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DeafNation trade show makes Inland stop | Business | PE.com | Southern California News | News for Inland Southern California
Thousands of visitors are expected in Riverside today for day two of DeafNation, a national touring trade show featuring products and services "for, by and about deaf people," according to the event website.
The show, which started Friday at the California School for the Deaf, 3044 Horace St. in Riverside, and runs until 5 p.m., features a roster of entertainers along with goods and services from more than 120 vendors from around the country. Mal Grossinger, superintendent of the school, said through an interpreter Friday more than 7,000 people had registered for the event online. More than 10,000 are expected to attend, some from as far away as Washington, Oregon, Colorado and Canada.
This is DeafNation's first Inland expo, and it is by far the school's largest community event, Grossinger said.
Austin, Texas, resident Joel Barish started the trade shows with his brother, Jed, in 2003. Other expos existed for the deaf community, he said, but they typically charged entrance fees. Barish said they wanted to make the show free to visitors to attract the largest and most diverse audience possible, generating revenue instead from sponsors, vendors, and online advertising.
Barish said the events help to grow businesses, and to raise awareness of the deaf economy. "Most people think it's small, but it's not."
Last year, the brothers organized the first DeafNation World Expo in Las Vegas, and 24,000 people came. The company's website, DeafNation, receives 7 million unique views each month, Barish said.
The Riverside show is one of nine scheduled around the country this year. They are typically held at conference centers, fairgrounds and other venues; this is DeafNation's first stop at a school. Vendors are a mix of regular trade-show travelers and local businesses offering everything from headbands and dish towels to scuba-diving lessons with deaf teachers, to bags, T-shirts and stickers featuring hand signs.
Ramy Bustamante, owner of Pyram, a Riverside store that sells products for the deaf, had a hefty supply of vibrating alarm clocks, along with books on sign language and smoke detectors that use strobe lights instead of sirens. He said sales so far were "great."
Bustamante said he has participated in expos before and was excited to learn DeafNation was coming to the Riverside school. "I couldn't believe it," he said.
Several vendors were showing off their latest telecommunications products for deaf users. Sorenson Communications, a Utah-based company, had a large display of video-relay services, which enable deaf users to connect with their hearing counterparts through a video connection with an interpreter. The interpreters, stationed around the clock in call centers around the U.S., are funded by the Federal Communications Commission.
Grossinger said such technological advancements have improved the lives of deaf individuals, opening the door to greater employment opportunities and even enabling hearing parents to better connect with their deaf children.
Gerald "Bummy" Burstein, a Riverside resident and retired teacher at the school, said the event provided a lot of useful information for the deaf community. He visited the expo Friday to check out the latest telecommunication technology available for the deaf. "I'm trying to keep up with the young crowd," he said through an interpreter.
Thousands of visitors are expected in Riverside today for day two of DeafNation, a national touring trade show featuring products and services "for, by and about deaf people," according to the event website.
The show, which started Friday at the California School for the Deaf, 3044 Horace St. in Riverside, and runs until 5 p.m., features a roster of entertainers along with goods and services from more than 120 vendors from around the country. Mal Grossinger, superintendent of the school, said through an interpreter Friday more than 7,000 people had registered for the event online. More than 10,000 are expected to attend, some from as far away as Washington, Oregon, Colorado and Canada.
This is DeafNation's first Inland expo, and it is by far the school's largest community event, Grossinger said.
Austin, Texas, resident Joel Barish started the trade shows with his brother, Jed, in 2003. Other expos existed for the deaf community, he said, but they typically charged entrance fees. Barish said they wanted to make the show free to visitors to attract the largest and most diverse audience possible, generating revenue instead from sponsors, vendors, and online advertising.
Barish said the events help to grow businesses, and to raise awareness of the deaf economy. "Most people think it's small, but it's not."
Last year, the brothers organized the first DeafNation World Expo in Las Vegas, and 24,000 people came. The company's website, DeafNation, receives 7 million unique views each month, Barish said.
The Riverside show is one of nine scheduled around the country this year. They are typically held at conference centers, fairgrounds and other venues; this is DeafNation's first stop at a school. Vendors are a mix of regular trade-show travelers and local businesses offering everything from headbands and dish towels to scuba-diving lessons with deaf teachers, to bags, T-shirts and stickers featuring hand signs.
Ramy Bustamante, owner of Pyram, a Riverside store that sells products for the deaf, had a hefty supply of vibrating alarm clocks, along with books on sign language and smoke detectors that use strobe lights instead of sirens. He said sales so far were "great."
Bustamante said he has participated in expos before and was excited to learn DeafNation was coming to the Riverside school. "I couldn't believe it," he said.
Several vendors were showing off their latest telecommunications products for deaf users. Sorenson Communications, a Utah-based company, had a large display of video-relay services, which enable deaf users to connect with their hearing counterparts through a video connection with an interpreter. The interpreters, stationed around the clock in call centers around the U.S., are funded by the Federal Communications Commission.
Grossinger said such technological advancements have improved the lives of deaf individuals, opening the door to greater employment opportunities and even enabling hearing parents to better connect with their deaf children.
Gerald "Bummy" Burstein, a Riverside resident and retired teacher at the school, said the event provided a lot of useful information for the deaf community. He visited the expo Friday to check out the latest telecommunication technology available for the deaf. "I'm trying to keep up with the young crowd," he said through an interpreter.
