Interview Highlight: Maria Markou - VA winter webinar series

Vision Australia's winter webinar series, featuring some outstanding speakers and role-models is up and running. Maria Markou files Peter Greco in with all the details of how to register, tune in and listen on Mondays for the next 3 weeks.

More info: VA winter webinar series

or call: 1800 458 555

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

S1 (00:13):
Well, Australia got some wonderful events during July. The chance
for you to attend. Let's find out a bit more
about it and speak to Maria McCue from Australia. Maria,
great to meet you. Thank you for your time.

S2 (00:24):
Thanks, Peter. Thanks for having me.

S1 (00:26):
Now we've missed the first one this week, but you've
got three more coming up. Do you just want to
do a quick backtrack and chat about the first speaker
that we've missed out on? But I'm sure those that
caught it really enjoyed it.

S2 (00:38):
Yes. So we've got, um, the winter webinar series. We've
got a program, um, webinars every Monday for four weeks
in July. And on the 7th of July, we had, um,
a great speaker, Joanne Cabo. And she's a fantastic advocate
for people with low vision and is really, really enthusiastic
and has got a lot of projects going on. And

(01:00):
it was a fabulous webinar. Lots of questions, lots of tips.
I think she really gave everyone a boost and a
bit of a push to to advocate for self as
well as for us as a community. So we've got
three more similar webinars with some great speakers next Monday,
the 14th of July at 9 a.m. eastern time, we

(01:23):
have Caroline Casey, international businesswoman. She's with Blow Vision and
she's got lots and lots of corporate experience. Uh, and
is works with lots of multinationals and international companies. And
we're really looking forward to having hearing her speak and
asking her some questions as well. These are all through zoom.

(01:43):
So it's a web. The webinars are through zoom. So
Caroline is on the 14th at 9 a.m. eastern time.
On the 21st we have, uh, Professor David Walker. Uh,
he's Melbourne based professor and academic who's written quite a
few books. So another interesting speaker, uh, David, is has
low vision as well. And on the 28th, we have

(02:04):
Aaron Vernon, who is a gaming developer. Um, online apps,
lots of, you know, with high level technology. Elegy, and
Erin is joining us as well on the 28th. And
that's at 2 p.m.. I'm sorry, I should have mentioned
that David is also at 2 p.m. on the Monday
the 21st.

S1 (02:22):
Okay. So Caroline is the early bird on the. That's right, 9:00,
but the other two at 2 p.m.. That's Eastern Standard time. Okay, Maria,
obviously not by accident. It's a great wide range of, uh,
interests that your speakers are coming from. So kind of
something for everyone.

S2 (02:37):
Yeah. We try and, um, find speakers that are people
with the lived experience, people who are blind or have
low vision, or people who are good role models for
for the blind and low vision community, or the community
in general, doesn't specifically need to be for the blindness community,
but we do try and find speakers, both locally here
from Australia, as well as international people who are really

(03:00):
great role models. And Jordan is our, um, the guest
speaker person who who finds out all the great speakers
for us each time in January and July when we
offer the webinar series.

S1 (03:11):
Yeah. Jordan from, uh, Philip Gossett I think, isn't he?

S2 (03:13):
He is.

S1 (03:14):
He's he's he's done a great job for a long time.
I've spoken to Jordan in the past, and he's certainly
a very passionate advocate for all things that Vision Australia
do and for all things that people are blind or
low vision do. So for those that might be aware
of Maria, how did the kind of webinars work? So
you have to register.

S2 (03:32):
You do. Yes. People can register themselves. It's very simple,
straightforward process. You can go to visit the Vision Australia
website and there under the events page. And you can
register for any of the remaining three or all three
of the webinars that are coming up from next week,
the 14th or else. If people prefer not to do

(03:52):
it that way, they can contact Vision Australia's tele link program,
and I'll give the phone number and the email address
and we can register on your behalf. Alright, we'll give
them a chance. That's right. That all that means is
that you? When we register you, you'll receive the unique
link for the zoom webinar and you can click the
link or you can dial in by phone. Whatever works

(04:13):
for people.

S1 (04:14):
That's one of the great things about zoom is the
fact that if you either haven't got the technical expertise
or choose to just do it by a conventional telephone,
that you can do it as well. We'll give people
a chance to grab something to either record or take
down the contact details, and we'll repeat it, or we'll
say it before we wrap up. What about in terms
of who can come along? As I said, it's quite

(04:35):
a wide range of different topics. What about who can
kind of come along?

S2 (04:40):
Our webinar series and the tele link program is for
people aged 18 and over who are clients of Vision Australia.
So the communication that went out went to a lot
of people who are clients of Vision Australia in the
last few weeks. So that's our target audience and that's
that's who the programs for.

S1 (04:57):
Got one of those emails myself, Maria. So obviously the
system is working well because I certainly got mine, which
is great. And in terms of, um, registering, once you
do that, you get the link and you just tune
in on the day.

S2 (05:09):
Yes. So once if you register on, on my, on
your own. You'll get the the confirmation and the and
the zoom link sent to you to your email that
you've nominated. If we do that for you the same,
you'll get your a unique link for the specific speaker.
And then on the day you also get a reminder
in the morning and an hour before the webinar. So

(05:29):
you get lots of reminders. And it's the same link
that you get because it's created unique specifically for you.

S1 (05:35):
Well, it's very easy to kind of say, oh yes,
I remember that. And then invariably, uh, you know, 15
minutes before you're supposed to be there, you kind of
forget or something else comes up. So those reminders are very,
very important.

S2 (05:47):
That's right.

S1 (05:48):
Yeah, yeah. Tell us a bit about, uh, the support
that goes on in this area. I mean, peer support
is such an important thing. I guess the longer we live,
the more we hear about it, the more we realize
how important it is.

