We seek to educate and promote awareness of the damage to our hearing caused by continued exposure to loud sounds. HearTomorrow acknowledges the unique pleasures that sound gives us, but also the need for individuals to take personal responsibility to care for what is one of our least understood senses. We want to encourage everyone to continue to enjoy sound in all its beauty and diversity – but without forgetting safety. We live in an increasingly noisy world. We are constantly bombarded by sounds we both like and dislike. But any sound, liked or disliked, is potentially damaging if it is loud enough. Worse, we often try to drown out “noise” with sounds we like. That is a classic recipe for hearing loss. Most industrial workplaces are under the scrutiny of government organizations, which stipulate safe noise levels for workers. Management and employees are educated about the hazards of noisy environments and instructed in effective methods of hearing protection. No such attention is given to sound levels in entertainment or recreation, and noise hazards certainly exist outside the workplace. Concerts, dance clubs, sporting events, and many forms of outdoor recreation pose a threat to our hearing. Since there is no government regulation, it is up to the individual to at least be aware of the potential hazard and make informed decisions about exposure to such sound levels. HearTomorrow.org and The Hearing Conservation Workshop are dedicated to communicating this issue to those who will be in the best position to act as role models of “sensible listening” to the general public. Through a touring seminar/workshop, students and professionals in the audio and music communities around the country will be invited to learn about hearing, hearing loss, and hearing conservation. 

This is a daunting challenge for us all. We are no more ready to jump straight into a totally hearing-safe world than we were ready to enter a smoke-free world in the mid-60s, when the surgeon-general first put warnings on packs of cigarettes. But we can begin the process of thinking and knowing to place ourselves in a position of “informed decision-making.” We will find new ways of analyzing and managing sound that are less taxing but every bit as satisfying. And so this site and The Hearing Conservation Workshop are dedicated to better learning, better listening, and better sound.