Do It Myself Blog – Glenda Watson Hyatt

Motivational Speaker

Random Highlights from Chicago Trip and Beyond

Filed under: Blogging,Living with a disability,Social Media — by at 10:36 pm on Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Late last Thursday night I finally made it home after a good yet long week away in Chicago and then Fort Wayne, Indiana. Since getting home, things have been crazy; four trips to Toronto and one to Virginia are in my near future.

Here are a few random highlights while I finish unpacking my brain (before I need to repack it):

I did manage to score an iPad while in Chicago! A full review is coming soon. For now, I will say that, for me, the iPad works great as a communication device! In fact, it is life changing. The butterfly emerges a little bit further from her cocoon of silence.

Glenda Watson Hyatt riding the ferris wheelKaren Putz, Amy Derby and I braved Chicago’s winds and rode the Ferris wheel at Navy Pier. With the seats enclosed like a gondola, being 150 feet in the air was not an issue. Being that high was a great vantage point for my first glimpse of one of the Great Lakes. My brand new iPad definitely aided in communicating with this duo, one of which is Deaf and the other is hearing impaired. Despite our three barriers in communicating, we had no shortage of topics to talk about!

Unfortunately, the anticipated karoke duet with Chris Brogan did not happen due to an accessibility issue. That story will be forthcoming. Nothing bad happens to bloggers; it’s all material!

I also attended this small event called SOBCon! I will share my takeaway lessons in yet another post. However, for me, SOBCon is more about interacting with the fellow attendees and friends rather than about the presentations, and having the iPad further deepened that interaction.

Glenda's scooter loaded in car trunkSunday, after the last SOBCon session and a quick trip to Batman’s bathroom (without incident this year!), my electric scooter was wrestled into the trunk of car. Oftentimes, what counts as accessible transportation is solely determined by the strength of the desire to get from Point A to Point B. Whatever works!

Deb Brown, Becky McCray and I were off to Fort Wayne, Indiana, for a private retreat kindly hosted by Jon Swanson at his church. Paul Merrill also joined us.

Jon Swanson, Deb Brown, Becky McCray, Paul Merrill and Glenda Watson Hyatt gathered in Jon's office
(Photo credit: from Jon Swanson’s Flickr photostream)

A box of chocolate on the bed

The retreat was a time for brainstorming, sharing, asking questions and regaining focus – intense, amazing focus! And great friendships – all a result of blogging and Twitter. There was also time for teaching Glenda-ish, learning lemur calls and sipping first margaritas – critical skills when running a small business! And, of course, chocolate was also involved. A big thanks to Becky, Deb, Paul, Jon and Nancy Swanson.

That’s my week in a nutshell. How was your week?

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4 Comments »

Comment by Suzie Cheel

May 13, 2010 @ 2:11 am

I feel so proud that I know you. What a story and I was wondering what you were doing in Idaho- what a wonderful story

love and hugs
must be time for a skype chat
Suzie

Comment by Paul Merrill

May 13, 2010 @ 2:54 pm

It was great to share those days in Indiana with you & the others!

Super time.

And I learned a lot more about the importance of accessibility!

Comment by Glenda

May 13, 2010 @ 3:21 pm

Suzie, thank you for your kind words. The time in Indiana was great.

Yes, definitely time for a skype chat. This weekend?

Comment by Glenda

May 13, 2010 @ 3:22 pm

Thanks Paul. Funny how that topic always follows me around; there’s no escaping it!

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