S2 (05:59):
That's right. Peter, um, Telelink is, uh, Vision Australia's longest
serving social and interest based program and peer support included
in that? We're celebrating 45 years this year of the program.
It commenced in 1980, and what was known what was
then known as the Association for the blind here in
Victoria and expanded nationally in 2011. And we've grown, you know,

(06:24):
progressively since then. We're a national program. As I mentioned earlier,
we're for people aged 18 and over, and we offer
different topics of interest for social support. And we offer
some different language groups for people who speak a language
other than English, who are also people with, who are
blind to have blurred vision, and they want to connect
with somebody that speaks their language and understands them. Our

(06:47):
program is facilitated by volunteers who are trained before they
commence on a group. Um, and we offer groups through
teleconference as well as online with zoom.

S1 (06:57):
I was going to make the point that the people
that are sort of heading up these groups, I mean,
invariably they're people with that lived experience, aren't they? And
obviously they've come through the system, if you like and
are trained up in this area. But that's a very
important thing as well. They can, you know, when they
when they speak like you can listen and know that
they're speaking from personal experience.

S2 (07:16):
Yes. So when we have a volunteer who is a
person with blindness or low vision that they have that
lived experience, and then that way they can um, it
adds a different and a more personalized and a empathetic
element to the groups that they facilitate. But having said that,
volunteers who are sighted, they contribute so much to the
program that everyone does.

S1 (07:36):
Of course, I've often said, you know, obviously people like
occupational therapists and other therapists do a tremendous amount of
work and tremendous amount of good work. But when you
do hear from someone who has been through a similar
sort of thing, and there's a sort of a note
of resonance struck that can really be a very, very
powerful thing. And you think, oh yeah, I they get it.
So that's good. They get it. They, they know what

(07:57):
I'm going through. So that's a, a great thing to
be uh, sort of associated with.

S2 (08:02):
That's right. And we get a lot of self-referral people
who hear join a webinar, for example, and they want
to find out what other programs are on, on a
regular basis, because Telelink is is a regular reoccurring program.
So word of mouth is the most powerful way to
bring in new people to the program and promote the program.

S1 (08:19):
A cool and progressive idea was back in 1980, Maria
a long time ago, but very.

S2 (08:25):
Ahead of its.

S1 (08:25):
Time. That was before mobile phones, before, uh, picking up
on zoom and stuff like that.

S2 (08:31):
It was it was it was the concept of bringing
people together through the simple telephone. Yeah. Uh, and and
relieving that isolation, particularly people in regional and remote areas
who are, you know, with vision loss, um, and weren't
able to get to a Vision Australia or whatever was
their equivalent for them in regional Victoria at the time.

(08:51):
And it was connecting up people in their communities.

S1 (08:54):
That was such a great point to make because I mean, often, again,
on this program, we talk about the fact that Australia
can be a little bit city centric and a lot
of services, a lot of things that go on are
in the capital cities, which is great for those that
live there. But there are a lot of people who
don't live in those areas or who choose not to
live in those areas who might be blind or have

(09:15):
low vision. So having that access to albeit, um, you know,
virtually or remotely can still be a very, very powerful thing.

S2 (09:23):
That's right.

S1 (09:24):
Terrific. So we're just give us those dates again. So
pretty much, uh, your Monday through, uh, July have been, uh,
booked in. If you, if you were a loose end
before today, you you can now book in these next
three Mondays and the link at Vision Australia. Got some
some great webinars. Just give us those dates and the
speakers in their topic. And then we can say, well

(09:44):
how do we find out more or how can we
register or get some assistance registering.

S2 (09:49):
Sure. Um, next Monday, the 14th of July, 9 a.m.
eastern time, we have Caroline Casey on the 21st of July,
the Monday uh, we at 2 p.m., we have Professor
David Walker and the 28th of July at 2 p.m.,
we have gaming developer Aaron Vernon, and people can register

(10:11):
through the Vision Australia website under the events page. The
Winter webinar series. Or they can contact Vision Australia's Telelink
program direct and we have A18 hundred number which is
1800 458 555 or people can email us direct at telelink info

(10:31):
at Vision Australia. Org.

S1 (10:34):
Alright, so the 14th, it's uh, a businesswoman, so I
guess there's some good ideas there, I think. Bit of
an adventure as well from what I read. So that
should be pretty interesting. David Walker uh, someone who's written books. So, uh,
and living with low vision. So that's a great thing.
And and then. Yeah. And then Aaron, who were into
gaming and, you know, gaming is something that's very, very popular.

(10:54):
So maybe if your kids or grandkids are into gaming,
you can maybe find out a bit more about it
and maybe join in, maybe even beat them. Dare I
say it? That's right. Just give us those details again.
So the phone number and the email address, and we'll
put that up with our show notes as well, so
people can go to I try not to get it
from there as well.

S2 (11:13):
So the Vision Australia tele links program direct number one
800 458, 555 or the email is tele link info.
That's one word at Vision Australia. Org.

S1 (11:26):
Terrific. Maria. Sounds like there's going to be three more
fantastic events. That's like people that avail themselves to it
and just shout out, say a big shout out to
Jordan Ashby. He does some great work and he does great, uh,
of Jordan to have lined up these people, because I
know doing programs like this, it's not always easy to
get people on site. As far as having a talk
to you guys, they're obviously very, very busy. So to

(11:48):
be able to track them down and line them up.
But congratulations Jordan on that. Great work. That's right. And
for you too Maria. Thank you. We'll catch up again
in the future I'm sure.

S2 (11:56):
Thanks Peter.

S1 (11:57):
It's Maria Marcou there from Vision Australia. Those events coming up.
And as I said if you missed them go to
our show notes and we'll have them there for you
and Maria also giving you the details for the phone.
Number 1800 458 555.