Conferences and Meetings

For those of us with hearing loss, walking into a room like the one shown above can be a terrifying experience. Where do I sit?  How will I ever be able to hear and understand, even with the existing PA system? We go to conferences, meetings, and conventions, not only to socialize and network, but also to learn. Learning requires being able to hear and understand presentations and any follow-up questions from the audience. An excellent PA system can certainly help, however they cannot overcome the negative impacts of distance from the speaker, background noise and room acoustics.

Assistive listening systems can overcome those negative impacts and make it possible for people with hearing loss to have the same positive experience that people with good hearing will have. These assistive listening systems are required by the ADA, even though a facility may have an excellent PA system. The responsibility for providing assistive listening systems cannot be “farmed out” to a venue’s AV subcontractor. They must be provided by the facility itself.