Rupert's Interview with Katherine Firkins at SIGNews
August 5th 2008:
What were the main reasons for establishing DPHH in San Diego?
Just a point of clarification... I was not the founder of the San Diego's happy hour event (aka DPHH). Our "DPHH" was an informal programming event that were always coordinated by a team of two motivated volunteers. Joey Moss and I happen to be the fourth team in the past six years (or so). It was originally called the DPHH since it was a convenient frame of reference recognizable nationwide for the concept of deaf professionals gathering once every month, thanks largely to the successful original DPHH in Washington D.C. However, in light of DPHH being formally trademarked by Viable Vision and sponsorship provided, the informal Deaf Community Professionals Association (DCPA) have decided to discontinue using the formerly convenient title, "DPHH." Our DPHH is now known simply as DCPA's Happy Hour event. This event is for all practical purposes identical with the intent of the DPHH except in three key respects:
1) We cannot imply endorsement of Viable Vision who chose to capitalize on an existing deaf community institution that has existed for many years before Viable Vision begun serving the deaf community. We also cannot subject our members to being photographed for promotional purposes, as outlined on www.dphh.com website. That said, we recognize the good intentions of Viable Vision to promote the cohesion of the deaf community and eagerly continue to support any DPHH chapters.
2) We are unique in that we explicitly welcome any members who consider themselves a member of the deaf community regardless of their fluency in sign language with the understanding that our events are conducted primarily in sign language. This language means we specifically includes any service providers such as sign language interpreters, speech language therapists, psychologists, and other professionals.
3) Our Happy Hour is actually now a flagship event under the DCPA organization which is also an informal organization with its unique vision serving the deaf community in San Diego county. Joey Moss and I continues to work as a team to expand DCPA's offerings and build partnerships within the community.
All that said, as far as I know, DPHH - San Diego was originally formalized by Jared Evans and Stacey Gainok who are both no longer residents in San Diego County. In my conversations with Stacey, it was my understanding that their vision was to replicate the success of other DPHH events. They wanted to provide a social venue to promote networking and fun times. Their purpose was simple but it was a big step for San Diego County in many ways so they should be applauded for working hard to start it up with their Yahoo Group which continues to be used today as a general community announcement listserv. The actual founder of DPHH is not known to me although I knew there were informal gatherings of professionals that were not well established and lack a mechanism to effectively get the word out.
From your perspective, why is DPHH important to the deaf and hard of hearing community in San Diego? What about other cities across the country?
In addition to the comments above which partially answers this question, we continue to host the DPHH-like Happy Hour event because we recognize that it fulfills a vital function in San Diego county. It brings together the deaf community professionals and provide them with a venue to engage in a dialogue that wouldn't been possible otherwise due to natural barriers (e.g., life experience, career paths, physical location, etc) as well as welcoming newcomers to San Diego. This event has proven to be very popular for many professionals; our events typically enjoy a turnout ranging from 30-70 people and we meet several new faces everyday!
I strongly believe that all deaf communities nationwide should host their own professional gatherings and announce them online so visitors can find them. If they do not have an established organization that fits the vision of a happy hour event they can affiliate themselves with, they should consider affiliating themselves with the new DPHH network sponsored by Viable Vision. However, as we have shown, that is not the only way to go. It is problematic to just assume that the deaf community shares the same characteristics from one city to another. DCPA is an unique model and a social experiment that is evidently succeeding here in San Diego.
What are the challenges of hosting DPHH?
The most obvious challenge related to hosting our Happy Hour events is to get the word out, figuring out what the members truly want in a DPHH, convincing the older crowd to come back to our events, and avoiding our own burnout. In six years, we have had high turnover among the volunteers because they simply moved away, had interpersonal conflicts, or called it quits. Nevertheless, it can be a truly rewarding experience and allow the coordinators to network with various stakeholders in the community. The rewards are enhanced when we chose to expand our vision into what is now the DCPA organization.
Why is your DPHH known as DCPA? What is your motto?
