DSLC Northern California TECH EXPO

news

Oct 14

The Disability Services & Legal Center (DSLC) in Santa Rosa recently hosted its 11th annual Northern California Tech Expo which PNG Blogger, Nick Struthers, felt was a big success. As well as hosting a booth for PNP, Nick blogs about the fun and informative event. You can also check out the Youtube Video where Nick speaks to some of the participants.

Two months ago, Lake Kowell of DSLC got in touch with me to give PNP the opportunity of hosting a booth at the event. With the larger Abilities Expo taking place in San Jose starting November 18th, the PNP team thought it would be a great opportunity to support the event and reach out to the SCI Community in this part of Northern California. We would also gain some valuable experience in participating in the Expo environment.

On the day of the event, I arrived in Petaluma FedEx Office to pick up our new banner which we had organized just in time for the event. It was only a short drive to Santa Rosa from there and I arrived in plenty of time at the House of Flowers Hall so I could set up. As this was my first booth set up, I wanted to ensure I had some time buffer and I had even remembered to pack DUC tape just in case. The hall itself was huge and all the 70+ exhibitors had more than enough space. In fact, the space was very useful for the wheelchair basketball and NorCal WCBMX demos, numerous full size adapted vans, medical transportation, not to mention a sailing boat courtesy of Bay Area Association of Disabled Sailors

Boat provided by BAADS Hall Floor

I introduced myself to Lake who was busy giving all the booth representatives a warm welcome and ensuring they had everything they needed to set up. I have to thank Lake as she was able to organize a metal frame ideal for hanging our new banner on. As we waited for the doors to open, I had the chance to say hi to Troy who is Mr. SCI Active Network, Tony, part of Sonoma SCI Support Group, Wayne and his service dog Yoda. I hope I got Yoda's name correct as I met quite a few adorable service dogs that day and they did not have business cards. I was also pleased to know that Canine Companions was in the booth next to me, so I was guaranteed plenty of traffic including the four legged variety.

Wayne and Yoda with Canine Companions Terri and Cowboy

To get a good feel for the event itself, I do suggest you watch the YouTube video. It gives a good impression of the size of the event and contains an interview with Lake and Inga Lizdenyte of DSLC who were instrumental in putting on such a great event.

Inga and Lake

I was unsure what to expect from our attendance at such an event and what surprised me was the number of vendors and the amount of people and animals in attendance. A complete list of the vendors can be found at the end of the Post. With around 10,000 SCI survivors living in the Bay Area alone, it now makes sense that with Lake and the Sonoma County SCI Support Group's outreach, I did get to meet a significant number of individuals from the SCI Community. What was interesting, although not too surprising, was many people came up to me asking what The Patterson Network Project was all about. I realized that despite our banner and our monitor display, it was not clear exactly what we did. It presented me with the opportunity to explain all about PNP as well as suggest that they should also say hello to Yoda at the booth right next to me. I've also got some other ideas now for our presence at the Abilities Expo coming up in San Jose starting November 18th.

I want to thank Lake and Inga at DSLC for staging such a well organized, fun and informative event and making me feel very welcomed. I look forward to doing what I can to support them in future Expos.

TECH EXPO VENDOR LIST

1Touch: www.1touchproject.com

211 – Sonoma County: www.211sonoma.org

Ability Center: www.abilitycenter.com

Accessible Mobility Center: www.amcmobility.com

Alana Tillman: www.alanaciena.com

At Your Service Homecare: www.ayshomecare.net

Aurora Santa Rosa Hospital: www.aurorasantarosa.com

BAADS (Bay Area Association of Disabled Sailors): www.baads.org

Bergin University of Canine Studies: www.berginu.edu

Blazers Wheelchair Basketball Team: https://www.facebook.com/Santa-Rosa-Blazers-Wheelchair-Basketball-Team-293657646462/

BORP (Bay Area Outreach and Recreation Program): www.borp.org