Careers > Realtime Captioner > A Letter from Kathy DiLorenzo

A Letter from Kathy DiLorenzo

A letter to prospective realtime captioners…

From Kathy DiLorenzo, RDR-CRR-CBC
Vice President, National Reporter Relations
VITAC, a Merrill Communications Company

The field of realtime captioning has certainly changed over the years.  When I began as a captioner back in 1986, I was the 12th on-air caption in the nation.  Now it is estimated that there are well over 400 captioners in the world, and that number is growing by the day.  While it was an honor and a privilege to help in breaking ground to this wonderful specialty of reporting, back then we learned our craft through nothing but trial and error. 

When I was first hired as a captioner, I was not yet trained in any capacity on the computer.  Those of you who have and are now training for captioning can only imagine the load that added to my training schedule!  Back then, all captioners wrote against the same universal dictionary, making modifications to suit their steno theory.  There were no realtime theories back then and not a single book written about realtime, so we had to tweak our own steno theories until they were conflict-free enough to get us to air.  We did not have the Internet, so we had to find every spelling in a reference book or newspaper.  Heaven forbid the weather would be bad and “USA Today” wouldn’t make it to our office!  There was no remote captioning back then.  We worked from centralized offices.  There were no laptops back then, only desktops.  There was no “artificial intelligence” to resolve our conflicts or translate our numbers.

Despite the fact that I learned captioning at what was considered to be its infancy and there were few tools for our use, those who trained me were then and are still some of the best in the business.  Since those early days, many of us have passed on our knowledge to thousands of other reporters who have helped to follow in this challenging, but yet so rewarding career.  We knew that we were undertaking a giant move for the reporting profession by perfecting our skills to the highest possible level.  Many of us went on to offer our professional expertise through books, seminars and workshops.  There was such momentum behind our efforts, because we started something good, and by golly, it was going to be great and keep getting better as the years went on.

This year, VITAC celebrates 20 years in the business of captioning!  In May of 2007, I will personally celebrate 20 years with VITAC.  I was the second employee hired and, with the exception of its founders, was its first realtime captioner.  In the beginning, I captioned a total of 2.5 hours of programming per week.  And I should mention that was our entire schedule!  2.5 hours per week.  Three of VITAC’s five private owners were long-time court reporters who ran successful freelance firms and who developed an interest in serving the deaf and hard of hearing through access to television.  They knew they possessed the one and only skill that could provide this access.  They began their company by learning deaf culture and serving the deaf community through service on boards and participation in worthwhile projects.

As a result of their commitment to the deaf and hard of hearing, this idea of providing communication access through realtime captioning on a local level grew into more than they could ever have imagined.  Today, VITAC captions more than 2,400 hours of programming per week.  Twenty years after their first captioned program from a basement office, VITAC now maintains four offices:  New York City, North Hollywood, Washington, D.C. and its Headquarters located in the city where it all began…Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  VITAC employs over 250 professionals, 80 of whom are realtime captioners, most of whom work from their homes across the nation.

Realtime captioners are working in a world much different than those of us in the early days.  Not only do most captioners work remotely from their homes, but we now have the Internet, which makes research much easier and much more timely.  We have artificial intelligence in our software today that will resolve at least some of our writing difficulties.  We have the ability to expand our knowledge through the use of on-line training programs. We have paperless and wireless writers, and we have laptop computers.  We have broadband technology that allows us to deliver information better and faster than ever before.  But it’s not the technology that makes VITAC good.  It’s the people behind the technology. 

It’s our highly skilled captioners who came to us with great qualifications, but they know that the learning never ends in our jobs.  Their commitment to excellence is second to none in the industry.  That’s why they were hired by VITAC.

It’s our Production Coordinators who assist us prior to air with advance scripting, providing show formats and caption parameters, rundowns and team rosters, phone numbers and encoder settings, and last but not least, pre-air calls to be sure we have everything that we need so that we can concentrate on one thing…solid realtime writing.

It’s our Information Technology Team who manages all of our software issues and works with the vendors to perfect its performance and maximize the efforts of the captioners.

It’s our Engineering Team who orders, configures and maintains the hardware of our captioners.  New hardware is ordered for every captioner, is configured to precise specifications and is ready with converted dictionaries for the captioner’s arrival to Pittsburgh for training.  Each and every captioner is provided the same software and hardware, so that problems can be remotely diagnosed and resolved.  Our captioners never have to worry about missing a day’s work due to malfunctioning software or hardware.  VITAC’s work is 24/7, 365 days of the year, and so must our Technology Team be available to assist with any problems that may arise on the job. 

It’s our Scheduling Team, who works 24/7 managing over 2,400 weekly program hours, keeping in mind the personal preferences of each and every captioner on staff.

It’s our Finance Department who carefully maintains our on-air hours so that we are paid on time every time, with direct deposit to our accounts.

It’s our Human Resources Department who makes certain that our benefits are coordinated and that no questions go unanswered.

It’s our Marketing and Sales Teams who know the industry well and have built trusting business relationships with our clients over the years.  Our clients know that if they want quality realtime captioning, it’s VITAC who has delivered consistently superior captioning throughout the years.  It is they who the realtime captioners depend on to ensure a steady supply of programming whose content enhances their daily work, their knowledge and their professional careers.

It’s our Management Team who knows the business from the bottom-up and the top-down.  Most of our department managers started their careers with VITAC and have been part of the team that has built our success through the years.  They care about the clients, and they care about the employees.  But most of all, they care about the service that we deliver each and every day to the deaf and hard-of-hearing audience, which has greatly strengthened our team approach to the way we serve our industry.

With 20 years in the business, VITAC still maintains the same commitment to quality captioning.  We still administer entrance exams, hiring only the best realtime writers in the country.  In 20 years, our captioners have never seen a drop in their rates, which has been seen industry wide over the last several years.

On the celebration of 20 extraordinary years, VITAC appreciates the support of all of its employees, its independent contractors and the reporting profession as a whole. It is our hope that our steadfast commitment to captioning excellence, as well as to professional development of our employees, will ensure fulfilling realtime captioning career opportunities for generations to come.