Tag: thanks

The Friends Who Listen For Me [en]

As the founding editor of Phonak’s community blog “Open Ears” (now part of “Hearing Like Me“) I contributed a series of articles on hearing loss between 2014 and 2015. Here they are.

While I was writing “Never Mind, It’s Not Important“, I realised I have certain friends who do way more than just avoid brushing me off with a “never mind” when I am in a situation where I struggle to understand what is being said: they will repeat and summarise for me.

This happens especially in group situations where I haven’t managed to position myself optimally, or when the audio quality or acoustics aren’t good.

Having somebody “be my ears” and repeat to me what I need to know is really precious. We’re at the opposite of the “it’s not important” situation I wrote about recently: I am willingly giving up the power to decide what is important or not to somebody else. But the key word here is “willingly”. It is my choice.

Friends-Who-Listen-For-Me

This allows me to relax instead of having to strain, and it also means I won’t be asking the person speaking to the group to repeat stuff that everyone has understood but me.

So, group situations where somebody is giving information/instructions for everybody are a typical scenario — another is dinner parties at restaurant tables. It’s really nice when the person beside me repeats what a more distant person is trying to get across to me when I’m asking them to repeat for the third time. Easier!

I’m very grateful for these people who seem to be able to keep in mind that it’s more difficult for me than them to hear well in tricky situations. And it touches me that they care enough to take the trouble to make life a little bit easier for me.

Thank you.

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Thanks! See You at LIFT08 :-) [en]

A heartfelt thanks to those of you who following [blogged about Going Solo](http://del.icio.us/steph/coverage+goingsolo) or voted for [my Open Stage presentation](http://www.liftconference.com/going-solo-being-freelancer-connected-world). I’m actually going to be the first Open Stage talk, [Thursday morning before the break](http://www.liftconference.com/lift08-program-thursday-friday). Exciting and scary!

[My workshop](http://www.liftconference.com/get-started-blogging) also got enough registrations to be provided with a room, which is nice. I can still accommodate a few more people (up to 15 as far as I’m concerned, but I’m trying to make sure the room is big enough). I’d like to insist again on the fact that this is a workshop for ***people who are not yet blogging*** — you’ll find it frighteningly basic if you’re already a blogger. Also, you will have to **bring your own laptop** as we do not have a computer lab. So, if you’re coming to LIFT08, aren’t blogging yet, but would like to get going, [sign up for the workshop](http://www.liftconference.com/get-started-blogging).

I’ve been asked by a couple of people if they could come to the workshop although they don’t have a ticket for LIFT. That is unfortunately impossible, as the workshops are reserved to LIFT attendees (you should [come to LIFT](http://climbtothestars.org/archives/2008/01/25/come-to-lift08/), it’s really worth it). (The [Venture Night](http://www.liftconference.com/lift08-venture-night) and [Sustainable Development Sessions](http://www.liftconference.com/lift08-program-thursday-friday#wattwatt) are open to non-LIFT public, however.) For those who might be interested, I’m planning to organize similar [Get Started Blogging](http://stephanie-booth.com/fr/particuliers/cours/) workshops in Lausanne (or elsewhere if there is enough interest). The first should take place on Feb. 26th (details to follow), in French. Again, if enough English-speakers are interested (say 6 people minimum) then I can also organize a workshop in English.

My [discussion session on multilingualism online](http://www.liftconference.com/all-these-languages-localization-and-multilingualism-online) thankfully didn’t make the cut (remember I’ll also be live-blogging LIFT08!!), but I’ll set up an informal meeting for people who are interested in chatting about this.

See you at LIFT!

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