Thursday -today

I have spent today as you can see catching up on some clerical duties. Tomorrow I have some more connections to make with people from Keroul and finalise a couple of meetigns in London. We fly to London tomorow night (Friday)and begin work there on Monday.

Keroul - Wednesday 28th April

Back to work....I spent the day with Andre leCLerc and his team at Keroul in Montreal today. What a great day. This organisation is doing a number of the things that we can see IDEAS doing....we can learn a lot from them. Keroul have specialised in supporting accessible tourism for people with disability in Quebec for 30 years and have a wealth of experience and knowledge. I spent time with the executive team, Research and Development team as well as peopel working on their Äccessible Road project. The dedicated staff of 8 people were wonderful hosts and I can't thank them enough for their time. I came away from the day armed with a mountain of papers, reports and tools to research and review as well as a genuine hockey puck. Great ambassadors for Quebec; it was so nice to connect with colleagues in our field.I will meet again with people from Keroul at the Transed Conference in Hong Kong. www.keroul.qc.ca if you would like to see what they do or www.larouteaccessible.com which is another of their websites.

Monday 26th April

Yesterday (Sunday) was spent having a quiet morning catching up on domestic tasks. The afternoon was spent at the Baseball. Arizona DiamondBacks vs Philadelphia Phillies at the Chase field in Phoenix with friends that could explain the nuances of Baseball rules. A great way to spend a Sunday afternoon in the USA.

Today was spent travelling to Montreal. We arrived in the evening and in the middle of a major ice hockey match happening down the road from our Hotel. The game was a crucial game in the play offs and Montreal won. The crowd carried on as if it was the Word Cup. Great atmosphere. Woke up the next day to snow...after 30 degrees in Phoenix.

Saturday 24th April

Now we have moved onto Phoenix and staying with an American girlfriend that I spent time with at High School in Tumut. Veva and her husband Steve live in Paradise Valley near Phoenix Arizona. the pace is less stressful than Houston and the countryside is a beautiful desert. I feel much more relaxed in this environment and it is a nice break from the hectic cities we have had to date.

Friday 23rd April

We have spent the last two days with friends Richard and Kathy Hawley and their two teenagers who are currently living in Houston. Got to see the 'burbs in Texas - no different really.....

During this time we had an opportunity to visit the Johnson Space Centre. What an amazing experience. We undertook the Level Nine tour and spent well over 4 hours behind the scenes. We got to visit some admin buildings, the staff canteen, the Neutral Bouyancy Laboratory, the Astronauts training centre and Mission Control. Mission Control was definitely the highlight. It was unbelievable - to be standing on the floor of the original Mission Control room when they went to the Moon etc. the photos don't do it justice. It was a pretty special feeling. We also visited the other two control rooms and had a Ground Controller come and talk with us and answer questions. He was on a day off as the Space Shuttle had landed the day before and he was part of that team. Just amazing listening to stories of his experience working there. We also went to the Control Room for the International Space Centre and spent time there watching what they were doing. If you have an opportunity to go sometime - do it. Amazing!

Wednesday 21st April

Late yesterday I was able to attend a presentation by Mr Bernard Lane an internationally renowned expert on rural tourism and sustainable tourism. He is founder and co-editor of the Journal of Sustainable Tourism. His presentation at TAMU was very interesting, while not specifically about the "easy access" tourism market parallels could be drawn. As a resident of Tumut, NSW I could see some parallels with our community and the examples Mr Lane was describing from his work in the UK. A great opportunity which I wouldn't have had without this fellowship.

Today I had the privilege of talking with some Parks, Recreation and Tourism students at TAMU who were embarking on their Diversity unit. It was an interesting experience for me and I hope so for them. I would like to thank Professor David Scott for the opportunity and hope that I left his students with some new knowledge to consider.

