Leslie: [00:00:00] Welcome to the Taking the Lead podcast where
Christina: we empower people to be unstoppable. I'm Christina Hepner with my co-host Leslie Hoskins in Timothy Kuo, and today we're gonna have a bit of a shorter episode because we're gonna talk about orienting two large venues and events with everything kind of back in full swing this year.
But first, I mean, Timothy, you've been
Leslie: missing
Christina: in action a
Leslie: little bit. . .
Timothy: Oh, I'm sorry, y'all. . You know, I took a little break, went on the cruise, uh, while I was gone and enjoyed the cruise. Uh, got away from it all and, uh, put glacier to her babysitter. I'm, so, we left Glacier for a week, which yeah. Was tough.
Mm-hmm. . But I got my cane out. I sent a picture to Christina. I mean, I'm Leslie Yeah. And down there in Fort Lauderdale using my cane. So I was proving it, but we used the cane and also the, uh, guided you. Excited guide and I had a good time. Had a good time. So it was relaxing and it went down there. It was 80.
I [00:01:00] got sunburn. Y'all ? I got sunburn.
Leslie: Oh my. I'm up here getting freezer
Christina: burnt. Yeah, because we had like frozen, not freezer, burnt . I know what I'm trying to say.
Leslie: Front fight.
Christina: Yes,
Leslie: I, I am like a package
Christina: of vegetables getting fruit. , .
Leslie: It sounds like Christina needs the next break. Timothy, you and I have both taken a minute.
I think Christina can use, use
Timothy: a beat. I'm on vacation for a while. Yeah.
Leslie: Christina, you need to go. We need to send her to thaw out somewhere warm. Where? Chicken Get a minute.
Well, we are super glad that you had a good time and of course well deserved. Um, while you were gone, you were talking about how much time you dedicate to this podcast and you're so flexible all the time and we're just so grateful, um, to have you and your willingness to continue to support us in this way.
So thank. It's my [00:02:00] pleasure . Yes it is. Good to have you back. Yes, we definitely missed you. That is for sure. Um, Christina, what have you been doing other than, uh, freezing? I guess it's not with you. I
Christina: just getting freeze. A burn over here. Yeah. Um, you know, I'm just been working. Um,
Leslie: The house hunting. Yeah.
That's exciting.
Christina: You know, just kind of the normal life things. like I am just treking along, you know, enjoying every little minute. That's good.
Leslie: That's good. Looking forward to spring and summer though. Yes. I know it's starting to get. Hopefully a little warmer soon. Um, we're getting ready to go the family on a spring breakdown in Florida, so I'm super excited to take the kids to some warm weather and and play and relax.
Need to pack Christine. I know. Maybe I'll put her in my suitcase. Yeah, I think, I think I need to go . I know. So Brian is driving the kids. [00:03:00] I'm, so I'm gonna be at a conference for work and I'm gonna meet him in Georgia. So he's driving alone with both kids from Michigan to Georgia. So he could probably use a partner, , if we wanna hop in that passenger seat.
I don't know if that will be a vacation. It's absolutely not gonna be because, but I
Christina: would probably just act like one of your kids. I'd just like have fun and be like,
Leslie: this is my vacation too. How much? How much longer? How much I know. Yeah. , can you imagine like he's gonna, his arm's gonna hurt so bad from trying to like, hand snacks in the back seat and like charge the tablets and
He's probably gonna need like rotator cuff surgery or something afterwards on his shoulder. , I feel so bad, but, uh, yeah, I'm gonna meet him in Georgia and then we'll make the, the rest of the trip together should be interesting. You know, I have faith in him. Yeah. I can do it. And I should say, it's not a vacation, it's a trip.
Right. Like, I feel like anytime you're traveling with kids, it's, it's, it's a trip. It's not necessarily relaxing in any way, shape, or form. I don't know. I wouldn't know. It's a good time though. , [00:04:00] we're traveling with friends too, so we're gonna be down there with our, our friends and their kids and see, there you go.
The kids
Christina: will all watch each other. and then the adults go
Leslie: do whatever you guys want. Well, I mean, the oldest is five . Oh, okay. Nevermind . I mean, come on. Five year olds. Right. Well, I mean, they're either best of friends or they're worst enemies. That's true. Usually how the group goes. But they're all super, super cute and I love them.
So yeah, that's So that's what I've got going on. Yeah. What a good time. I know time to be alive here. You two are making me
Christina: rethink, uh, Plans this year. I need to like look and schedule
Leslie: something, get some things in the calendar. It's nice to have something to look forward to. I know I just didn't
Christina: this year cuz I was like, you know, I just don't want.
Leslie: Plans, . We do have a lot going on work-wise. It's it, there's a lot, but it's very, very exciting. Yes. But today we're gonna talk a little bit because we don't have a guest, so we have some topics that people have been asking us a little bit about and we just thought what a good time for this, [00:05:00] um, kind of orienting to large venue spaces.
