Nothing about us without us – including in reporting – a free empowerment training course for cultural professionals, artists and consultants with disabilities
Content /// Costs and registration /// Speaker /// Accessibility /// How to get there /// Contact
When journalists make their prejudices the main story and forget my story in the process.
Tell your own story.
Date: Saturday, 8 November 2025
Time: 11:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Location: Un-Label Studio, Hosterstraße 1-5, 50825 Cologne
Language: Spoken German
Number of participants: max. 15
Speaker: Cultural journalist Amy Zayed
Further registration options if Eventbrite is not barrier-free for you:
By phone: +49 221 550 15 44
By e-mail: beratung@un-label.eu
Content
PR is important – but not every press enquiry is automatically a win. This often presents a dilemma, especially for artists and cultural professionals with disabilities: do I accept the attention, even if the wrong narrative is being told? Or do I decline and forego visibility?
In this training session with Amy Zayed, we look at precisely these kinds of situations. Together, we will work out how you can open up opportunities for journalists to question their preconceived images and take on new perspectives. We will discuss how articles are created in the first place and try out practical ways of responding to ableist questions – without losing sight of your own issues.
You will receive tips on how to prepare for interviews and conversations, position your own stories more clearly and confidently set boundaries when necessary. And, of course, there will be plenty of room for your questions, experiences and joint experimentation.
Goals:
Strengthen your self-confidence when dealing with the media.
Appear confident and clear in interviews.
Achieve more successful, authentic coverage of yourself and your art.
Better understand storytelling and journalistic processes – and use them to your advantage.
Expert
Amy Zayed
Amy Zayed has known both perspectives for decades: as a professional radio journalist for all ARD culture stations and the BBC, she knows the media business inside and out, both in front of and behind the scenes. As a BiPoc woman who has been blind since birth, she encounters ableism and racism both in her work as a radio journalist and when colleagues want to write articles about her as a cultural creator or as a person. In addition, she contributes her expertise as a freelance inclusion consultant for Un-Label, among others.
Costs and Registration
The event is free of charge and exclusively for interested persons with disabilities.
Registration is necessary. Please let us know the precise details of access requirements.
Further registration options if Eventbrite is not barrier-free for you:
By phone: +49 221 550 15 44
By e-mail: beratung@un-label.eu
Accessibility
Relaxed atmosphere
The training takes place in a relaxed atmosphere. That means:
- All forms of attention in the room are welcome
- Moving, lying down, leaving and returning to the room is possible at any time
- Various seating options (beanbags, chairs, mats)
- Various materials for relaxation (stimtoys, Pilates rollers, hedgehog balls…)
- Drinks and snacks
- There is no relaxation room. It is possible to retreat to the garden.
- Assistance dogs are welcome
Spatial accessibility
- The room is at ground level and accessible with an automatic door opener
- Barrier-free bathroom with shower and toilet incl. a hoist
- Barrier-free access to the garden possible thanks to a lift
- Work assistance or mobility assistance on site (registration by 27.06.25)
Linguistic accessibility
- Interpreting German spoken language – German sign language (DGS) (registration by 27.06.25)
- Interpreting difficult language – easy language (registration until 27.06.25)
Visual accessibility
- High-contrast design of rooms and equipment, room signage also as relief and in Braille
- Peer-to-peer audio description (registration by 04.07.25)
Travel
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The barrier-free stop Lenauplatz of the KVB line 5 (Dom / Hbf – Ossendorf) is located in the immediate vicinity (100 m distance) of the building Hosterstraße1-5. If necessary, we will be happy to pick you up there (registration until 30.05.25)
Departure times (KVB) -
3 in-house disabled parking spaces in front of the door
-
1 additional disabled parking space of the city of Cologne around the corner
Note: We will be happy to provide tips and addresses for finding accessible accommodation.
Contact
Adress: Un-Label Studio | Hosterstr. 1-5 | 50825 Cologne
If you have any questions or require further access, please contact
Theresa Heußen
beratung@un-label.eu
Phone +49 221 550 15 44
The training and further education programme is made possible by the Access Maker – Innovation Hub project
Fotocredits: 1) ©Un-Label 2023, Lara Weiß; 2) ©Lucie Ella Photography
