RealtimeFitnessOnline Staff

Judy Brentano, RPR, FAPR, DSA, coordinated and presented many realtime seminars for the benefit of court reporters using realtime translation in court and for those providing closed captioning for TV broadcasts. She chaired numerous NCRA realtime-related task forces and committees as well as participated in the development of the NCRA realtime certification programs. In other activities on behalf of the National Court Reporters Association, she served on the Board of Directors for 12 years, and was President from 1992-93. She is a Fellow of the Academy of Professional Reporters. In 2004, she received the association’s highest honor, the Distinguished Service Award. Among her many professional experiences, in 1987 Judy developed and coordinated the first TV closed-captioning project in the Southeast for WXIA-TV in Atlanta which captioned prime news programs starting in 1988. Over the next 20 years, she participated in large national conferences for Gallaudet University, AARP, SHHH (now HLAA), various associations of the Bench and Bar, and many educational institutions. Her company developed the Caption Masters Series comprised of multimedia training materials for CART/captioners, the Caption Masters Series Retraining workshops, and the Caption Masters Series Retraining Manual© In addition, she developed a Faculty Retraining Program, training manual, and administered the program for the National Court Reporters Association from 2001-2003. Her writings and publications include hundreds of articles related to realtime reporting and closed captioning which were featured in various professional magazines as well as the National Law Journal. She also writes essays as well as a monthly column for her local Punta Gorda newspaper.

Mike Cano is a highly-certified realtime writer and managing partner of Alternative Communication Services.  He is based out of Tampa, Florida, and has earned his RMR, CRR, CBC and CCP.  These certifications verify Mike's writing ability, however his humor, positive nature and warm personality are what define him.  Mike looks forward to working with other highly-skilled writers and doing whatever he can to assist others in their realtime pursuits.  Mike volunteers his skill with a number of support groups focused on the needs of those with hearing loss.

Philip A. Hyssong,  M.A.,  CMRS is a managing partner of Alternative Communication Services, LLC and has over 20 years of management experience.  Prior to launching ACS with business partner Mike Cano, Phil was Executive Director of a media company specializing in Christian media that focused on the needs of people who were deaf or hard of hearing.  Most recently, Phil spent over 6 years leading a CART and captioning company to unseen levels.  He holds an undergraduate degree in Education from Concordia University Chicago, a Master's degree in Instructional Design from Northern Illinois University, is a Certified Manager of Reporting Services through the National Court Reporters Association and has recent completed training to provide Text Interpreting (TypeWell)

Heidi C. Thomas, FAPR, RDR, RMR, CRR, CBC, has been a court reporter for 30 years, and a CART provider/captioner for 20 years.  She has served on the faculty/training staff for NCRA, and is presently on the Realtime Certification Committee at NCRA.  She has worked as a national broadcast captioner with VITAC Corp., and has also performed on-site and remote CART in the classroom, as well as captioning and CART for local, regional, national, and international conferences, conventions, and seminars.  Her broadcast captioning experience includes ABC, NBC, CBS, ESPN, and Fox Sports Net.  She was also part of the captioning team for the 2000 Summer Olympics on MSNBC, and was part of a team of CART providers who provided services at the Disabled Peoples’ International 6th World Assembly in Sapporo, Japan, in October of 2002.   She is currently Operations/Special Projects Director for EduCaption, Inc., based in Atlanta, Georgia.

John Cano is the office and web manager for Alternative Communication Services, LLC. and has over 15 years experience in coordination and event planning. Prior to working with ACS, John was operations manager and director of member services for several art service and performing arts programs in Miami. He holds a bachelor's degree in Art History with a minor in business administration and public administration from the University of South Florida in Tampa.  Currently John is attending Sheridan Technical Center in Hollywood, FL  for court reporting.  He looks forward to broadcasting captioning in his future.

Vivian Jauregui is the marketing and design coordinator for Realtime Fitness Online. A senior at Washington University in St. Louis, Vivian is working to gain a BFA in Communication Design and a minor in Business Marketing. Vivian looks forward to being able to help the RFO community with any questions or suggestions they have for the website.