What are some strategies, how do people do this? You know, we talk a lot about like the N F B or ACB conference. , you know, how do you travel to those? Or even just going to like a new mall or a new school or work environment. Yeah. Like what are some strategies? So, um, I'll hand it to Timothy first cuz you're the one doing it all the time.
Do you have any tips or tricks or methods of your madness? Well always expect
Timothy: the unexpected. That's the first thing. Like last year when I showed up at the N F B conference in, in New Orleans. , uh, they had not got a parking area built for the dogs yet, and it was gonna be installed till that evening. And so I had to find an alternative place around the, the hotel.
And that was a, that was when I first got there. That was pretty upsetting. And, uh, so un uh, expecting unexpected, be prepared for anything. Mm-hmm. and to get [00:06:00] prepared for crowds and canes. Like at, at the end of the conference, there's a lot of dogs and you don't know where those dogs came from. You don't know what organizations, and there can be issues that you might run into.
Glacier didn't do it, but when she won't by another dog, sometimes they may snip. Snap at your dog or something may happen. And that happened with Glacier last year. So you're prepared cause something can happen that you didn't expect.
Christina: Yeah, and I mean events too are kind of in full swing and we're getting into, at least here in Michigan, I know it's already warm there in Georgia, but at least here in Michigan, we're hopefully gonna start getting warmer and you know, people are gonna get outside and the fence are back in full swing cuz we just had dinner in the dark in person for the first time.
Um, you. Not a conference, but like an event. How do you handle, because when you go to an event, not everyone understands service dogs and how they work and that sort of stuff. Timothy, what are some things you do at like, other types of events, um, [00:07:00] that maybe aren't, uh, conference related to, um, N F B? Well,
Timothy: I mean, it's just, it's, it's, it's really tough that, that's a tough question to answer because.
like when you go into mall or stuff, it's the same situation. You go with it. People doesn't expect to see a guy dog. So, uh, just prepare to, to, to advocate for yourself and also get ready to a answer. A bunch of questions about your dog, not about what her abilities are, but what she does for you. People may be interested in what your dog does for you, and, and you may open some.
So, you know what, what it's like to have a guide dog.
Leslie: Yeah. Alyssa and I were traveling not too long ago, um, to a conference in Illinois and we brought one of our canan ambassador dogs with us. Mm-hmm. . Um, and it was amazing, you know, the attention that we got. And granted, uh, the dog we had was a Canan ambassador, so people.
Were allowed to interact and touch the dog and whatnot, and we made that very clear that this is not a working dog, so that that is allowed. Um, but yeah, going in [00:08:00] literally anywhere, I mean, people are obsessed with the dogs and it is distracting, especially when you're just trying to get from point A to point B.
Um, we were walking down the hallway, you know, the second day of the conference and everybody's like, Hey, Vader. Hey Vader. Everybody's saying hi to the dog. Do you think one person remembered Alyssa or I. No , which was great for us. Like the whole idea of us bringing the dog was to get that kind of attention and let people know that we were there and hopefully they come to our booth and we can share about our programs and services.
But it can be really distracting for people to have a dog in those environments. And they do. They have a ton of questions and if you're have the time and in the mood, that's great. If not, that can be really frustrating and challenging. . Yeah. And I can't
Christina: imagine having to like mentally prepare for that too.
You have to kind of, I, I would feel like I would have to, you know, take a deep breath before I would go into somewhere and be like, okay, I know this is gonna happen. And mentally prepare for that. I mean, is that something you do sometimes, Timothy? Yeah, like
Timothy: go go to the malls [00:09:00] and stuff like that. I get really, like this week we're getting ready to get ready to go on a trip in a couple, three or four weeks.
And so I, we gotta go to the airport, so I'm gonna take her to the mall. Around a bunch of people noise and the escalators and the elevators and all that stuff, stuff we haven't done in two or three months. So I start preparing her now for a trip that's three or four weeks ahead and, and what I did for our crews last year, she went on, I found there was a Facebook group for that specific cruise.
So I got on their Facebook page and introduced everybody to glacier, told all our batter and the, the rules, everybody were asking all kinds of questions. And when we showed up the cruise, everybody saw her when we got off. The, uh, transport vehicle that we took and they started adding glacier. They already knew where when we got there.
and so they were opening up the book of that so everybody knows about her and she was famous on the cruise ship already
Leslie: before we got there. So kind of answering those questions on the front end. That's a great strategy. I like that. Yeah, that's what I did. I like that. Yeah. So [00:10:00] some of the big conferences that are coming up for um, consumers are the national.
