[VIDEO DESC & TRANSCRIPT: Angela is seated. The NAD logo is transparent in the bottom right corner.
ANGELA: What I love about conference planning is that there’s always something new and different every day. Every conference I plan always has something new and different every year. It keeps things fresh for me, I mean — I get bored easily, that’s why I love conference planning because of the many things that come up. Growing up, I didn’t expect to become a conference planner. I actually wanted to be a doctor or even a lawyer… but when I went to college and started working for Communication Services for the Deaf (CSD) — I started falling in love with event planning. I realized I really thrived on challenges, meeting people, working through complicated situations, and figuring out solutions. Can you imagine me being a doctor or a lawyer? I know it’s not the right fit for me.
Black and white clip of a clipboard and a phone on a table. Next clip, Angela is nodding to someone off screen in a hallway. In the center, a white border surrounds white text “ANGELA” underneath, appears in white text “CONFERENCE PLANNER.”
ANGELA: My name is Angela Ellman, I coordinate events and conferences.
Black and white clip of Angela signing to someone off screen.
ANGELA: I grew up attending a deaf school and a mainstreamed program, alternating between both. I graduated from the South Dakota School for the Deaf, I was involved in Jr. NAD briefly and I attended Youth Leadership Camp (shout out to YLC ‘99!) before I graduated from Colorado Tech with a Business Administration degree.
Black and white behind the shot clip of Angela walking with someone down a hallway.
ANGELA: I started working for CSD as an intern in the Marketing Department. During that time, I was also very involved with DeafExpo, a weekend expo event based in California, while I worked from South Dakota. I realized how much I really liked it — eventually, I decided to apply for a job at the National Center for Independent Living (NCIL) as their conference coordinator. After that, it was a whirl – I started contracting with different clients like the National Association of the Deaf (NAD), Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID) and am still working with NCIL who is my longest client.
Black and white clip of Angela checking her clipboard of notes.
ANGELA: I work from home which allows my schedule to be flexible. I have three clients, so I often have to prioritize tasks on what needs to be done first and figure out which tasks I can complete ahead of time. A perfect day for me would look like: starting the morning by getting the kids to school, work out, then start working on my computer. I take a lunch break and continue working until the kids come home from school.
Black and white clip of Angela walking down a hallway. White text appears at the bottom center, “As the conference nears, I put in a lot more hours — sometimes I work late… That’s what happens when you plan a conference, you’re expected to put in a lot more hours when the event nears.” Light blue text “- Angela” and a light blue line outlines the left side of the text.
ANGELA: There’s many things to plan for at conferences! There’s registration, programs, evening events, workshops, coordinating Audio/Visual (AV) which means figuring out what screens with how many projectors, and more. I make a lot of calls, sometimes I participate in a conference call with a large group. Other times, I visit where the conference will happen and meet with people in person, including community members. Conference planning doesn’t always happen behind a computer, developing a relationship with the community is important too.
Black and white clip of Angela signing to someone off screen.
ANGELA: As an event planner, I work with hearing people often. For example, most people who work at convention centers are hearing. I also work with various vendors, most of them are hearing too. This means I often work with an interpreter when I’m in a big group of people. The first thing I do is set some ground rules. For instance, if we’re touring through a building, I always make sure the guide stops before saying something to ensure that everyone has access to what’s being said. If we’re continuing to walk while someone is interpreting, someone is going to get hurt! I mean they can either fall over something and they can miss important information. I also make sure the interpreter is right next to the hearing person who is speaking because if they’re not next to each other, I can’t give the hearing person eye contact. I strongly strongly in developing relationships and one of the things that I like to do is give eye contact to those I work with, so with the interpreter right next to them, I’m able to go back and forth between the hearing person and the interpreter. I don’t want to be disconnected from the conversation.
Black and white clip of Angela signing to someone off screen.
ANGELA: During conference planning, my team and I work hard to use the opportunity to educate convention centers, hotels, local community members, visitors’ bureaus, and more about access for deaf or DeafBlind people. Oftimes, after we host a conference, the vendors appreciate learning something new. They’ll keep our tips, tricks, and methods for future conferences or events. Access doesn’t only benefits us, it benefits the vendors and other customers!
Black and white close up clip of Angela holding her clipboard.
ANGELA: Start volunteering for various organizations! That’s where you can really get a step in. If you can get an internship, great! That’s how I got my start in the beginning — with an internship. As for NCIL, they are a disability organization and oftentimes, they’re looking for people with disabilities to work with them, like me for example — I’m deaf. So, when I found out they were looking for a conference planner, I applied and was hired because they found out I was deaf. Check with non-profit organizations, disability organizations, look for anything and apply to many places.
Black and white clip of Angela looking at someone off screen.
ANGELA: A conference planner requires extreme attention to details, organization and people skills — so, if you’re organized, detail oriented, like to strategize then conference planning might be a good fit!
Black and white clip of Angela signing to someone off screen and starting to walk down a hallway with someone. Video cuts to a dark blue background. Red alphabet letters of “N-A-D” in American Sign Language appear one by one in the center of the video. The copyright text appears in white underneath, “National Association of the Deaf, Copyright 2020, All Rights Reserved”.]