Tuesday 20th April

Today I met with Ulrike Gretzel Assistant Professor and Director Laboratory for Intelligent Systems in Tourism Dept. of Recreation, Park and Tourism Sciences Texas A&M University. I spent two full hours discussing the pros and cons of online social marketing and the effect it can have on travelling for people with disability. Our conversation was very engaging and gave a good insight into some directions we need to look at for the online provision of information and engaging with both individuals travelling and the tourism business sector. Fitting very neatly with our mission to allow people with dsiability to make informed choices leads to providing a platform where they can give feedback and inform others of what they have found works for them and what hasn't. This in turn can be very good feedback for the business sector involved as they can learn what they can do to improve and meet this market as well as receive feedback on what they are doing well. I learned a lot more from Ulrike and look forward to more conversations with her in the future.

Gradually I get to updating the blog. So much has happened in the last week. I have gained a lot of information and knowledge over the last week which I won't get to put up here, but needless to say this is turning it a really worthwhile adventure. I will try and recap the last weeks activities for those following.

Monday morning - Forth Worth - Texas

Today has been a bit of a catch up day – getting the blog up to date and preparing for a visit to the A&M University in College Station Texas which begins tomorrow. We travel to College Station this afternoon.

New York - Friday 16th April

Yesterday’s meeting with Jani Nayar from SATH (Society for accessible travel and hospitality) was another wonderful couple of hours where Jani confirmed my thoughts about the state of play in the USA. Similar issues, same problems with finding the solutions. How to collect accurate information across large geographic areas using the assistance of local people? Again, Jani gave me new names and contacts for me to meet along the way. It is obvious that Jani has a very positive outlook and a lot of energy that she put to this cause. She and I discovered many similarities and other areas where we can certainly learn from others experiences. I will meet up again with Jani in Hong Kong.

Loved New York – again we visited iconic tourist destinations – Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Macy’s, Central Park and the Guggenheim.

San Francisco- tuesday April 13th

Yesterday I had a conversation with Scott Rains which was very informative. He is a fellow to keep in touch with and one who has a good understanding of what is happening at the moment in the accessible travel field. He is a very good networker and has names at the tip of his tongue, which has been of great assistance for me in planning the UK leg of this trip. His experience and knowledge of the different operators, experts and opportunities in the field are very valuable. The time spent with him was worthwhile indeed. I hope to be in touch with him again in the near future.

Today I met with Bonnie Lewkowicz from Access Northern California to discuss her experiences. Bonnie is leading activist and a great advocate for people with disability. Bonnie leads a small no profit which has developed access guides for the Northern California region as well as the San Francisco access guide. This was a nice introduction into the workings of the disability advocacy sector in the USA. Bonnie has a good handle on how things work and where things are at. We discussed the issues of maintaining information, its accuracy and reliability. My conversation with Bonnie was the first to see how similar the issues are in the US to those we have at home. The problems of collecting accurate information and maintaining it – the resources needed and the funding for it I don’t think are any different to our experiences in Australia.

For those after some travelogue information – the weather ahs been cold and wet, the tourist sites being visited are the iconic sites and information is being collected on the accessibility of these sites for future use by IDEAS NSW.

Now on to New York…

Sunday 11th April 2010

I have had two days in San Francisco investigating the tourist sights. People with Disabilities seem to be catered for pretty well, even with the hilly environment. A lot of the bus system (and train system) seems to be accessible. My meeting with Bonnie on Tuesday will confirm this for me and give me a better indication. The Tourist Information Centre was also closed today so I will have to visit there on Monday to obtain the information I am after. Visiting the major tourist attractions would be relatively accessible and if you stay away from the accommodation in the hilly areas a lot of the area seems to be accessible. It is a great destination.I have also spent time sorting out the technical side of things - getting the Smart Pen to work, arranging for mobile phone etc in the states and getting the Wifi internet connection at the hotel to work (they are blaming the rain).
Ready to begin my appointment schedule tomorrow, looking forward to meeting up with Scott Rains.