Will Campbell

There always seems to be a moment for me—epiphanic, if you will—at the AAA show … and I can already tell I’m not going to have enough space in this corner to do it justice. So when I run out of room here come join me over on the AAA Blog for the rest of the story, along with assorted photos and videos from the greatest hearing show on earth.

But for now, let’s get back to that moment, which came after first being mesmerized by AudiologyNOW! keynote speaker, Gordon Hempton. An author and acoustic ecologist, Hempton has made it his life’s work to seek out and capture the world’s places of natural silence in hopes of documenting and preserving what few of them we have left. His presentation was absolutely captivating and I left it attuned to how we are so inundated by and accustomed to artificial noise. Suddenly I was hyper-aware of even the slightest sound: the creaking of a door, the squeaking of the escalator, the rumble of a distant jet taking off—and then there’s that little matter of the incessant din that emanates from the thousands gathered across the convention floor. Literally, there’s no escape.

Read All About It:

Read the rest at www.hearingreview.com/thirblog And see and hear more of what Will saw and heard at AudiologyNOW! 2010 in San Diego, April 14 to 17.

Or was there? Indeed there was and I discovered it on the show’s second day with Dave Jeans, HRP’s west coast advertising director. Passing by the ETS-Lindgren booth, Dave stopped and walked toward the sound isolation chamber they had set up on exhibit. “Check this out,” he said opening the door and motioning me inside. I entered hesitatantly and he followed. Pulling the door closed, the endless low roar of the trade show vanished completely. All I could hear was nothing. And then it happened: the moment.

Will Campbell
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