The DCPA is an informal recreational organization founded approximately five months ago by myself, the DCPA Coordinator, with ongoing technical (and moral) support from Joey Moss who functions primarily as the DCPA's Webmaster. We coordinate all events and debate the best direction for the organization to move forward while working with other members of the deaf community. We both are untraditional professionals and the flexibility in our schedules therefore allows for more ambitious plans although most of our discussions continues to be via email. We enjoy the support of many deaf professionals and we have sponsored many incredible events hosted by these professionals which caters to various interests. Our vision is to empower deaf community professionals who uses sign language to host informal events according to their own interests so they can connect with like-minded professionals. Among some of our more popular events includes the happy hour, five courses wine paired with dinner, photographic museum tour, and game nights. We have a major event planned for a group of up to 18 to travel to Rosarito Beach, Mexico later this month as well as many other ideas in the pipeline! We continue to expand the membership count in our own exclusive Google Group listserv and are slowly transitioning from the Yahoo Group (which serves the whole deaf community).
I am sure some are interested in hosting DPHH related events in cities that don't have them. Do you have any particular advice for them?
Do not be overly ambitious at the outset and be persistent so people can rely on your event to be predictable and plan their lives around it (yes, they do!). Choose whatever the format works best for your community... for example, if you are in Salt Lake City, where alcohol consumption is generally frowned on, maybe a happy hour type of event won't work, heh. You need to be aware of the small details that will be a big deal. Many people will have ideas that is in fact a "bad" idea because of some factor they haven't thought of. Some of the factors true for us includes location, parking availability, cover charge, happy hour specials, dinner/alcoholic beverage selections, seperate checks policy, and how crowded the venue is likely to be on a Friday night. Contacting each venue and even visiting them to speak with the manager on-duty will make for a meaningful DPHH.
Identify colleagues and "superconnectors" (somebody who somehow knows **everybody**) who are interested in supporting you in forming a professional gathering. Joey and I both have been residents of San Diego County for most of our lives... it does help! Make a concerted effort to get the older professionals onboard.
The amount of work you put in can range from 1-20 hours/week, depending on how ambitious you are. I spend an average of 5 hours per week thanks largely to the support of Joey Moss but sometimes I worked 20 hours a week especially in the process of founding DCPA. Again, this can be a rewarding experience on many different levels and you can dedicate as much time as you please.
Do you have anything else that you would like to add?
Joey and I are both troubled by the trend of corporations aggressively offering various services to the deaf community. By attempting to integrate themselves into the deaf community, they are trying a whole new approach to marketing. It seems to blur the line of who works for who? On the flip side, it may be precisely what the deaf community needs since only corporations have the budget to provide the services in an increasingly fragmented community. Just ask any old-timers and they will fondly recall the old days of game clubs then sigh as they explain that it doesn't happen anymore. Only time will tell. In the meantime, each of us must do what we think will best serve the professionals in our own deaf community.
Business Cards
August 28th 2008:
NEW Business Cards have arrived! Many of our patrons said they had a hard time remembering our name or our website so we ordered 250 business cards.
You'll get as many as you want the next time you see us! Can't wait? Email us to have some mailed out to you.... dcpacoordinator@dcpaofsd.org.
Here's a photo of what our business cards look like.
2008 DAD Booth
August 21st 2008:
We are thinking of hosting a booth at the Deaf Awareness Day this October so that more community members can learn about us. The booth fee is just $50. However, Joey and I have already paid a lot of money out of our pocket and can't afford to keep paying for DCPA by ourselves!
Domain Name (www.dcpaofsd.org) (1 year): $7.99
Website Hosting (1 year): $108
250 Business Cards: $20
DAD Booth: $50
We are wondering if the deaf community would like to help us pay our expenses? We could host a fundraising lunch or dinner at places like Pat 'n' Oscar's, Fuddrucker's, etc. Email us your suggestion on where we should do it and when! We will always accept direct donations.
Email: dcpacoordinator@dcpaofsd.org
DCPA Growth
August 20th 2008:
Phew! DCPA is growing much faster than any of us have thought possible. We are co-sponsoring several large events in the next few months as well as setting up a partnership with San Diego County Registry of Interpreters (SDCRID; www.sdcrid.org) for free interpreting services whenever we need them... like museum tours!!! Our website has changed a LOT to make it easier for our members. Check out all of the wonderful events happening in the next few months!
Milestone!
September 4th 2008:
Great News! At 6:33am this morning, our 100th member signed up for our email listserv.
Our Goal: 200 members by Halloween 2008. Spread the word and visit our booth at Deaf Awareness Day (DAD)! :)
