July 17, 2007

While this serves as the 2007 Conference Report, it is also a letter of thanks to many, many people.

On the behalf of Rainbow Alliance of the Deaf Board, we are pleased to announce that we had a grand total of 120 attendees at our Atlanta conference: 108 men and twelve women. The RAD Board, along with the RAD 2007 Conference committee, hosted this wondrous event at the Marriott Hotel, only twelve miles north of downtown Atlanta. The staff at the hotel exemplified the term "Southern hospitality" with their warm, welcoming and generous natures. Steven Schumacher worked on the hotel accommodations, securing the low cost of $99 a night, ensuring that those who wanted to attend the conference could afford to do so. Thank you, Steven!

The RAD Board would also like to thank all the volunteers and committees who donated their time and efforts to make our conference so successful. Without them, the week would have not been successful. Thank you!

The officers, delegates, Members-at-Large and committee chairs met for five days of the week to debate RAD business. Libby Pollard served as our parliamentarian. On the last day, elections were held -- and there were two positions in which did not reach a majority: President and Vice President. Voting took place five times for the President and two times for the Vice President. Mich Gerson is our new Vice President. Originally from New Jersey, she now attends college at the Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, N.Y. Steven Schumacher from Maryland was voted in as our Secretary. The election for Treasurer was also very close. Frank Folino from Toronto, Ontario Canada is our new Treasurer. We want to thank those who ran for RAD Officer positions: your dedication and love to RAD is unmistakable, and we are so glad to have you as part of our family. We also want to recognize the hard work of the law committee: David Nelson, James Maloney and Ricky Drake. Last but not least, a very special thanks to the Members-at-Large, delegates and committee chairs for their unyielding dedication to RAD.

The RAD Pageant was a success! Thanks must be extended to David Rink and Ed Carrigan for their planning and coordinating, and to Alex Leffers for being the Master of Ceremonies. We also thank all the contestants! Juan Bernal of Chicago won the title of Mr. RAD and Jamie Wessinger from Georgia is now Miss RAD. Their shows were outstanding!

To our sponsors: CSDVRS, Sprint, Sorenson Communications, and the International Gay Bowling Organization helped sponsor our conference. Many thanks for their generous support!

Donations: PRDS (Peachtree Rainbow Deaf Society - Atlanta, GA) donated $2,000 to RAD. Many Thanks for their support.

Interpreter Service: We want to thank David Cowan who have helped with the interpreter's scheduling. Many Thanks to Mandy Bracken, Marc Burton, Brad Dale, Nic Chorpash, Jennifer Mantle, Jon Shive, Donna Flanders and Bob Clements.

Exhibitors: Many Thanks to GACHI, Sprint Relay, WCRAD/RAD 2009, GA Hamilton Relay, IDL 2007/IDL 2008-PLCD, Sorenson Communications and CSDVRS.

Those who hosted the RAD workshops cannot go unrecognized: Thanks to Andy Bartley, HIV/AIDS: What You Can Do to Protect Yourself; Elizabeth "Libby" Pollard, ABCs Of Parliamentary Procedures: Workshop Objectives; and to Tim Riker, Investing 101. Your workshops were incredibly informative!

The RAD Banquet was on the last night of the conference. Our gratitude is extended to Jose Granda, the Master of Ceremonies for the RAD Banquet. This year presented a new award: the President's Award, which was appropriately given to our first RAD President, Herbert Fradin. Also, the Man and Woman of the Year 2007 awardees were Michel Turgeon from Montreal, Quebec and Marlee Matlin from California.

The RAD 2009 Committee deserves recognition for their dedication to ensuring that the Chicago conference will be an outstanding success. Not only did they man a booth the whole week, but they also graced us with a show and a presentation at the Banquet. Their performance, along with their slideshow of breathtaking Chicago and enthusiastic WCRAD members, was well received: RAD 2009 will be a SUCCESS! For more information, please go to www.wcrad.org.

As previously mentioned, we have two new RAD executive officers: Michelle "Mich" Gerson, Vice President, and Frank Folino, Treasurer. Welcome aboard! Further Board positions will be announced as soon as they are determined.

Many thanks to Bob Donaldson and Barbara Hathaway for their performance as RAD President and Vice-President 2005-2007. Thanks to Bob Rourke and Alex Leffers as IDL Representatives, Rene Vargas as the RAD Youth Representative, John Maxwell as the DBCO Representative, David Rink as the GLAD-E Representative, David O'Toole and Billy Raby as Deaf GLOW Representatives, Billy "Zookie" Barr and Drago Renteria as DQRC Representatives, and Alex Richey as the Senior Citizen Representative.

Gratitude goes out to Henry Carter as RAD Webmaster, Ricky Drake as English/French Translator, Scot Pott as RAD Chapter Moderator and Drago Renteria as RAD Historian. We could not succeed as an organization serving the Community without the help of so many people. We are forever indebted for your hard work.

As one term ends and another begins, there is only one promise the new Board can make: we promise to serve the Deaf queer community with love in our hearts, determination in our character, and faith in our fellowship,

Larry Pike RAD President Elect

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Bob Donaldson RAD Outgoing President