14th Biennial Convention on October 14th and 15th.

From: RIAD - Jun 24, 2005

Hi, everyone! We have an exciting convention coming up this year in October and we want to see you there! RIAD will be hosting its 14th Biennial Convention on October 14th and 15th. The theme is "Enrichment, Enhancement, and Empowerment." The convention will be held at THREE DIFFERENT LOCATIONS! Friday evening at the RI School for the Deaf, Saturday during the day at Holiday Inn -downtown Providence, and Saturday in the evening on a Bay Queen Cruise with the whole deck reserved for the RIAD Convention.

The Biennial Convention will begin with the registration and a short RIAD general meeting on Friday evening at RISDeaf, followed by the great Ice Cream Blast with Country Line-Dances and ASL stories from our very own Bruce Bucci!

Saturday morning at the Holiday Inn, after breakfast and registration, there will be 9 various workshop presentations, of which you choose 3 to attend. Some of our speakers are from out of state- Massachusetts, North Carolina, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania. Wonderful topics for everyone! We will have Miss Deaf America 2004-2006, Erin Casler, coming in to make her appearance, give presentation, read a few stories to children and provide talent performance! Come and meet her! In the afternoon, after lunch, there is the RIAD Meeting and election for new officers including any changes to RIAD by-laws. Come and join in! Be a member and make your vote count!

In addition, there will be displays and exhibitions of various sponsors in the Holiday Inn Ballroom all day from 8-4pm. Activities for the Youth are available from 9 am to 12 noon.

Best of all! We'll be closing our Convention with a 4-hour Bay Queen Cruise! It was so successful last year that we had to bring it back by popular requests. Your cruise is included in the Combo registration or purchase separately. On the cruise, we will have a wonderful banquet dinner, the presentation of Awards, new RIAD officers swearing-in, and entertainment And many more!! Wow!!!

For more information on convention information and registrations: contact Co-chairpersons: Sharon Lane at Sharon0248@aol.com or Jeannie D-Valdez at Ivory25@aol.com / 401-624-7210 TTY/VP.

For information on Miss Deaf Rhode Island Pageant, please contact State Pageant Directors: Mary Tomasian – MPDDTOM@aol.com or Dawn Porter- Dpanda1Bear1@tmail.com. Official Entry form must be submitted by July 31st. Please contact Mary Tomasian to get the form. We are still accepting application to enter the pageant competition.

Here's an early peek at who the workshop presentors are and their topics:
1.) Erin Casler (CT), Miss Deaf America will present a workshop.

2.) Virginia Beach (N.C.)-"Reaching for the Extreme" (1st DEAF Certified Fire-walker Instructor!)

3.) Steve Florio, NAD Fulton III Rep - NAD Fulton III

4.) Steve Florio, Exec. Dir, RI-CDHH - "How to Self-Advocate"

5.) Judy Freedman Fask, Dir of Deaf Studies, College of Holy Cross- "Beyond the Classroom Walls: Enriching the lives, Enhancing the skills, and Empowering the community...Positive learning partnerships between ASL Students and the Deaf Community "

6.) Mitchell Levy, Outreach Coordinator, Hamilton Relay - Learn about Hamilton Relay!

7.) Julie Jodoin-Krauzyk, Women & Infants' Hospital- "Empowered Parents Make a Difference: Studying the Effectiveness of Specialized Early Intervention for Parents of Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Children"

8.) Mary Ellen Breen, Dir., Corliss - "Empowered for Life -How an ASL Community can exist in the hearing world". With 4 panelists.

9.) Denise Brown, (PA)- "Empowerment and You!".

Further information can also be found on http://www.riadeaf.org/. We look forward to seeing you all there! For the best deal and to save money, sign up now for the combo registration! Dont miss out on this! This is sure to give you a fabulous weekend!

Thank you!!
2005 RIAD Convention Co-chairpersons:
Sharon Lane and Jeannie D-Valdez