STATES: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Maryland & District of Columbia (Potomac Chapter), Mississippi, North Carolina, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia

There were 142 people in attendance at the 2016 Region II conference held at Charleston Marriott Hotel in Charleston, SC on August 4 -7 2016.

There was a total of ten workshops totalling 2.35 CEUs. Below are the presenters, topics and CEUs for each workshop:

The keynote speaker was Janis Cole and her topic was Integrity: A Driving Force for
0.2 CEUs.

Friday, August 5, 2016, we had DJ WAWA and DJ Nicar. It was wonderful and had many from the Deaf Community to join us for the Dance Party.

All the attending AC presidents and R2 Representative meet at Hyman’s Seafood Restaurant to collaborate on future endeavors.

Attendees stated this was the best Region II conference ever. Several commented on the high quality of presenters and that his/her topics were on “fleek”.

It was suggested at the AC president’s’ dinner that David Acevedo from Mississippi RID take on the 2018 conference. I am proud to announce that the 2018 Region II conference will be held in Mississippi with the chair being Affiliate Chapter President David Acevedo.

STATES: Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Wisconsin

Location: Galt House, Louisville, Kentucky
Conference Chair: Artie Grassman
Program Committee: Monica Romney
Interpreting Co-Chairs: Lindsay Nickels/Angela Malcomson
Volunteer Chair: Zac Childers
Registration: Joseph Moeller
Sponsors/Exhibitors: Anna Beard
Marketing: Anna Beard
Silent Auction: Dave Calvert

Registration/Attendance: 326
Registration App: Eventbrite

Summary of Registrations:
Total registered – 326 was the last number I had. We had AT LEAST 24 states represented. But 29 people did not list their state so it could have been more! This number did not include the delegates in the D-B track who were not registered so that would add another 5 to our total making it 331.

Program Committee:
Chair: Monica Romney
Program: https://www2.eventsxd.com/event/1594/ridregioniiiconference2016/sessions
Presenters: https://www2.eventsxd.com/event/1594/ridregioniiiconference2016/speakers
Conference App: EventsXD https://www2.eventsxd.com/event/1594/ridregioniiiconference2016/home

Summary:
The evaluations were wonderful with the only real complaint being the lack of breaks in-between sessions. The conference committee and the chair agree with this assessment. But most everything was positive!

The RID President, Dawn Whitcher, and Region III Representative, Sandra Maloney, held brown bag lunches on Friday and Saturday as a way to engage the members of Region III around participation and engagement at the local level and effective organizations.

Sponsors:
Chair: Anna Beard
Sponsors: https://www2.eventsxd.com/event/1594/ridregioniiiconference2016/sponsors

Interpreters:

Co-Chairs: Angela Malcomson and Lindsay Nickels
Requirements: (All documents were sent to 2016R3interpreter@gmail.com by May 15, 2016)

• Hold valid certification from RID or NAD
• A letter of interest including preference for full or part-time position as well as strengths and weaknesses
• Resume/CV highlighting any platform and/or conference experience
• Work samples of unrehearsed interpreting demonstrating your English-to-ASL and ASL-to-English interpreting skills
• Interpreters with knowledge, skill, and experience working with Deaf-Blind/low vision individuals are encouraged to apply
• Interpreters residing in Kentucky and Region III are strongly encouraged to apply
• Must be willing to work as a conference interpreter mentor.

Volunteers:

Chair: Zac Childers

Requirements for volunteers:

• Current ITP students
• Upper level ITP who have completed ASL courses and Deaf culture requirements
• Letter of recommendation from a professor at your college
• Short essay (100-300 words) telling us why you would like to volunteer, what you believe you may gain, and what you believe you can contribute to this experience.
• Call for volunteers was opened to past students and members of the Deaf Community
• Call for SSPs was sent out via a separate document from the Deaf-Blind Member Section- Region III representative

Financials:

The conference ended with a healthy profit for the first time in over 6 years!
The committee remained conservative in their spending until the very end. Several factors are responsible for the dramatic increase in our revenue – Interpreter costs came in WAY under projections (Angela Malcomson is AMAZING!). The presenter costs were also under budget. KCDHH picked up some additional costs. We received some late sponsorships. We had quite a few on-site registrations and that brought in quite a bit of revenue. It was hard to keep up with that in “real-time” when in the thick of the conference. We still have some outstanding items but when all is said and done, I think we will be close to $23,000 profit.

