent the highest standard of skill and excellence in the profession. Ferranto also offered information about what is involved in becoming and working as a CART captioner, how NCRA is the national certifying body, and why users should be looking for NCRA certifications when hiring a provider.
“Marcia’s presentation on the future of CART captioning was very well-received and shed light on how NCRA is working with HLAA to raise awareness of and to proliferate CART captioning,” said Matthew R. Barusch, NCRA’s Manager of State Government Relations, who also attended the event.
Overall, said Barusch, the whole experience was a huge success and was a prime example of the importance of working with the deaf and hard-of hearing community. People with hearing disabilities are the main consumers of CART captioning services, and they value and appreciate the services that NCRA members provide, he added. Working with HLAA to enhance and protect captioning and captioning policy cultivates a huge population of advocates for NCRA members and, ultimately, will make NCRA stronger.
According to Barusch, there was a huge interest by attendees in the NCRA Sourcebook, since so many attendees were interested in finding CART captioners in their area. In addition, he noted that many chapter leaders thanked NCRA for its new partnership with HLAA, which is helping to identify and provide CART captioning to their members.
“We could not be more thankful to HLAA for putting on such a great convention, and to our wonderful volunteers, who represented in such an amazing way,” Barusch shared.
NCRA Board of Directors member Jennifer Sati, RMR, CRR, CRC, CRI, from Dayton, Minn., assisted in recruiting a number of volunteers to demonstrate captioning at the NCRA booth. Those volunteers included:
- Caitlin Albrecht, a freelance court reporter from Plymouth, Minn.
- Kristi Arntzen, RPR, CRR, a captioner from St. Louis Park, Minn.
- Elizabeth Gangl, RPR, a freelance court reporter from Minneapolis, Minn.
- Staci Heichert, RDR, CRR, CRC, a captioner from Shakopee, Minn.
- Merilee Johnson, RDR, CRR, CRC, a captioner from Eden Prairie, Minn.
- Heather Schuetz, RMR, CRR, CRC, a freelance court reporter from Woodbury, Minn.
- Angie Sundell, RMR, CRR, CRC, a captioner from Hopkins, Minn.
- Jean Whalen, RDR, CRR, CRC, a captioner from Apple Valley, Minn.
“I want to give a shout-out to Marcia on her presentation at HLAA. I was lucky enough to be in the audience since it was in my neck of the woods. She has such a talent at engaging the audience, and they were engaged! I never tire of hearing CART captioning consumers express how much they love NCRA and their captioners,” Sati shared with members of NCRA’s BOD.
“Seeing us in action this weekend, I think this is a must to continue with our participation at HLAA each year to take advantage of the exposure and opportunities,” she added.
“Engaging in professional relationships with like-minded organizations such as HLAA not only showcases the services our members provide to assist members of the deaf and hard-of-hearing communities, but it also creates a strong bond and vital support for our common issues,” Ferranto added.
