Frank Schaefer, SXSW Office Manager
My name is Frank Schaefer. I’m the office manager for SXSW and one of my roles is to establish and implement our policy for patrons with disabilities. We worked with Barbie Parker who owns Lotusign in three different capacities during SXSW conferences last year. Policy review and implementation, live music interpreting and interpreting for panels.
The most important asset Barbie brings to any conference is a solid professional turn-key approach to her services. When you contract with her, you can be confident that she will work through all the details and her crew will provide seamless service.
On accessibility policy issues, Barbie provided very sound and pragmatic advice. She understands both what the patrons who are deaf and hard of hearing need in order to have a full experience and what SXSW faces in putting on a huge conference. I’m not changing anything from last year to this year.
As far as live music interpreting, there is no one better than Barbie and her crew. When they interpret music, you can see the free flowing passion for the art. They are low key enough not to distract and rock-n-roll enough to make it great for patrons who are deaf. Musicians will even joke/flirt/interact with them on stage and the crowd loves it. If I used anyone else, I’d never hear the end of it.
Setting up a procedure for interpreting panels at SXSW is very difficult. SXSW had XX panels last year. Very few patrons know which panels they want to go to ahead of time. Barbie had to have enough interpreters on hand to cover a number of last minute sign ups. She also took over the roll of coordinating with them so that I wasn’t stuck in the middle. She took it off my plate and handled it.
In short, Barbie is a turn-key solution for any type of conference where interpreting for attendees who are deaf/hard of hearring is needed. She understands what you face as a promoter, seamlessly takes care of the details and, form what I heard, does a great job at interpreting.