We saved a ton of money on technology. All of our equipment was loaned and EKU and KCDHH loaned us to of the best IT guys ever! We did not rent anything from the hotel except for the pipe and drape in the ballroom and the projectors and screens for WaWa’s performance.

Entertainment:

• Opening Ceremony: Wink Smith
• July 29th Distillery Tour/ JAG Einhorn
• July 30th Warren “WaWa” Snipes
• Closing Ceremony: Calvin Young: Seek the World

Also:

The RID Cares recipient was the KSD Foundation.

ASL was the official language of the conference.

STATES: Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Wyoming

TSID and Region IV teamed up for a joint conference in 2008. The two groups met in Houston and enjoyed exciting success. The two entities decided that uniting efforts was once more in order for 2016. Houston was again chosen as the destination.

Members from TSID and all across Region IV attended the pre-conference and conference events designed for students, rookie and veteran interpreters, and any supporting members of the greater community. Members and friends, organizations and businesses, Deaf and hearing alike, gave life to the theme, “Teamwork Makes the Dream Work.” The rousing theme inspired visions of superheroes who have selflessly and unremittingly served the profession and the community. At the banquet, the superheroes turned out in full force for a most festive celebration and welcome to keynote speaker Deb Russell, President of World Association of Sign Language Interpreters (WASLI).

Region IV awarded three outstanding superheroes:

• Spirit of Region IV—Dawn Malley, Arkansas Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf
• Excellence in Leadership—Caitlyn Myers, Kansas Association of Interpreters-Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (KAI-RID)
• Excellence in Service—Nikki Boehme, Texas Society of Interpreters for the Deaf (TSID)

Congratulations and gratitude to each of these members for their contributions to Region IV and their affiliate chapters!

Much gratitude to the conference chair, Whitney Gissell, and her superhero team of planners for creating, coordinating, and accomplishing beautiful success! Thanks to Shawn Whitley, TSID President, for his solid leadership during the conference.

Many thanks to the superb and dedicated work of the Support Staff. Region IV continues to lead the way not only in providing service opportunities, but in guiding those who serve to provide unparalleled efforts to make the conference the best it can be!

PHOTOS

Superheroes Create a Sense of Awesomeness at Banquet

		Photo 1. Scott Huffman as Captain America and Connie Herndon as The Anonymous Worker.
		Photo 2. All the Powerpuff Girls: Buttercup, Blossom, and Bubbles! (We hate to blow their cover, because superheroes should be incognito, but they really are Ashley Beaty, Nikki Boehme, Meagan Mitcham Beaty)

STATES: Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington

The RID Region V Conference was held in partnership with the NAD for their 53rd biennial national conference. NAD also partnered with the National Deaf Education Conference (NDEC) for their first ever annual conference, and with Deaf in Government for their Government Employee Training (GET) conference. There were over 900 attendees present at the conference. RID Region V offered 25 workshops on its schedule alone. This does not include the extensive list of workshops that were also available within the NAD, NDEC, and GET conference tracks.

Workshop topics reflected the value of diversity within Region V. Workshop topics covered trilingual interpreting, legal interpreting, audism, sexual orientation and gender identity, power and privilege, interpreting in VRS settings, working in Deaf-hearing teams, and the Demand Control Schema, just to name a few. Laurie Reinhardt presented a plenary session on Trust Theory and its application to the interpreting profession. President Whitcher and RID Region V Representative West Oyedele hosted a plenary session on Accountability and provided members with an opportunity to ask questions about the direction of the organization. Jessica Moseley and Carla Mathers presented a plenary on Misclassification Issues and helped to demystify the business aspects of the work we do as interpreters. Every evening concluded with an NAD@night event including the NAD Community Forum, NAD College Bowl Finals, NAD Youth Ambassador Finals, and NAD Deaf Feud & Awards ceremony.

The location of the next Region V conference has not been determined but we are committed to making sure that the location of the conference is one where the diversity of our members is celebrated. More information will be forthcoming.