[blindkid] Why Oh Why All These Registrations?

[Carrie Gilmer]

Greetings All,

 

I want to help you understand why we have a registration for NFB, NOPBC, and
NFB Camp each separate, and help you to help others understand. If you are a
newcomer you can not imagine the ENORMITY of this thing that we all put on.

 

The NOPBC does not pay for any the meeting rooms and much of the AV
equipment for the PARENT PORTION. The NFB does. If we did, at a hotel like
this, for the amount of time and number of rooms-well we could not do it!
And the registration would have to be like $200 plus per person.

 

But we (NOPBC) have to pay for some AV (very expensive), all OUR workshop
and registration materials costs including any materials for the children
(close to the largest cost), any food or refreshments (which HAVE to be from
the hotel in order to get them to agree to such LOW room rates), our
presenters volunteer their time, but some (like one or two) get a little
help in getting there IF they truly need it and they are pretty much
irreplaceable and no way could otherwise come. Everything costs-even the
name tags. This the NOPBC pays for. What we take in never has come close to
covering just the cost to NOPBC. If you compare it to other conferences, and
make it out to be the length and breadth of ours (there is NO equal), you
will find ours is ridiculously inexpensive. We also RUN our own stuff-so we
need to keep track of our own numbers-thus our own registration.

 

The NFB pays for all meeting rooms, and many (all straight NFB) materials,
and shipping to get them there, and staff to run the logistics, and AV, and
negotiates a RIDICULOUSLY low hotel rate. Their registration is also
ridiculously low when you compare it to something comparable (which again
there is no equal), all the exhibitors too have some cost. Also it is also
run and presented mostly by volunteers. That is why we CAN keep it low cost
in comparison. NFB never "makes it up" or comes out even either.

 

We (Parents) are a DIVISION, a part of the whole, we pay for the whole like
everyone does, and we pay for our part. I think with the new teacher
division there are now 27 divisions (of which we are one) and many special
interest groups. These often have their own distinct meetings too and also
charge a fee and register people for their parts of the whole. (Lawyers
Division, Merchants Division, Student Division, etc, etc.)

 

NFB Camp is a pay for service kind of thing. It runs the whole week and it
typically is around $100 or less. Pretty fair childcare price for a week.

 

 Hope this helps, I know someone will correct me on number of divisions if I
am wrong. Trivia test: Name all the divisions!

 

Carrie Gilmer, President

National Organization of Parents of Blind Children

A Division of the National Federation of the Blind

NFB National Center: 410-659-9314

Home Phone: 763-784-8590

carrie.gilmer at gmail.com

www.nfb.org/nopbc