June 21, 2021 - Building on the success of the ACB virtual 2020 Conference & Convention, ACB will be hosting its 60th annual convention virtually, providing the opportunity to feature an exciting series of speakers, networking events and learning opportunities with ACB members and conference participants.
“Despite all the challenges we faced during the coronavirus pandemic, we reached so many more members and friends of ACB in this format,” said ACB executive director Eric Bridges. “”It has been exciting to see all the new relationships coming together that have formed in a virtual universe.”
Conference participants will have a variety of topics with the added “Track” approach this year to highlight sessions of similar interest throughout the convention week. The 8 tracks for the conference are:
- Audio Description
- Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
- Education and Employment
- Entertainment.
- Health and Wellness
- Technology
- Advocacy
- General
The event will include general sessions, special-interest affiliates, committee and business partner programming, and even some virtual social events.
“Our ACB members, staff and volunteers have done an exceptional job creating a welcoming environment for our guests. There is a real pride of ownership,” shared ACB President Dan Spoone.
The convention program will feature:
- An Audio Description Tour Channel with 24 hours of unique tours of National Parks, museums and historical locations featuring the Wright Brothers First Flight, the US Olympics Museum, the Disney Home and a return of the Mount Rushmore tour.
- 142 breakout sessions.
- Audio description panel featuring the eight largest Streaming Networks including Netflix, Amazon, Apple, Disney and HBO.
- Banquet speaker will be Peter Sagal from NPR’s Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me, and
- A Live Auction with over 100 items from vacation trips, delicious desserts, assistive technology and homemade crafts.
- The closing session on Friday, July 23rd will be An ACB/NBC simulcast of a fully Audio Described presentation of the Olympic Opening Ceremonies from Tokyo.
- Also this year there will be the first ACB remote, virtual elections to for leadership and board roles.
Participants have a variety of ways to enjoy the conference and convention, from interactive Zoom meetings for registered participants, to live video and audio streams on ACB’s YouTube, and Facebook pages, over the ACB Media skill on Alexa enabled devices, and through the ACB Radio streams on the ACB Media network.
ACB is thankful for our Diamond level Sponsors which include: Microsoft, JP Morgan, Google, Comcast and Vispero and a special thanks to Verizon Media for their support in promoting this year’s ACB convention.
To register or find out more about this year’s ACB’s 2021 Conference & Convention visit www.acb.org.