Sixth Annual Tennessee Disability MegaConference
May 28 - 30, 2008
Highlights include:
- World-Class Speakers
- Interactive Workshops
- Educational Sessions
- Over 50 Exhibits of Disability Products and Services
- Fun Evening Events - Pirates Theme Night-look and talk like a pirate
- Awards Banquet and Dance
Pictures from this conference are now available! MegaConference Photobucket Pictures
IMPORTANT KEYNOTE PRESENTER SCHEDULE CHANGES!!
Nelson Lauver, originally scheduled for Friday, May 30th, will be presenting on Thursday, May 29th. His plenary - Ordinary Americans, Extraordinary Achievements - will be from 2:00-2:45; his workshop - What's Your Beef?!? - from 3:00-4:15.
Juliette Rizzo, originally scheduled for Thursday, May 29th, will be presenting on Friday, May 30th. Her plenary - This is Your Life: Power through participation - will be from 2:00-2:45; her workshop - Taking Charge of Your Health & Wellness: A call to action - from 3:00-4:15. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause!
Program Booklet Now Available in Acrobat Reader
Partnering Agency Opportunities Available
Keynote Speakers
Michael G. May
Michael May's personal life and professional career are characterized by pioneering efforts in business and in community service. Born in 1954, May is an American business executive and sports enthusiast who was blinded by a chemical explosion at the age of 3 but regained partial vision in 2000, at 46, after cornea transplants and a pioneering stem cell procedure. In 1999 he founded the Sendero Group, in Davis, CA, which employs many individuals who happen to be blind or visually impaired. Sendero has assisted those with sight disabilities by producing a pioneering accessible Global Positioning System (GPS). Their technology received the Consumer Electronics Show "New Innovations Award" in 2004. May’s dream is that an accessible GPS navigation and information system will be readily available to blind people worldwide.
Among his many accomplishments, May holds the record for downhill skiing by a totally blind person (racing at 65 mph). He has a wife, Jennifer, and two sons, Carson and Wyndham.
In 2006, journalist Robert Kurson wrote a book on May, Crashing Through, expanded from an article he did for Esquire, which is being adapted into a motion picture. Crashing Through was released on May 15, 2007.
Mike May received the first American Foundation for the Blind Kay Gallagher award recognizing his mentoring role and contributions to community organizations.
Nelson Lauver
At Age 29 He Could Not Read.
At Age 32 He was Reading Scripts as a National Weatherman.
Today, He Shares His Formula for Success and Overcoming Hard Times.
Nelson Lauver was determined to overcome illiteracy forced upon him by Dyslexia and an educational system that chose to label him “unteachable.” Nelson had dreams for his booming radio voice but the inability to read and write was stopping him from meeting his goals. At 29 years old he sought help through an occupational rehabilitation program. It was then learned he had unknowingly fined honed his listening and speaking to extraordinary levels. He was actually quite brilliant.
During rehabilitation, he began writing stories with a simple word processor. He produced many fine short stories that soon became the basis for his first CD, “The American Storyteller”. Today the “American Storyteller” has become part of a nationally syndicated radio program featuring Nelson and his gifted voice. Nelson is currently celebrating his fifth year of syndication and he is now heard on 56 stations throughout the Midwest.
He has done presentations for NASA, National Bureau of Prisons, Kansas Association of Casualty Insurance Companies, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Partners in Policymaking-Tennessee, and the Youth Leadership Forums of Louisiana, Tennessee, and Ohio.
Juliette Rizzo
From covering and coordinating national news stories as a journalist to being selected to carry the Olympic torch, Juliette Rizzo has proven that personal dreams and goals are within reach for people with disabilities when the appropriate supports are in place. Juliette empowers Americans by sharing her experiences and adventures with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, scleroderma and fibromyalgia through an empowering platform, "Power through Participation: Illuminating Opportunities for People with Disabilities." She enlists people by sharing personal and professional examples of participating in her own life and encourages others to find their courage, share their vision and help her change the world!
Juliette currently is Director of Exhibits and Events Planning in the Department of Education. Juliette holds a Master of Journalism degree, focusing on public relations with a unique minor in rehabilitation studies from the University of North Texas, and a Bachelor of Science degree in journalism from Texas A&M University.
As her most exciting accomplishment, Juliette received the Presidential Active Lifestyle Award (PALA) from the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sport. She also was nominated as one of the nation’s 20 outstanding young Americans and was just inducted into the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Association for Persons with Disabilities as a lifetime member. She was recently appointed as The National Arthritis Foundation’s National Public Relations Chair for Arthritis Walks all across the nation and just spoke at the National Press Club as a spokesperson for the launch of the new American Association for Physical Activity and Recreation. Amidst the stories of great disability leaders, Juliette’s passionate message can be found in the recently published “Enabled in Words: The Real Lives, Real Victories of People with Disabilities.”
Tennessee Disability MegaConference Newsflash - Artwork Contest!!
The Tennessee Disability MegaConference Steering Committee is proud to announce that Permobil, Inc. is again sponsoring the MegaConference t-shirts and artwork contest! If you are a person with a disability and would like to submit your artwork for consideration to be screen printed on the 2008 MegaConference t-shirts, please send a picture file (.eps or highest resolution file possible) of the artwork to mmorse@eastersealstn.com by March 15, 2008. Entries will be judged by the MegaConference T-shirt Judging Committee and the winner will be notified by email or phone call by April 1st and the announcement will be posted on the websites the first week of April. The winner will receive a t-shirt for themselves and six others to share with family and friends. The winner’s artwork will be displayed on hundreds of t-shirts worn all across Tennessee!
Permobil, Inc. is a power wheelchair manufacturer that believes every person with a disability has the fundamental right to maximize their abilities to the greatest extent possible, and this entitlement is best accomplished through the use of technology and aids, allowing for independence and a quality of life we all enjoy in our everyday lives. To learn more about Permobil please visit their website.
This conference is FRAGRANCE FREE! Please refrain from using perfumes, colognes, or scented personal products in consideration of people with chemical sensitivities.
