Upcoming Seminars
Giving back to New Orleans and the surrounding region
FREE SEMINAR: “Accessible Events: Inviting Patrons with Disabilities”
In Collaboration with the Arts Council of New Orleans
Tuesday, July 10th 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Union Passenger Terminal Board Room. 2nd Floor
1001 Loyola Avenue, New Orleans, Louisiana
FREE but please RSVP to Gene Meneray or call 504-523-1465
FREE CONSULTING: I will be in New Orleans for two weeks, July 9 to July 21. While there, I am offering my consulting services for no fee to interested festivals and events. An event might want to review an existing access plan, begin planning from scratch, perform a site assessment, or simply sit and talk over some sticky situations. Anything is possible. Contact Gene Meneray or call 504-523-1465 to set an appointment.
I lived in New Orleans for twenty years primarily working with WWOZ Community Radio and the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. Two years before Katrina and Rita hit, I moved back to Massachusetts to be closer to family. I’ll always be deeply connected to New Orleans and I am grateful for the opportunity to give something back to the city where I spent most of my adult years. I look forward to sharing some of the event accessibility expertise that I have further developed since leaving New Orleans.
Description of Seminars
The Americans with Disabilities Act requires that any public accommodation be accessible to people with disabilities... If an event is open to the public, it must be accessible. Accessibility is more than providing a few accessible parking spaces and a ramp. These interactive seminars cover the basic principals of accessibility and provide practical advice that can be put to use right away. Call for rates.
Events-Access Seminar Outline:
- Reasons for including people with disabilities
- Accommodating people with mobility limitations, who are deaf or hard of hearing, or who are blind or have low vision
- Accommodating people with hidden disabilities, cognitive disabilities, or psychiatric disorders
- Service animals, website accessibility, emergency evacuation, personal assistants
- Why training is important for board members, staff, volunteers, presenters, and vendors
- Planning, preparation, and publicity
- Events and the Americans with Disabilities Act
- Resources
Business-Access Seminar Outline:
- Reasons for Including People with Disabilities
- Physical access: parking, entering, interior layout, restrooms
- Communicating with people who have vision or hearing loss
- Customer service, training
- Service Animals, Chemical Sensitivity, Emergency Evacuation
- Publicity, Web site Access
- Public accommodations and the Americans with Disabilities Act
- Resources
What Participants Say
- "Excellent, Excellent!"
- "Great content; obvious passion of speaker."
- "Thank you! Enjoyed very much!"
- "Good pace, interesting subject matter presented in a well organized manner."
- "Excellent information... well organized and very positive!"
- "This was really wonderfully done."
- "The information was shared in an expedited manner - group discussion made it more interesting and is always fun - also - very practical information was given."
- "You've educated us and encouraged us to "think" about accessibility/universal access which will result in what's best for us all - our business and our personal lives."
- "It was very informative - promoted much thought on the subject."
- "Extremely useful."
- "Lots of interaction. Great information. Very practical."
- "Specific situations & possible solutions."
- "Well prepared and organized. Involved all people. Welcomed input."
- "Very informative, learned more is needed than just a ramp, importance of signage, etc."
- "Lots of info. Lots of topics that I had not thought about. Well run."
- "Yes, very useful. My knowledge of this subject went from very little, to very wide, very informative."
- "Good information to apply to our situation."
- "Useful and applicable to my work."
- "Great information, what an eye opener."
PREVIOUS SEMINARS
Accessibility seminars that Laura Grunfeld has conducted include:
- “Accessible Festivals,” Carolina Showfest 2007, Charlotte, North Carolina.
- "Accessible Festivals; Including People with Disabilities," 51st Annual International Festival and Events Association (IFEA) Convention & Expo, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
- "Welcoming Customers with Disabilities; Access Makes Good Business Sense," The Greylock Federal Credit Union and The Office of Cultural Development, City of Pittsfield, The Colonial Theater, Pittsfield, Massachusetts.
- "Planning an Accessible Event," The Greylock Federal Credit Union and The Office of Cultural Development, City of Pittsfield, The Colonial Theater, Pittsfield, Massachusetts.
- "Accessible Festivals - Make Your Outdoor Event Accessible to People with Disabilities," National Institute on Recreation Inclusion (NIRI), presented by The National Recreation and Park Association, Groton, Connecticut.
- "How to Make Your Event Accessible To People with Disabilities; Attract New Audience Members, and Comply With the Law," Southern Arts Federation's Performing Arts Exchange, Memphis, Tennessee.
- "How to Make Your Event Accessible to People with Disabilities," Berkshire Community College, Great Barrington, Massachusetts, in the Berkshires.
- "Accommodating People with Disabilities at Business Events," Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
- "Making Your Event Accessible, A Guide for Complying with the Americans with Disabilities Act," National Association of Independent Artists Annual Conference, New Orleans, Louisiana.
- Laura has also conducted countless in-house training sessions for staff, vendors, and volunteers. These trainings can range from half-day Access Awareness trainings to 10 minute, on-site, job specific trainings, and everything in between.