Welcome to SMG eNEWS™
2007, Feb 5th

The Solutions Marketing Group’s eNews is a bi-monthly communiqué that connects business to the market of people with disabilities.

Message From The Founder

Be Heard - Especially When Things Go Right
By Carmen Jones, Founder and President

Like many of you, I spent some time in the mall during the holiday season. On one particular day I was served by two sales associates (one who was Deaf; the other was a little person), with noticeable disabilities at two different stores. Both provided me with exceptional service, which I believed they gave to other customers but it almost seemed that because I was 'one of them' that I got special treatment. As I conducted my transactions I asked myself "Did either company have a 'special' recruitment initiative for people with disabilities?" Perhaps I missed hearing about it. I quickly scanned my mind and didn't recall reading a press release or article indicating these companies were placing emphasis on hiring people with disabilities. I concluded these people were hired for the same reasons as their non-disabled peers - because of their skills and qualifications; nothing more or less.

Since I believe in giving credit where it is due, I wrote letters to the Chief Diversity Officers and the Sr. Vice Presidents of Human Resources at both companies. My goal was simple - to applaud these retail giants for truly practicing diversity by ensuring their workforce was inclusive of all people, including those with disabilities. I wanted them to know the rules of diversity apply to the disability market as well. In part, disabled people connect and patronize companies who have employees who look like them. And because of this, they have taken a great step towards repeat business.

Over the next 11 months, I encourage you to contact companies that provide exceptional customer service, accessibility, promotion or marketing, and employment of people with disabilities by writing the CEO, Area Vice President, store/restaurant/hotel manager, or supervisor. Individuals in these positions often hear from us when things go wrong or when they are mistreated, as they should; but do they hear from us when things turn out right? When we have an enjoyable experience? Or when we wish to pay them a compliment? In doing so, we send a clarion call to corporate America letting them know consumers with disabilities are a viable market they can build a relationship with. While businesses are required to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), few leverage this opportunity to beat competitors, make money and recruit from a talented, untapped labor pool. Let's tell those them we notice and like what they are doing.

All the best for a successful year!

Carmen D. Jones
President/Founder
info@disability-marketing.com

Profiles in Excellence
Profiles in Excellence is a monthly article, published by SMG, that features companies and organizations that demonstrate leadership in accessibility, employment, customer service and marketing to the nation's 54 million Americans with Disabilities.

All Play—After a Lot of Work—Clemyjontri Park, Fairfax County VA
By Joan Leotta

The sound of laughter and overflowing parking lots attest to the success of Clemyjontri Park, in McLean, in Fairfax County, VA. Bloggers are giving the park a “Five star rating, saying that it is ‘way fun.” The innovative park, the first in the country of such size designed specifically for children with disabilities was the vision of Mrs. Adele Lebowitz. At the beginning of the new millennium, Mrs. Lebowitz offered to turn over to Fairfax County Park Authority, a 18 acre parcel of prime real estate west of Georgetown Pike, land valued at somewhere between $20 to $30 million dollars. Her one restriction on the gift was that the land be used for something priceless—a park for children with disabilities. On October 9, 2006, her vision became a reality and Clemyjontri, the first large scale park that is devoted to the needs of children with disabilities, opened. Just days after opening, the overflow parking lots were themselves overflowing during its entire 7AM to dusk open hours......
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Featured Article
Special to Disability-Marketing.com

New Year's Resolutions for People with Disabilities By Joyce Bender, President and CEO of Bender Consulting Services

The Civil Rights Act was passed in 1964 and yet we face racism today in America, in the workplace. Ignorance and fear are deeply entrenched and it takes time to dig it out. I think this year for our New Year’s Resolutions, we should start by agreeing that we cannot wait for the world to change for us – we must change for the world. I believe we, people with disabilities, can no longer wait for change – we are the change the world needs today. One by one, we have the power to create change and for too, too, long we have waited for the cloaks of discrimination to fall off first – they won’t. I am going to focus on five ways we can begin to work on becoming the change. This year I hope you will make it your year. Don’t wait any longer for others to change.....
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Accessibility
sponsored by Universal Design Newsletter

National Federation of the Blind Files Target Lawsuit By Laura Parker, The Council for Disability Rights

Bruce Sexton is blind and would like to shop on Target's website, but says he can't "read" it. He says the site lacks certain coding found on many other websites that would activate software to allow blind computer users to hear audio descriptions of what is on Internet pages. Sexton and the National Federation of the Blind are suing Target on behalf of the 1.3 million blind people in the US. The suit alleges that the giant retailer discriminates against the visually impaired by violating state and federal laws that protect the disabled. The case draws national attention because it could have implications for virtually every retailer and business in the US that operates a website. The case also fuels a wider debate starting to play out in courtrooms: whether anti-discrimination laws apply to the Internet....
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Customer Service
sponsored by W.C. Duke Associates, Inc.

Fill-Ups Still a Hurdle for the Disabled By Jon Hilkevitch, Chicago Tribune

Chicago-area drivers might find it a pain to refuel their vehicles in snow and ice, but for 41-year-old Bob Ness it requires careful planning or sheer luck. The quadriplegic Chicago resident cannot count on a federal law that requires gas stations to provide refueling assistance to disabled drivers because compliance with the law is haphazard and government agencies provide little enforcement. Thousands of disabled U.S. soldiers returning from service in Iraq face similar obstacles. But a Chicago company is trying to help the 10 million disabled drivers in the U.S. by marketing a Fuel Call system of signs and other equipment to gas stations that lets disabled drivers know they are welcome and that assistance is available......
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Employment

Finding Work, Despite Disabilities
By Aaron Wasserman, Sentinel & Enterprise, Fitchburg, MA

While finishing high school several years ago, Michael Reilly found himself couch-bound as a result of suffering from Crohn's disease, a chronic intestinal illness. Now 25, Reilly finds himself desk-bound as a patient-service specialist for the Fallon Clinic in Worcester, and marvels that he is near the 3-month mark at his job. "I can't imagine that I'd be sitting here, telling you this at my desk -- at my desk," he said, recounting his journey into the workforce. "That's shocking." Reilly's story is a successful one, according to his employer and those who helped him find the job......
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News & Announcements

Gallaudet Chooses Interim President - Campus 'Thrilled' By Pick of Nationally Known Deaf Leader By Susan Kinzie, Washington Post

N.O.D. Announces Finalists for Accessible America Awards
From U.S. Newswire

2006 Spinal Cord Injury Hall of Fame Inductees Honored at Kennedy Center Gala From AAPD

UN Celebration of International Day of Disabled Persons: Inclusive Information and Communications Technology From AAPD

Smart Leaders: Bill Koeblitz, President of Mobiltyworks By Matt McClellan, Smart Business Akron/Canton

Businesses Should Reach Out to Avoid ADA Suits By Stephanie Tavares, in AAPD News