One of the amazing things about our Advanced Bionics Mentor training was meeting the staff and the other mentors that consisted of adult recipients and parents of kids with CIs.
The Staff - From the President on down, the staff was incredibly professional, knowledgeable and passionate. They believed in what they were doing and were totally committed to helping people hear better.
The AB President, Jeff Greiner, outlined AB's history, the challenges they faced and what the future may hold. He spoke frankly about starting a implant device company with seven engineers in the early 90s and what the company had become today. He described their intense focus on listening and sound quality which has resulted in superior performance. His confidence in the AB product and staff was apparent He had a CEO's confidence, yet said this nearly 20-year journey had made him humble.
The rest of the staff, including those from the Bionic Ear Association, marketing, manufacturing, product development and others were equally as impressive. They were all well trained, totally engaged and passionate about helping people hear better. They could see the big picture. Almost all of the staff were trained as audiologists and now serve as advocates, business managers, marketers, sales people, trainers, technical advisers, and product designers.
Other Mentors - The other 40 people at the Mentor Training were adults and teens with Cochlear Implants and parents of kids with Cochlear Implants. Most of the people there had been helping advise CI candidates for years and could clearly demonstrate how the AB CI had changed their lives so dramatically. The passion in the room was contagious. Many of them also had blogs. Here are just a few.
Kids
http://elliottrocks.blogspot.com/
http://maxandclairesadventure.blogspot.com/
Adults
http://geocobb.blogspot.com/
http://cisoundsx2.blogspot.com/
We are so appreciative to Advanced Bionics for helping Lily to hear. They realize, as do we, that our partnership with them is for a lifetime. Now with Advanced Bionics being purchased by Sonova/Phonak, we think even more exciting things are ahead. If we could only figure out how to purchase stock on the Swiss Stock exchange. I think the outlook for Advanced Bionics is bright.
Comments