by Dave Williams
(Editor's Note: In mid-June, Jonathan Mosen, ACB Radio Director, announced that he would be leaving his position in mid-July in order to accept a new job with Pulse Data/Humanware. A few days before Jonathan's last ACB Radio show on July 18, ACB President Chris Gray announced the appointment of Dave Williams as ACB Radio's Interim Director. Dave has written the following words to introduce himself to those of us who may not know him, and to reassure us that -- despite our sadness at Jonathan's departure -- ACB Radio will remain in good and capable hands. Join us as we welcome Dave to the ACB and ACB Radio family.)
So who is Dave Williams and where does he come from? I live on the outskirts of Preston -- which is a small city in northwest England. My father is a retired police officer who lives in Vienna, Austria and my mother's family is from a farming background. Catherine, my sister, is a guide dog user and has recently accepted a position with a national library service in the UK.
I remained in full-time education until the age of 23 studying computing, mathematics, psychology, philosophy and politics among other subjects. Three years ago, a local college employed me to train blind and visually impaired people to use assistive technologies to access various Windows applications.
Additionally, I have been recruited to work on various audio production projects, including work for a telephone portal providing voice access to the Internet. Other audio-related jobs have included: re-mastering, voice-over work and production of IDs and promos for community and Internet radio. In 2002 I was proud to receive a national award for voluntary work after participating in a European social fund initiative designed to raise awareness of disability. I sit on a number of access advisory committees and feel strongly about advocating for equal access to products and services.
Under Jonathan Mosen's guidance I have worked with ACB Radio for more than three years. My voluntary roles have included: programming, promotions, recruiting, mentoring, and developing policy, sundry audio production and web development. Jonathan first came to my attention four years ago when he began Blind Line -- a weekly Internet broadcast where he would interview people of interest to the blind community.
In 1999, through his micro broadcasting station in New Zealand and the Hear Today project, Jonathan Mosen was promoting the idea that blind people from around the world could collaborate to manage and produce a radio station for the blind community. Former ACB president Paul Edwards shared in Jonathan's vision, and thus ACB Radio was born.
Today ACB Radio consists of four channels, hundreds of hours of archives and an international team of around 60 volunteer programmers, presenters and producers. A statistic Jonathan is fond of quoting is that the ACB Radio web site has received hits from people in over 70 countries around the world.
I believe the success of ACB Radio is due in no small part to Jonathan's incredible communications skills. He has a unique knack of being able to inspire and motivate with just a single phone call or e-mail. Jonathan has not only built ACB Radio, but by bringing together blind people from around the world, Jonathan has assembled an ACB Radio community.
On behalf of "The Braille Forum" readers, ACB members and ACB Radio listeners, I would like to extend our sincere gratitude to Jonathan Mosen for his numerous endeavors over the last few years.
A number of people have said to me recently that Jonathan's will be a tough act to follow. This seems like a colossal understatement to me. However, I have learned a great deal from Jonathan and have his ongoing support. Most important, I have the backing and encouragement of the ACB Radio volunteers and listeners.
I have been appointed as ACB Radio Director on an interim basis. It is not clear at the time of this writing when a permanent successor to Jonathan will be found. However, I believe that I have the support and experience to steer ACB Radio through this transitional period. I look forward to the challenge, while fully acknowledging a debt of gratitude to those who have preceded me and now extend their faith and support to me, and I look forward to getting to know everyone in ACB better. Be sure to visit all four channels of ACB Radio, as well as the web site at www.acbradio.org, soon.