Introducing the IMCCA Inclusion Initiative - Join our Fireside Chat on December 8th
/“Virtual Is Still Vital” Event Took Place Online on December 8, 2021 - Watch It On Demand Now
The IMCCA Inclusion Initiative held a kickoff meeting in September to discuss the mission and future goals for the initiative. The meeting was hosted by IMCCA board members, Mike Brandofino, IMCCA Chairperson and Dr. S. Ann Earon, IMCCA Founding Chairperson, and led by IMCCA end-users, Anthony DeVergillo and Gary LaSasso from Amicus Therapeutics. The IMCCA Inclusion Initiative founding members include AVI-SPL, Bluescape, Caregility, Cisco, Compunetix, Crestron, Intel, Jabra, Logitech, Pexip, Poly, QSC, Salamander Designs, Synnex, Xilica, Yorktel, and Zoom.
As Gary LaSasso stated, "We talked a lot over the past year about equity and inclusion for gender and race, but disability has really been on the backburner.” Inclusion initiatives have taken center stage at many companies, but few tackle inclusion for people living with a disability or rare disease. Anthony DeVergillo was empowered by his experience living with a rare disease, and by his creation of a Disability & Rare Advancement in the workplace employee resource group at Amicus Therapeutics, to partner with IMCCA and grow awareness & action on a larger scale.
Technology that supports virtual meetings and conference attendance allows people living with a disability to grow social connections and share their story and perspective with others – connection independent of physical, in-person barriers and difficulties. Anthony further explained, “Virtual experiences became a necessity in 2020, but for people with rare and chronic diseases who cannot easily travel, UC&C technology became the great equalizer!"
Mike Brandofino stated "IMCCA connects the vendor and end-user communities to tackle challenges, so I truly believe technology inclusion is important for us to discuss." The UCC industry develops software and hardware that allows everyone to connect virtually, so who better to consider accessibility and adapt technologies to better include people living with a disability who have difficulty traveling?
This is especially true as industry conferences begin to take place in-person again. We must all band together to ensure events that allow in-person, free, real-time attendance also permit virtual, free, real-time attendance using now proven technologies and platforms.
The IMCCA invites you to an online fireside chat called “Virtual Is Still Vital" on Wednesday, December 8, 2021 at [URL] to empower the entire industry to think outside the box when it comes to inclusive technology and related business decisions. The event will focus on the why and how, as Dr S. Ann Earon eloquently put, “If your video meeting is held virtually and you are able to recruit virtually, it didn't cost you anything, but you just opened the door for thousands of people." We look forward to sharing with you how to keep that door open by utilizing the 5 pillars of inclusion within your business (Stories, Technology, Accessibility, Careers, and Connection.
For further information contact:
Carol Zelkin, IMCCA Executive Director
516-818-8184