Uh, Federation of the Blind. Their convention is happening in Houston, Texas this year. And then the American Council of the Blind is happening in, I'm gonna say it wrong, Schaumburg, Schaumburg, Illinois, which is kind of close to where I was recently. Um, so those are gonna be new places this year. So one thing that I always talk to clients about before going into these kind of venues or malls or schools or any kind of large building, Is really trying to understand the shape of the building, like the general layout first, so that you have an idea, um, of kind of what it's like basically.
So even if it's like a tactile map or even just, you know, somebody kind of drawing on the back, on your back or on your hand. . For example, one of the malls we go to over here when we're in training is kind of like, um, an X, but the, the or a t, if you will. And one of the parts of the T is a lot shorter than the other.
And so drawing that on somebody's [00:11:00] back and then always having a reference point, so like your starting point. So maybe at a convention center it might be like the help desk or the concierge desk or um, the entrance into the venue, whatever it is. But kind of using that as your, your. Landmark, if you will, setting it, um, so that you can build routes off of that.
So always keeping in mind, you know, where is my, my reference point? Can I get back there at all times? And that typically helps, um, orient originally.
Christina: Yeah, that is great to know because I went to a conference last year myself and got lost, so I can't imagine, you know, being blind, visually impaired and having to orient your guide dog if you have your guide dog with you, or orient yourself in having to do that, um, because those buildings can.
Weird and big and they might use part of the building but not the other part. And
Leslie: yeah, so like even if you're going to a grocery store, right, like you, those are usually kind of just squares a big box when you walk in. So if you use your entrance as your, your starting point [00:12:00] or your reference point, and then sometimes too it's helpful to like name the walls.
So you've got four main walls, maybe one's the bakery maybe in the back. The technology, TVs. And then on the other side it's the, like the clothing section. So if you can name all of those walls and then as you're traveling throughout the store, being able to point kind of back to that reference point. So that's a strategy we do a lot of times when going to, uh, a store or mall or whatever walking around.
But every time a client turns, okay, point to your reference point. Point to your reference point just to help maintain that orientation and in case of emergency, right, that you know how to get out of there, you know where to get back to point, point A. Um, and so those can be helpful strategies to kind of navigate such large environments.
Timothy, do you remember doing any of that when you were with me for o and m? ? Of course, it was a long time ago. Everything,
Timothy: I remember everything five years ago, four years ago now, or five now, I can't remember. But, uh, that was, that's [00:13:00] what's good about the n f. Uh, I'm sure the a c B does it, but when you, when you, when before the cr, before the event, they sent out a description of the building, like the last building.
They, they talked about it being like a, a, a, uh, cake, a birthday cake, and the towers were the candles. And so they described it to you and they called Tower one, tower two. and they describe the whole layout. And so that's what's good about when you go to those conferences, they will descri give you a self-described description of the building and where things are.
Leslie: That's awesome. Yes. Anything like that to give you an, an idea of the overall shape of the environment is so help. Full and, and you can kind of create your points of interest or the things that are most important to you and create routes off of that. Um, so like I said, if it's like a vendor hall, you know, when you're walking in and there's all the vendors and exhibitors, if the entrance is your point of reference and then you can walk the perimeter, get the shape, and then create routes from the, the entrance point to the restroom [00:14:00] or the entrance point to your favorite booth or whatever it is, so that you can maintain orientation.
But the most important thing, you know, Places are huge and they're overwhelming, and sometimes it's so, you know, intimidating to enter. There's always somebody around to help, right? You can always ask for assistance. Be specific with your questions, uh, depending on who you're talking to. If they have experience giving directions to somebody who's blind or visually impaired, they may just point and say, oh, it's over there.
So having those follow up questions ready, so that you can get the exact information that you need can be helpful. As a
Timothy: dog handler, uh, my, my biggest suggestion for everybody, if you are going to a conference for the n FB or a c b or anywhere that you know, there's gonna be dogs, please make sure your shop shots are caught up, especially the influenza one, uh, because that can be transmitted to your dog.
So make sure your dog is well protected also.
Leslie: Absolutely. That's a really good
Christina: point. Yeah, cuz sometimes you don't think about. Because [00:15:00] you go do your yearly shots, but thinking, you know, is that coming up? Is that, yeah, lots
Leslie: of planning. There is lots to think about. Um, and if you have an opportunity, so say, let's say you're orienting to a college campus.
If you have an opportunity to work with a certified orientation mobility specialist to help orient to these places, it can be really, really helpful to build your confidence and then create this mental map of the environment so that you can travel not just from point A to point B and point A to point C, but then from B to C.
So creating all of these different routes so that you can travel confidently within, within your area. Um, and specifically trying to do that before taking the dog. Right? And that's not always the case, right? Sometimes you're going into these situations like Timothy is with Glacier going into the N F B convention or a c b convention, um, and he's never been there before and he is got Glacier.
