I have the Cochlear Americas Freedom implant that I received in 2005. Have updated the processor 3 times since then and each one is better than the last one.

The accessories that come with Cochlear Americas products are excellent. I use the mini mic often when in noisy settings. I'm sure you know that each CI brand is only compatible with a specific hearing aid. For Cochlear it's ReSound. So, the accessories also work with the ReSound hearing aids.

Phonak works with Advanced Bionics I believe. The Roger device is considerably more expensive than the mini mic. It may come with the AB implant though, I don't know. There is a streamer accessory from Phonak that allows usage with other CI and HA brands. (At least there was when the Roger devices came out. I hope someone will share that if they read this.)

Enjoy the convention. I'm not going this year, Too hard to leave the upper Midwest in the summer although I've done that many times. Enjoy and learn a lot.

NOTE: Not sure if you remember Mark Ross PhD/AuD who was on the national board when I was. He told me to use the neckloop with my hearing aids to listen to audiobooks for a year before I had the CI surgery. I am positive that helped me adjust to CI hearing faster as I was able to hear quite well in about a month. I'm still bimodal and it's working fine for me.

Good luck. Let us know what you decide to do. HLAA Conventions are definitely THE place to learn! Have fun too,

Julie