Visiting Marion Downs
Last month we had a groundbreaking live e-Seminar on Audiology Online where our Associate Editor, Dr. David Fabry, hosted a live interview with Dr. Marion Downs and invited you, our members, to interact and ask questions about pediatric audiology. Well, we hit gold, as our event occurred during the annual Ultimate Colorado Mid-Winter Meeting in Vail. From that meeting, Marion invited Drs. Linda Hood, Christine Yoshinaga-Itano, and Sandra Gabbard, to sit in during our online event and provide additional input. I thought to myself, "Vail, Colorado, combined with some of the most important names in pediatric audiology". I had to be there. So, I booked a flight to Denver and a rental car, packed up my laptop and headed out the door.
The Adventure Begins
It was an adventure getting out there! My original flight out of Dallas was cancelled. I was rebooked to a later flight and after about 3 gate changes and a 30 minute delay on the departure; I finally left Dallas and arrived in Denver at about 9:30 pm. I had been checking the weather reports and while the roads were currently open, there was some heavy snow the day before that had temporarily shut down the interstate. When the rental car person mentioned I could get 4-wheel drive for an extra 10 dollars, I took it. Long story short, my SUV decided to break down on the highway at about 12:30 in the morning while I was up in the mountains, it was snowing and about 10 degrees outside.
Half Empty or Half Full?
As I mentioned last month, I'm a half-full type of a guy and despite the bleak outlook, I couldn't have asked for a better scenario! Why? Well, the place where my rental car broke down was half a mile from the exit I was supposed to take for my hotel. At the bottom of that exit, there was the only Shell station that was open for miles and it was also the station that provided all the towing for the region. Plus, this Shell station was only 50 yards from the hotel I was going to stay at that night. I couldn't have picked a more perfect place for my car to break down! You may or may not believe in miracles, but I took it as a sign from God that I was meant to meet with Marion Downs the next day.
Words of Wisdom From Marion Downs
Well, the event with Marion et al. later that day went great! We had a sold out pre-registration and over 130 participants in the event. A lot of excellent information was shared, and I know this may sound corny, but I really was honored to sit with that group of audiologists who have made so many contributions to the field. We have the recorded version of that event available for free on Audiology Online, Words of Wisdom from Marion Downs - A Perspective on Hearing In Children. If you want to learn a bit and enjoy the humor and wit of Marion Downs, please be sure to take a look. We all had lunch afterwards and I spent some more time talking to Marion and drinking a few Arnold Palmers with her. She agreed that one of the best parts of the trip was that I had a good story to tell when I got back home. She even gave me permission to embellish the "SUV story" as needed. Honestly, I think it was interesting enough without any additions!
Enjoy the recorded event and as Paul Harvey would say, "And now you know ........ the rest of the story".
Around the Web in 60 Seconds
The current edition of "Around the Web" (ATW) includes: Sound blocking software for your cubicle, A dream to be an audiologist, A film about a tinnitus sufferer, Not hearing a smoke detector can be deadly, 11-year-old boy suddenly cured of hearing problems when proper otoscopic inspection is performed, AuD student makes top 16 in Miss America competition, The deaf Super Bowl ad and much more. Read about these and other stories in the latest edition of ATW.
Until Next Month
Please take time view additional AO news and information links listed to the right of this email and on our home page, and as always, thanks for reading.
Best regards,
Paul Dybala, Ph.D. - Audiologist
President & Editor-in-Chief, Audiology Online
