The Quail Trail Part 8 -Babblebox Business CIAI Convention

One of the definite highlights of my trip and an event that really looked forward to very much was the CIAI (Cochlear Implant Assoc, Inc.) Convention in Minneapolis-St Paul, Minnesota.

This blog entry will have lots of photos of the people that I met in person for the first time at the convention. I lost contact with many of them however and would like to pick up threads and hear from them again. If anyone knows some of them and still have contact I would very much appreciate it to get contact details.

I left home two months prior to the convention with excitement and anticipation because I got involved in keeping a list of people who planned to go to the CIAI Convention long before I left South Africa. I made up a list of people that I wanted to meet to ensure I would not miss out on anyone once I got to Minneapolis. I also made contact with a number of people in New York City at a CI Support Group meeting at the League for the Hard of Hearing shortly after I arrived in America. I was looking forward to meeting some of these people again in Minneapolis. My personal primary reason for attending the Convention was to meet as many as possible of my CI friends in person and I was set and ready to do just that! The “Long Island Ladies” was some of whom I met in New York City before the convention and also met up with at the CI Forum party on the evening before the official opening of the Convention. More than ten years later I wonder about them since I have lost contact with all of them…

My good friend Renate promised to meet us at the airport and it was with fond anticipation that I looked forward also to meeting her in person for the first time. This lady had been visiting another friend of me in Canada only days before the Convention and by the time I arrived in Minneapolis I could really not wait to give her a first real hug. The first thing I saw after getting off the plane was a smiling face holding up a poster saying, “HUGSAKABUNCHES WIA.” This was the same poster my friend in Canada welcomed me with in Toronto upon my arrival What a wonderful welcome to Minneapolis! Needless to say that poster came back to South Africa with me and is now proudly displayed as a fine reminder of the happy times that I spent with both of them.

We went directly to the hotel from the airport, my hostess pointing out landmarks as we approached downtown Minneapolis. Our rooms were not ready upon arrival at the hotel but that did not put me off at all. I immediately recognised a representative of Advanced Bionics in the hotel lobby and after a quick hello to her I set off to the registration desk to look for people I ”knew” to announce my arrival. 

After introducing myself, the first person I talked to that I recognised as an e-mail list member exclaimed, “Oh! Are you Wia? I am so happy to meet you!” At that stage I did not realise how many times I would hear the same words from different people over the next few days. It was one of the happiest feelings of my life to be welcomed with so much enthusiasm by so many people whom I had never met before but regarded almost as “long lost” CI friends! What a pleasure and what a good, warm expression of caring! 

At the same time I briefly wondered whether I would have received the same welcome if I simply arrived from somewhere in the US and not from far away South Africa. Well the ”alien” from South Africa had arrived and she was programmed for fun!

The first afternoon I attended the “Newcomer’s Welcome reception.” After the welcoming address and some information, we all received a fun questionnaire to see who could talk to and meet the most people in the shortest time. This questionnaire included things like getting signatures from “a person wearing more that three rings” or finding “a person that has never seen the ocean” etc. I could never win this competition although I felt as if I already knew half of the people because everyone had more to say to me than just giving a quick signature when I approached them! 

What fun that was! Denise Rogers was the overall winner – having a somewhat unfair advantage with having her cute hearing ear doggie, Mr Wiggles, to help her! Later on I had the privilege “get to know” Mr Wiggles a little better when I met up for talks and fun with the “ladies from California” in the lounge almost every evening!

Later on that same evening I had more practice “meeting cyber friends in real life” when I attended the get together that was organised for members of the CI Forum. More friends, more laughter and more fun! I secured friendships once again with the “Long Island Ladies”; delighted in meeting a good friend, Carolyn Cohen, from Gallaudet University with whom I exchanged many e-mails for the past year or more; meeting people from Cochlear Australia; (Michelle Edmunds) and the Convention hosts from the Minnesota Chapter of CIAI – simply too many people to mention individually! At the end of the first evening I was in “emotional overdrive”. When I eventually got to bed that night I could not sleep. I was not counting sheep – I was “putting faces to names”.

Denise Rogers

By the next evening I had to start making short notes next to the names of people in my diary to help me keep track of so many new faces. The descriptions next to the names included: “pleasant personality with short, dark hair: vibrant sign language conversationalist; cute dimpled smile; somewhat shy; friendly and caring; hearty laughter; elegant lady wanting to visit South Africa; a loving girl with built-in goodness” Such are the qualities of true and lasting friends. How more lucky can a person be than to count such people among your friends? I sincerely hope some of you reading this can identify yourselves.

The next morning we continued our conversations in the exhibition hall where we met for breakfast before attending the formal opening sessions and inter alia learnt more about new developments in hearing loss research and much more.

I am not going to attempt to write about the formal sessions and the workshops because it is impossible to condense all that was included in three fun- and information–packed days into a mere few paragraphs. The workshops were educational and interesting but seeing that I’ve been a member of various forums for quite a long time there was a lot I knew already. For newcomers without this experience and background however, it must have been very informative. At the formal sessions I delighted more in the luxury of all the assistive listening devices that made hearing so much easier. We don’t have such luxuries where I come from. For the first time in years I was not feeling like being in a soundproof bubble excluded from people discussing important matters.

Betty Longwith

Saturday evening I attended the Convention banquet. Apart from a lovely meal, again the company was excellent! Betty Longwith’s words when she made her excellent speech that night will remain with me for a lifetime: “People may forget what you say or do to them, but they will never forget how you make them feel.” It was so appropriate at this special time when so many people made me feel like I was anchored on cloud nine!

Best friend Renate and I enjoying a late night drink!

Sunday we had yet another lunch presented by Cochlear where we met people from the Nucleus forum. It was a special privilege to have a deaf –blind CI’er as one of our table guests, along with his guide dog, fondly referred to by him as “the blonde bombshell”. What an inspiration it was to meet this fine, friendly, deaf-blind gentleman (Robert) and to see how much his CI helped him to be part of the hearing world again.

I could not resist slipping away from the Convention with my friend for a lovely morning at her apartment where we managed to have a quick online chat with our mutual friend in Canada. That same afternoon she took a few of us to the impressive Mall of America before I had to bid her a sad farewell. How I would have loved to see more of Minneapolis-St Paul…but – maybe there will be another time.

We spent lovely late night happy hours with Rosemary Armstrong and friends from the CI list. 

In 2007 Rosemary and ten other friends (not CI friends) visited me in South Africa. We showed them lots of Southern Africa during a three week visit.

Sadly Rosemary passed away in 2011 after a long battle with cancer. R.I.P. my friend I will never forget the good times we had.

 Michelle Charlton and Vilma Brodsky are two of the ladies that I met in Minneapolis.  I should make contact again with Michelle on Facebook...

Sunday evening we watched the film “Sound and Fury” and I ended up in the lounge again for last talk with some very good friends. The next morning there was only time to say few more goodbyes before we took the shuttle bus to the airport to return to New Jersey. On the bus we had a last chat with two bilateral CI implantees. How I wished that I could rather go back to Chicago where the SWC Convention was to be hosted later that same week. I was sad to leave all my new and old friends but I left feeling fulfilled and happy to know that I have so many good friends that will remember the often too brief, but quality times we shared. It is so wonderful to know that many of them will be there for me through both good and bad times hopefully for many more years to come. All I can say is that it will be my greatest pleasure to reciprocate with similar friendship and hospitality should anyone of you want to come and visit me in South Africa. What about having a re-union in Pretoria?