Most of the rooms will be equipped with sound field amplification systems provided by Phonic Ear (www.phonicear.com). The purpose of a sound field amplification system is to help the speaker's voice stand out above the background noise in the room, even at a distance. You will notice that the speaker is wearing a wireless microphone/transmitter and is free to move about. The speaker's voice is transmitted by FM radio waves or infrared light waves to a receiver that is connected to one or more loudspeakers. The
speaker's voice then projects from the loudspeaker, to bring the sound to your ear at a more intense level and at closer range. Some sound field amplification systems can be used with a second microphone/transmitter that serves as a pass-around microphone. The pass-around microphone can be used for panel members to speak and for audience members to ask questions. In the case of some models of FM amplification systems, the speaker's microphone/transmitter has to be turned off when the pass-around microphone is on, because if two microphones transmitting on the same FM frequency in the same room are both turned on, they will interfere with each other. Both the speaker's and the pass around microphone can be turned on at the same time if the FM system has receivers on two different frequencies feeding signals to the same loudspeaker, as in Phonic Ear's "FrontRow to Go" system which you will hear being used at the convention.

Please visit Phonic Ear's exhibit booth and thank their representatives for their generosity and hard work in providing quality sound for our conference.

If you are bringing your own FM assistive listening device, please arrive at each session 10 minutes before it is scheduled to begin. The speaker may be able to wear your own microphone/transmitter in addition to the one intended for the room. If the room has an FM system and you have a universal FM receiver (such as a Phonak MLxS or Phonic Ear Solaris), in some cases we may be able to synchronize your reception channel with the one used for the presentation.

Sessions of interest to those with hearing loss, and also the Saturday morning Keynote Address and the Saturday evening banquet, will have CART (Communication Access Realtime Translation) reporters provided by the Massachusetts Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (MCDHH). These sessions are shown in shaded blocks in the table of conference meeting rooms. The symbol CART indicates that a CART reporter will be available for that session. Visit the MCDHH booth to find out more about their services providing access for deaf and hard of hearing individuals. We would particularly like to thank Nancy Eaton, CART reporter, for her long and dedicated service to the Minuteman Implant Club and for organizing the CART services for this convention.

Opportunities to learn about cochlear implant technology updates, and to ask questions about processors for existing implant systems, include a presentation from each manufacturer with CART. Plenty of expertise is available at each manufacturer's booth through the weekend, allowing attendees a free choice of sessions without missing
technology updates.