World Voice Day: Our Efforts Connect Us to the Future
James L. Netterville, MD AAO-HNS/F President April 16 is coming. Aside from the fact that it is the day after our taxes are due, otolaryngologists should better know the day as World Voice Day. In a Google search of “World Voice Day,” the Academy’s 2012 campaign material comes up first and second, and our images for the campaign come up third. Following these entries are more than 20 pages of World Voice Day listings from organizations such as the University of Utah, Cleveland Clinic, WBAL News, Johns Hopkins, and the University of Cincinnati with the Cincinnati Opera, as well as international listings from the UK, Brazil, and other international observances. This day is no small deal. Our Voice Committee, chaired by Clark A. Rosen, MD, with the help of Michael M.E. Johns III, MD, and Norman D. Hogikyan, MD, developed a task force to lead this international observation, and it met during our AAO-HNSF Annual Meeting 2012 & OTO EXPOSM last September to plan the 2013 and 2014 campaigns. The task force heard about the highly successful observances in France and Belgium, (from Marc J. Remacle, MD, PhD) and the country where the observance originated (from Mario Andrea, MD, PhD). While it was noted that it is difficult to engage a renowned celebrity for our domestic campaigns due partially to privacy issues, attendees noted that a campaign featuring the importance of voice to all professions would be the approach to take and to build on. The committee then chose “Connect with Your Voice” as its theme this year. In following that lead, I came upon a blog by Katie Peters, a professional speaker. Katie agreed to support World Voice Day 2013 in her blog as she did last year, and she offered this thought on our 2013 theme: “As humans, we are passionately driven to communicate. We want to be heard. We want to be understood. But to be heard above all the noise of our culture, you must have a voice that others will listen to. There has never been a better time to develop and care for that voice. Resources for study and practice are abundant. Expertise is at an all-time high and instead of taking on less importance as our technology advances, the human voice is more important than ever, adding warmth and humanity to a digital world.” To help members support this observance and promote the special role otolaryngologists play in the treatment of voice disorders, this Bulletin offers you some starting tools. You’ll find a message about the importance of a healthy voice from committee member Norm D. Hogikyan, MD, that may be offered to your patients and referral base prior to the observation. Also included in this issue is a fold-out poster to display in your offices that offers an Academy link for additional information about the campaign. Other materials for outreach have been developed by the Voice Committee and the Media and Public Relations Committee (Wendy B. Stern, MD, and Ramon A. Franco Jr., MD) and include a template letter to send to local media when you login as a Member. In conclusion, I offer an example of the power of the voice to move human endeavor. The following “interplanetary voicemail” by NASA administrator Charles Bolden was returned to Earth via the Mars rover, Curiosity. The message, which had been sent to Mars and back, was played on Aug. 27, 2012, becoming the first voice transmission from Mars.”Hello. This is Charlie Bolden, NASA administrator, speaking to you via the broadcast capabilities of the Curiosity rover, which is now on the surface of Mars. Since the beginning of time, humankind’s curiosity has led us to constantly seek new life…new possibilities just beyond the horizon.” (Hear the actual message athttp://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/news/bolden20120827.html.) While the message itself is simple, I was struck by the significance of the broadcast as explained by the NASA Curiosity program executive, Dave Lavery, “With this voice, another small step is taken in extending human presence beyond Earth…we hope these words will be an inspiration to someone alive today who will become the first to stand upon the surface of Mars. And like the great Neil Armstrong, they will speak aloud of that next giant leap in human exploration.” Surely, this is a “connection” to the future powered by the human voice.
James L. Netterville, MD
AAO-HNS/F President

April 16 is coming. Aside from the fact that it is the day after our taxes are due, otolaryngologists should better know the day as World Voice Day. In a Google search of “World Voice Day,” the Academy’s 2012 campaign material comes up first and second, and our images for the campaign come up third. Following these entries are more than 20 pages of World Voice Day listings from organizations such as the University of Utah, Cleveland Clinic, WBAL News, Johns Hopkins, and the University of Cincinnati with the Cincinnati Opera, as well as international listings from the UK, Brazil, and other international observances. This day is no small deal.
Our Voice Committee, chaired by Clark A. Rosen, MD, with the help of Michael M.E. Johns III, MD, and Norman D. Hogikyan, MD, developed a task force to lead this international observation, and it met during our AAO-HNSF Annual Meeting 2012 & OTO EXPOSM last September to plan the 2013 and 2014 campaigns. The task force heard about the highly successful observances in France and Belgium, (from Marc J. Remacle, MD, PhD) and the country where the observance originated (from Mario Andrea, MD, PhD). While it was noted that it is difficult to engage a renowned celebrity for our domestic campaigns due partially to privacy issues, attendees noted that a campaign featuring the importance of voice to all professions would be the approach to take and to build on. The committee then chose “Connect with Your Voice” as its theme this year.
In following that lead, I came upon a blog by Katie Peters, a professional speaker. Katie agreed to support World Voice Day 2013 in her blog as she did last year, and she offered this thought on our 2013 theme: “As humans, we are passionately driven to communicate. We want to be heard. We want to be understood. But to be heard above all the noise of our culture, you must have a voice that others will listen to. There has never been a better time to develop and care for that voice. Resources for study and practice are abundant. Expertise is at an all-time high and instead of taking on less importance as our technology advances, the human voice is more important than ever, adding warmth and humanity to a digital world.”
To help members support this observance and promote the special role otolaryngologists play in the treatment of voice disorders, this Bulletin offers you some starting tools. You’ll find a message about the importance of a healthy voice from committee member Norm D. Hogikyan, MD, that may be offered to your patients and referral base prior to the observation. Also included in this issue is a fold-out poster to display in your offices that offers an Academy link for additional information about the campaign. Other materials for outreach have been developed by the Voice Committee and the Media and Public Relations Committee (Wendy B. Stern, MD, and Ramon A. Franco Jr., MD) and include a template letter to send to local media when you login as a Member.
In conclusion, I offer an example of the power of the voice to move human endeavor.
The following “interplanetary voicemail” by NASA administrator Charles Bolden was returned to Earth via the Mars rover, Curiosity. The message, which had been sent to Mars and back, was played on Aug. 27, 2012, becoming the first voice transmission from Mars.”Hello. This is Charlie Bolden, NASA administrator, speaking to you via the broadcast capabilities of the Curiosity rover, which is now on the surface of Mars. Since the beginning of time, humankind’s curiosity has led us to constantly seek new life…new possibilities just beyond the horizon.” (Hear the actual message athttp://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/news/bolden20120827.html.)
While the message itself is simple, I was struck by the significance of the broadcast as explained by the NASA Curiosity program executive, Dave Lavery, “With this voice, another small step is taken in extending human presence beyond Earth…we hope these words will be an inspiration to someone alive today who will become the first to stand upon the surface of Mars. And like the great Neil Armstrong, they will speak aloud of that next giant leap in human exploration.”
Surely, this is a “connection” to the future powered by the human voice.