Yahoo!’s roving reporter: Pecan, the guide dog
Posted March 23rd, 2010 at 10:50 am by Yahoo!, Blog Editors
2 Comments / Filed in: Sports, Uncategorized
The multi-purpose room on the campus of Cal State University Northridge was too small for the number of people and wheelchairs and white canes and guide dogs assembled for this first annual CSUN Conference on Technology and Disabilities. I was introduced as the Keynote speaker and weaved through the crowd as I delivered my remarks. I weaved because there wasn’t a podium. There was only a floor. And very little space.
It would have been a pretty good speech (I think) if I hadn’t stepped on the tail of that sleeping dog. That’s when I learned that in addition to barking and howling, dogs can also shriek. I also learned that dog-shrieking can significantly alter the rhythm of a presentation.
This year, on its 25th anniversary, the CSUN conference will be held at the Grand Hyatt in San Diego to accommodate the more than 4,500 people from around the world expected to attend. The growth of this annual conference has been stunning, reflecting accurately the energy and innovation we witness everyday in the fields of assistive technology and rehabilitation.
The Yahoo! Accessibility Team—from Sunnyvale and London and Bangalore–is preparing to participate again in this year’s CSUN Conference. And as before, our presence will be notable. We are delivering 2 presentations showcasing the accessibility of Yahoo!’s Homepage and the business benefits of accessibility. We are also participating in an international tweetup, a number of private sessions with our strategic partners, a videotaping on the history of assistive technology, press interviews, and, of course, excessive eating.
This year we’re also trying something new and unprecedented. Building off an innovation originally created at a Yahoo! developer Hack Day, we’re giving everyone at CSUN and around the world an opportunity to experience the conference from an entirely new perspective, that of a guide dog (how fitting) named Pecan. With her owner, Lucia, Pecan will be carrying a camera on her harness that will take pictures of CSUN every 30 seconds and send them wirelessly to our photostream at: www.flickr.com/photos/seeingy.
Pecan. A guide dog. And now, Yahoo!’s roving reporter. I plan to walk carefully around her.
-Alan Brightman, Sr. Policy Director, Yahoo! Inc.
P.S. A big thank you to Victor Tsaran, Ted Drake and Robyn Tippins for their creative thinking and making the guide dog camera concept a reality.
Tagged: CSUN, Guide Dog, Yahoo! Accessibility, Yahoo! For Good
2 Comments Add your own
Ted DRAKE | March 23rd, 2010 at 2:47 pm
We couldn’t have asked for a more talented guide dog than the super sweet Pecan.
Dan Howard | April 1st, 2010 at 9:48 am
From the campus to the pentagon there are people all over the US taking part in a service to the blind and to returning troops having to adapt to multiple levels of disabilities. Because of this there is an increasing need for working dogs from guide dogs, to theropy dogs.
The US Army now has K9 in the field in Iraq that are on peaceful active duty to support the troops in emotonal and stresful times. These are theropy dogs. Specialy trained these dogs know how to enteract with combat soliers and allow them to be hugged and give comfort helping them to connect and release stress in ways they would never be able to with their buddies.
Like their counterparts, Guide dogs and service dogs are in the field today taking on more and increasgly difficult rolls from helping those that cant hear to seizures and PTSD just to name a few. As you can imagine the need is great to get as many dogs possible in the pipeline when those that wash out must be removed from the program leaving only the best to finish their training and be put into the field.
Being a vet and having family serving in Iraq and Afganistan I decided to brush off some of my old K9 handling skills from Uncle Sam and raise pups for a guide dog foundation in Smithtown NY. It was an awsome experience and its an incredible service. So far we have raised two and with hopes to get involved again in the future. I encourage anyone that loves pets and has a desire to help raise pups for those that need help to go to http://www.guidedog.org and look at the puppy program. All you have to do is feedem and lovem as well as attend a montly obedience class. The program is incredible and life changing.
Oh yea and for single guys? Think about it, a Golden Retreaver puppy? They are CHICK MAGNETS!!lol Just need to figure out how we can get some purple guide dog in training coats. hemmmmmmmm ;p
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