[Nfb-science] Conference Question

[David Evans]

Dear Christine,

Getting yourself a talking compass can help you with finding major 
directions inside and outside the building.  You can even ask to hotel staff 
to give you an orientation and even to walk you around to get the lay of the 
land before the conference starts.  All you need to do is tip the person and 
alot of your problems are solved.
You can tie something around your door knob to help you find it easier, but 
I don't think you will have as much trouble as you think, especially with 
your guide dog.  Get your dog to smell the door knob of your room and I bet 
they will find it for you.
Everyone is a little lost at first and getting there early can let you 
explore the place without all of the bodies getting in the way.  I am sure 
you will do just fine so don't worry and have fun meeting new people.

David Evans, sNFBF and GD Jack.


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Christine Szostak" <szostak.1 at osu.edu>
To: "NFB Science and Engineering Division List" <nfb-science at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Saturday, October 09, 2010 3:40 PM
Subject: [Nfb-science] Conference Question


> Dear Colleagues,
>  I would greatly appreciate any thoughts or advice on the following. I 
> will be attending and presenting a poster at a conference in just over a 
> month related to my field of science. The conference, as many such similar 
> conferences go, will be held at a large, conference-style hotel. One of my 
> concerns with such conferences is in accurately navigating through the 
> conference halls, rooms...
>
>  Namely, my  question is specific to total blindness and dealing with the 
> following while alone at the conference (for reference I use a guidedog):
>
> 1)  Being required to navigate through large and very open spaces with 
> large crowds/numerous often crowded objects and limited spatial cues.
>
> 2)  Knowing the set-up of and finding seats within a large conference 
> hall. Relatedly, Finding the location for and setting up a poster for 
> presentation.
>
> 3) Having a limited ability to use cues such as  Braille or raised letter 
> signs (e.g., they are not available or easy to locate).
>
> 4)  Having to deal with  multiple floors in a fairly unfamiliar building.
>
> 5)  Wanting to navigate around poster sessions to see specific work of 
> interest.
>
>  I was wondering with respect to the above what others on this list have 
> done to  make conference travel with no vision successful. I want to be 
> able to focus on the work, not my vision loss. Thanks in advance.
> Many thanks,
> Christine
> M. Szostak
> Graduate Student
> Language Perception Laboratory
> Department of Psychology, Cognitive Area
> The Ohio State University
> Columbus, Ohio
> szostak.1 at osu.edu
> _______________________________________________
> Nfb-science mailing list
> Nfb-science at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfb-science_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
> Nfb-science:
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nfb-science_nfbnet.org/drevans%40bellsouth.net