From May 30 - June 5, 2006, a team from PEN-International (Bill Clymer, Coordinator; Denise Kavin, Senior Project Associate; and Deborah Makowski, NTID Interpreter) traveled to England. There was a two-fold purpose for this trip; to visit Herstmonceux Castle in preparations for the PEN-International Summer Leadership Institute, and to participate in a Deaf Studies conference at the University of Wolverhampton.

The first leg of the trip started with a visit to Herstmonceux Castle in East Sussex to meet with their staff to discuss logistics for the upcoming, first-ever PEN-International Summer Leadership Institute which will take place 5 - 12 August 2006.

From Herstmonceux, the team traveled 200 miles to the city of Wolverhampton, northwest of London, to attend a three-day international conference, "Deaf People: Skills for Work and Life", hosted by the University of Wolverhampton and the Walsalls Deaf People's Centre in the nearby town of Walsall. This conference was organized under the leadership of Joan Fleming, a faculty member at the University of Wolverhampton, and Ken Whittingham, Project Coordinator at the Walsalls Deaf People's Centre.

During a plenary session at the conference, Professor Clymer and Dr. Kavin presented a paper entitled "Various Instructional and Support Technologies used at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf", which was well received by the approximately 100 participants at the conference. Mr. John Hay, a lecturer at the University of Wolverhampton who will also be a speaker at the PEN-International Summer Leadership Institute, was a featured presenter at the conference.

This conference also marked the 60th anniversary of the establishment of Walsall Deaf People's Centre, about 30 minutes drive from Wolverhampton. The services provided by the Centre continue to grow under the leadership of Chairperson Gregory Joseph, and Director Colin Sanders, M.B.E.