Welcome to the 2017 National ADA Symposium
in Chicago.
I love coming to the Symposium every year.
It's a great learning experience and it's
a lot of fun.
Four days, 85 in-depth sessions, 950 attendees
for literally all around the world.
This is big and it happens in a different
city every year.
What the ADA National Symposium represents
is the single best place that you can take
the time and energy and effort to be here
to learn from some of the best experts in the country.
Every year the Great Plains ADA Center puts
on this kind of national event that raises
the level of awareness around the Americans
with Disabilities Act, that brings together
leaders from around the country and also people
who are just learning about the ADA and how to implement it.
We're really trying to create a community
here.
We're trying to reflect society so that the
sessions that we offer reflect what is out
in the world: transportation, housing, accessible
design, employment.
The Access Board has provided presenters to
the National ADA Symposium now for--  well
I've been coming for more than 15 years.
I think it's exciting that this year at the
ADA Symposium there's a whole healthcare track,
which shows me that there is more interest
in this.
I think the symposium is a great way for people
especially in the field of ADA accessibility,
especially brand new to the field, have a
resource such as this to come to every year
and learn how they can think about opening
up their programs and services and facilities
to people with disabilities.
Professional sports teams were also represented.
Carl Decatrel will be the ADA Coordinator
for the Miami dolphins.
We're working very hard to make sure that
everybody enjoys the game as equal as anybody else.
one of the keynote speakers was Jerry Kerr,
the president of the organization "Segs For Vets".
So far a staggering 1600 adapted segways have
been given away.
We give them away to the men and women of
the United States military and on occasion
first responders, people of service.
It brings everybody together once a year to
be able to trade not only their successes
and successful implementation activities,
but also some of the issues and problems that
they're having, and maybe somebody from Oregon
has a solution for somebody in North Carolina.
Will see everyone in 2018 in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania.
