I'm Mike Feltman, Equipment Coordinator for Arts Access of Raleigh, and co-web master for the internal pages of Arts Access' web site.

I don't recall exactly, but my wife, Pat, and I joined Arts Access as audio describers some time in 2000. The only way I remember that is we still have the pre-show script for one of the first shows we described together, "You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown" at Raleigh Little Theatre in May of 2001. That should be your first clue that I can be a bit of a pack-rat, ("A BIT?" says Pat in the background.) Our reasons for joining Arts Access were far from unique...we had a close friend who was diagnosed with Macular Degeneration...we loved the theatre and arts...and we wanted to put something back in to our community. One Friday night about nine years ago, Pat was reading the News and Observer and came across an announcement for audio describer auditions. We had never heard of audio description before, but the ad mentioned live theatre and providing description services for theatre patrons with limited or no vision. We immediately agreed to try out, and thoroughly enjoyed the process of becoming audio describers. We were fortunate to be taught and mentored by Elizabeth Kahn, Joel Snyder and others who patiently helped us understand what "Say what you see" really meant.

Having always been a technophile, it was only natural that I began seeking other ways to assist with Arts Access' mission. Fred Brack had already launched Arts Access' web site. I'm not sure whether he asked for help first, or if I offered to help first and that really didn't matter anyway. Two web masters are better then one when a web site serves a dual role; providing information to the community and at the same time, providing information to the describers and board members. In addition, as Arts Access' equipment inventory, scheduled shows, and describer base grew, it was clear that we needed to implement an equipment service plan so that describers would be able to describe without equipment failure. Far from having to do it alone, each describer provides continuous equipment evaluation, changing batteries when needed and tagging questionable equipment for me to troubleshoot during regularly scheduled maintenance tasks in my lab...well, ok...it's more like a quiet corner of my house.

Years went by, and while my audio description tasks continued to be a source of enjoyment to me, the ever-shifting balance of work, family, and hobby shifted once again. I was pleased to be able to spend a term on Arts Access' Board of Directors, but eventually I had to cut back my weekday evening activities to spend more time at home with my family. It wasn't long before I realized that there was absolutely no way I could leave Arts Access entirely. I thoroughly enjoy the hours I spend keeping the internal web site up to date, keeping the equipment tuned up, evaluating challenging suggestions for improvement, and yes, sometimes actually improving things! I think what I enjoy most is the flow of ideas brought forward by the describers and users themselves. Each one has a unique perspective about how we could do things better, and if I do my job correctly, each one of them will know how much their input means to keeping Arts Access growing and improving.

As this is supposed to be a bio, I'm feeling compelled to provide a little bit of background information... Born and partly raised in Chicago, graduated college in Southern Illinois (degree in Sociology), built a career in computer engineering back in Chicago, married in Chicago, first child, Jeremy, born in Chicago, moved family to Raleigh in January of 1993 because of an "offer I couldn't refuse" from Nortel, second child, Maggie, born in Raleigh, joined Arts Access ~2000, left Nortel for Wyeth Pharmaceuticals in 2002. Brock, (the Irish Setter), and Maui (the Halloween cat) make sure my floors are never clean and my yard will never be featured in Southern Living, but I wouldn't have it any other way! Other things that fill the remaining time outside of work: I support web pages for my kid's schools and Jeremy's track team, I provide chauffer service for Maggie to and from her YMCA Swim Team practices and swim meets, I jog...sometimes with Brock, camp, hike, hang out for a week at the beach or in the mountains, and I really love maintaining our vehicles with loud rock-and-roll playing on the radio. But at night when things finally quiet down, I've been known to play a somewhat passable 12-string guitar blues number or two.

I plan on being part of Arts Access for many years to come, being notorious for my inability to train my own replacement!

Mike Feltman

Arts Access Equipment Coordinator
Internal Web Site Co-Web Master

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