Participants in the Manufacturers Forum included, from left, Scott Davis, CEO of Siemens Hearing Solutions; Peer Lauritsen, president of Oticon, Inc.; Heinz Ruch, CEO of Amplifon/Miracle Ear; Brandon Sawalich, vice-president of sales for Starkey Hearing Technology; Kara Nacarato, editor of The Hearing Professional and IHS’s manager of strategic alliances; and Scott Austin, a former IHS president, who was moderator of the discussion. This and the other photos in this post were taken by Paul Willoughby.
GLENDALE, AZ—The 61st annual International Hearing Society Convention & Expo drew an unusually large and enthusiastic turnout to the Renaissance Glendale Hotel & Spa. Some 500 IHS members were in attendance, along with a great many exhibitors and guests.
Among the highlights of the meeting, held September 19-22, was a Manufacturers’ Forum, which filled the large general session room. The panel of hearing industry leaders discussed “The Future of the Hearing Healthcare Market,” which fit well with the overall theme of the convention, “Reaching New Horizons and Forging New Ground!”
Other very popular events were the annual membership meeting and the Awards Gala, where many of the celebrants came in formal attire. Traffic was heavier than usual at the annual Expo, where scores of companies displayed their latest products and services for six hours on Friday evening and Saturday morning.
Following long-established tradition, Alan Lowell, BC-HIS, ACA, the outgoing president, passed the presidential gavel to his successor, Tom Higgins, BC-HIS, ACA. Lowell, the only person to be elected twice as the organization’s leader, will complete his second two-year term at the end of 2012.
It was announced during the meeting that Scott Beall, AuD, BC-HIS, is the new president-elect. He will succeed Higgins on January 1, 2015.
IHS MEMBERS, CHAPTERS HONORED
Karl Strom, left, presented Hearing Review’s Leadership Award. In the absence of Mike Canary, the recipient, Tom Higgins, the next president of IHS, accepted the award.
Those honored at the Awards Gala included Sherry Appleby, BC-HIS, of Yuma AZ, who received the Roger Andrus Memorial Award. It was presented to her by Joel Cmiel, BC-HIS, president of the Hearing Healthcare Providers of Arizona, and Sheri Collins, executive director of Arizona Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.
IHS’s annual James P. Lovell Advocacy Award was presented to the Indiana Hearing Aid Alliance. Accepting it were Vicki Fisher, BC-HIS; Bruce Campagna, BC-HIS; and Jane Bowman, BC-HIS, all leaders of the IHS chapter.
Chapter of the Year honors for 2012 went to the New Jersey Association of Hearing Health Professionals.
Mike Canary Sr., ACA, BC-HIS, of Easton, MD, received the annual Hearing Review Professional Leadership Award, presented by Karl Strom, editor of the publication. The Hearing Journal’s Joel S. Wernick Award for Dispenser Education was presented to Ed Lybarger, BC-HIS, of McMurray, PA, by Scott Austin, BC-HIS, a former president of IHS.
Representing the New Jersey Association of Hearing Health Professionals in accepting the 2012 Chapter of the Year Award were, at left, Chip Herb, ACA, BC-HIS, vice-president of the association, and David Weesner, AuD, the president. With them are Kathleen Mennillo, executive director of IHS, and Alan Lowell, the president.
I wanted to say that this article was very informative. It covered the convention well and the photos were great!
Alice Markey
former IHS staff member