One of the neat things about my job is that I get to meet new and interesting people, go to events and meetings of all sorts. I do this as much as my time permits.

Being a journalist -- reporter, photographer or editor -- is fun this way. People kind of expect us to pop in on their events from time to time. Often, though not always, they are pleased when we do.

Thursday was an example of this. I attended a meeting at the University of Maine-Augusta campus of ALDA-Maine, a group that represents deaf and hearing-impaired people. ALDA stands for the Association of Late-Deafened Adults.

I'd encountered this group a few months back. They launched a new newspaper for hearing-impaired Mainers and thought that was newsworthy. I agreed, and we did a story about it. As is often the case, I was invited to the next ALDA event -- Thursday's meeting, where ALDA members and a civil rights lawyer from Portland discussed legislative strategy. As you might imagine, hearing-impaired and deaf Mainers have special needs and interests, as do many groups.

Before going on, I must say I am empathetic to the cause. I'm 47, have two hearings aids -- have had for years -- and I rely on them greatly. I'm not sure I'd fit ALDA's definition of hearing impaired, though I probably would.

The technology I encountered yesterday I'd never seen before. People were talking inside the UMA conference room. Some wore head phones; some signed while they talked. Meanwhile, ALDA members were participating from "remote" locations around Maine via e-mail. They would write comments. The comments would appear on a big video screen in the conference room (and, I presume, on computer screens around the state).

Also, a court stenographer at a different location was typing the conversation live too. Those words also appeared in bigger type on the video screen. So multiple technologies were "converging" at the same time. My day ended with a unique experience, and a friendly one.

If you are interesting in ALDA, you can check out its Web site: www.alda-maine.mysite.com.