This week I attended my first Sight Village Central 2023 in Birmingham, UK and had a fantastic time meeting many people, some I have engaged with online for many years. Sight Village Central is an exhibition featuring organisations providing services and products to support the blind and low vision community. You can find out more about Sight Village Central on the Queen Alexander College website.
Double Tap Fan Turned Correspondent for Sight Village Central 2023….
I had planned the trip in the hope of meeting Steven Scott and Shaun Preece of the Double Tap podcast after listening to them over many years. I was disappointed to hear they couldn’t make it. So, I sent Steven and Shaun an audio clip with my thoughts on why they couldn’t make it. Hear Steven and Shaun’s response in this episode of Double Tap Coffee and a Chat.
The following day, I was summoned to explain myself and give my feedback on Sight Village, listen to the interview in Double Tap Sight Village Experiences episode. Following the interview Steven agreed for me to be the Official, Unofficial correspondent on the ground.
By this point I had a taste for broadcasting and took to gathering inviews from exhibitors, that features in Double Tap Sight Village Day 1 Highlights episode and Double Tap Sight Village Day 2 Highlights episode.
Turns out I created so much content, Steven and Shaun decided the Double Tap Express Saturday show would be a “Tim Take Over” recapping the interviews during the week. You can listen to my take over for Sight Village Central 2023 as part of Double Tap Express: Sight Village Highlights on Apple Podcasts
Thank you to all those featured
A huge thanks go out to:
- Ellis Ellis of VisionAid Technologies Ltd for taking us through the New Arrivals at VisionAid
- Stuart Lawler of Sight and Sound Technology for discussing the SensePlayer from HIMS – Sight and Sound Technology)
- Freek van Welsenis of Hable One for discussing the Hable One
- David Godman of HumanWare for explaining the Victor Reader Stream 3
- Philip Ward and Alexander Ward of Pamtrad (Seeing.Solutions) for explaining the MiniGuide
- Michelle Young and Hannah Gibson for their discussion on Mia Tui Handbags (MiaTui website)
Not forgetting Steven Scott, Andy Frank and Accessible Media Inc. for allowing me to be part of the show.
Meeting the Blind Community
While at the event I was fortunate to meet many blind community members including:
- Connor Scott-Gardner (@CatchTheseWords) / Twitter
- Dave Williams (@dwilliamsuk) / Twitter
- Aaron Lee (@Aaron_Lee_Twitr) / Twitter
- Matthew Horspool (@mhorspool) / Twitter
- Stuart Lawler (@StuartLawler) / Twitter
- martin (@northernMPR) / Twitter
- Siobhan Meade (@BlindGirlVlogs) / Twitter
It is really energising to meet up with fellow blind/low vision people, share stories and realise that we all have our own journey’s.
If you are considering making the trip next year, I would recommend it although I do encourange you to make connections with other attendess ahead of the event to make the most of it.
Tell me what you think in the comments below or on X @timdixon82
One reply on “Sight Village Central 2023: My Experience”
Some feedback for what can be improved for SV South East:
– have some extra large print banners for identifying every stand.
– High visibility and tactile markers for the floor, especially in darker areas like the catering area.
– perhaps audio announcement reminders of seminars about to start.
– Some more precise directions for getting to the event from the station and having that info written on the website instead of just an email that can be lost.
– Having a guide present at the station for later arrivals.