But with his skills, he can be confident and together they can navigate and find where they're going. But if you can go with your gain first and check it out so that when you do go back with your dog, [00:16:00] you can be more confident with your directions. That's really nice too. Yeah,
Christina: this is a really great topic.
Leslie: I've learned a lot. There's so much, I'm trying to just like keep it really simple, but Right. There's so many different strategies that you can use. You can incorporate some different technologies sometimes into different buildings and, and things like that. Um, there's you. Patterning. There's all sorts of different things that you can do in these environments, but is specifically thinking of these venues.
Yeah, and these conventions. Just knowing you're not alone. They're providing as much upfront as they possibly can. So doing research ahead of time, kind of, you know, if there's a map available, checking that out. Checking out the restaurants and different things available is super helpful, but that's not always the case.
But I think this is also
Christina: good for the people on the other side who may be planning events this summer or you know, hosting things to think about, taking that extra step to be as accessible and provide. As many things as
Leslie: you can to people. Oh my gosh. Yeah. When I was in Orlando for that conference, the technology conference, it was so nice [00:17:00] that the, from the hotel all the way to the convention center, which was quite a walk, they had a tactile marker.
So basically, um, something on the ground that people could follow with their canes. All the way from the, the hotel to the convention center. And it was really, really nice. It was very subtle. Some parts of it was just like a rug, right? But if I know I'm on the rug, I'm heading in the right direction. Um, so it doesn't have to be super inconvenient.
It doesn't have to be large and, you know, take up space. It was something so, so easy, but made a huge impact for clients or anybody who was traveling from point A to point B to get there safely, um, and easily. .
Timothy: There was nothing better. Last year when Glacier and I fi, when we got there, we, of course, you're a little nervous.
You're nervous, she's nervous cuz you're in a new building. But by day two and three, you start figuring this and Glacier just picked it up. And there's nothing better than the feeling is when you're on the other side of the hotel and you tell Glacier, let's go ho, let's go to our room. And she's just weaving you everywhere and takes you to the elevator and she's getting, and it [00:18:00] is, it is a great feeling when your dog figures it out and you figure.
and it, it, it just, man, this is awesome. And that's what ended up happening last year while I was in, in New
Leslie: Orleans. That's awesome. I mean, you know, I'm Team Kane all the way, but I would say these are the environments where a dog really does come in handy because you can pattern 'em, you can pattern 'em to your hotel door, to the, to the, um, elevator, like you said to the front desk, all sorts of different things that make that travel environment so much easier.
I wish I could tell the cane, take me to the elevator, .
Timothy: One day. One day they'll have a cane that does that. I'm sure
Leslie: you know, it tells me to say that in some situations. No, I get it, dog. You can't always rely on
Christina: technology. Let's not
Leslie: forget that is no. Cause the power.
Timothy: The power could go out. The power could go out on.
Leslie: And there's so many different cool, like indoor navigation apps and different things that you can be using. Um, it's just dependent on what the venue is using and if you have that [00:19:00] app downloaded, like right now at work, we're testing out, our old M team is testing out, I think it's called navs. Um, but you have to have the navs app in order to do it, but it's basically like QR codes and it gives you different information and, and whatnot.
Technology's coming along. It really is. There's some cool things that are happening. It's just trying to find something that's gonna be mainstreamed for everybody to use. Well, if I'm
Timothy: correct, IRA, if you're at the convention mm-hmm. , IRA's free that week inside the building. So, yeah. Uh, down download
Leslie: ira, sign up.
Yeah. I saw somebody using ira, um, at the Illinois conference that I was at, and it was pretty cool just helping navigate, you know, locating the correct conference room to go into the session. Smart. Right. Using your resources. It is. It's, there's some cool technology going on, so that's exciting. And
Timothy: I believe IRA is free at every airport too.
It tells you this area is free and they help you navigate through airports.
Leslie: Yeah, they've got a lot of different places, I think like Starbucks and maybe, uh, a [00:20:00] pharmacy or something too. , um, mm-hmm. . But yeah, they're doing a lot of really, really cool things and they have trained professionals on the other end, which is a really good feeling on my end, knowing that they're getting some, some good, um, information and safe information.
Well, good. Well this was great, Timothy. I love chatting about. I feel like we could chat about this all day long. Next time I'll bring the popcorn. . Don't make promises.
Well this is good. I enjoyed it. Um, and thank you so much for listening to the short episode of Taking the Lead podcast. I'm Leslie Hoskins with host Timothy cuo and Christina Hepp. We hope you enjoyed today's short episode, and please join us next week as we continue to dive into the world of blindness.
If you'd like to learn more
Christina: about applying to our free services at Leader Dog, you can head to leader dog.org or call us at (888) 777-5332. And don't forget, you can reach us at taking the lead@leaderdog.org with any questions or ideas. [00:21:00] If you'd like today's podcast and make sure to hit subscribe and check us out wherever podcast.
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