[Blindtlk] Corporate Sponsorship of Blindness Conventions was RE: non 24

Wed Jan 6 19:14:02 UTC 2016

Hi all,
I too have very mixed feelings about corporate sponsorships of conventions
of consumer organizations such as NFB and ACB. For those who don't know, I
am a member of ACB and am a long-time leader in our Massachusetts affiliate.

Somewhere around 6 years ago, ACB began doing more corporate sponsorships
including featuring the sponsors prominently in the convention program. My
first knee-jerk reaction was something like "gag me with a spoon."  
But then I more carefully considered the rising costs of things like hotel
rooms, meeting rooms and food at hotels. For those of you who attend either
convention, have you noticed that room rates have risen only slightly over a
long period of time? Without corporate sponsorship, this would not be
possible unless we expect our organizations to subsidize the events at an
even higher percentage than they do today.
Also, I happened to take a close look last year at how much it costs to
register for other conferences such as AER. My first thought upon seeing
those costs was that many members of either consumer organization would find
such costs prohibitive.
Frankly, I tend to be biased against corporations, especially the larger
ones and the ones in the finance and banking industry. I have been known to
blame some of our largest banks for the depression of 2008. I happen to
believe that corporations have way too much power and that they rule both of
our major political parties. 
But, like it or not, consumer organizations of the blind must operate in
this environment and that means either finding other sources of funding or
considerably increasing convention prices. One of the largest sources of
those other funds happens to be corporate sponsorships. While I don't
personally like it much, I do believe that both NFB and ACB are doing what
they must in order to try to keep cost down. Incidentally, Bay State council
of the Blind is now doing the same thing. It's called survival in the
Corporate States of America.
Bob Hachey 

-----Original Message-----
From: blindtlk [mailto:blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Bryan
Schulz via blindtlk
Sent: Tuesday, January 05, 2016 11:34 PM
To: 'Blind Talk Mailing List'
Cc: Bryan Schulz
Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] non 24

Hi,

She shouldn't have to explain her opinion!
$30 isn't that much for an entire week long convention.
Why can't people out here say anything without someone wanting to make them
feel bad for what was typed??
They wouldn't have an audience asking doctors for the pills without stirring
up publicity on media and during both conventions!
Do you get a monthly payment from vanda?
Why should we feel obligated to push their name/pill?
Bryan

-----Original Message-----
From: blindtlk [mailto:blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Cindy Ray
via blindtlk
Sent: Tuesday, January 05, 2016 8:57 PM
To: 'Blind Talk Mailing List'
Cc: Cindy Ray
Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] non 24

Excuse me, but why do you have mixed feelings about corporate sponsoring of
our conventions. We wouldn't have the conventions we have if they didn't,
and most of us can't affor to pay big bucks for conference fees. Also, by
way of doing "the big ask", we are getting their name out there. They are
often in attendance as volunteers or with booths, and they get to know us.
This is a very good thing. Everybody gets corporate sponsoring--public
media, charities, other organizations.
Cindy

-----Original Message-----
From: blindtlk [mailto:blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Arielle
Silverman via blindtlk
Sent: Tuesday, January 5, 2016 7:30 PM
To: gwunder at earthlink.net; Blind Talk Mailing List <blindtlk at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Arielle Silverman <arielle71 at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] non 24

I think Vanda has sponsored our last few conventions or at least made some
financial contributions to our affiliates. I'm not sure how I feel about
that either. Then again, I also have mixed feelings about companies like
Google and Microsoft sponsoring our conventions. It's a complex issue.
Arielle

On 1/5/16, Gary Wunder via blindtlk <blindtlk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> I have enjoyed reading the comments about non-24, and when I 1st heard 
> about the efforts of a pharmaceutical company to market to blind 
> people, I was suspicious. I think I was also a bit defensive, assuming 
> that the worst would happen.
>
> I suspect that I suffer from non-24. There are times when I have to 
> work very hard to stay awake, even when I find things around me to be 
> interesting and thought-provoking. There are times when at 4 o'clock 
> in the morning I am totally wide-awake and mad about it. Then I will 
> be walking through a store or working at my desk or even exercising, 
> and I find that I am exceedingly tired. This suggests to me that I do 
> have a body clock and that periodically that body clock gets off.
>
> I relate to the comments about being embarrassed while at work and 
> unintentionally falling asleep. It does not reflect well on any 
> employee when this happens, and I admit that more than once I have 
> been embarrassed about nodding off at times when I was paid to be 
> awake. I have developed a number of strategies for combating this, but 
> I can't claim that they work 100% of the time. If I catch myself in 
> time, I can always stand up, pace, do toe touches, or engage in other 
> activities that I can blame on needing to stretch my legs or my sore 
> back. Sometimes they too require attention, but it is more likely that 
> I am trying to ensure that I stay awake.
>
> I don't know that this adds anything, but I do believe that the 
> subject is important enough that I am likely to put it on our 
> convention agenda here in Missouri. If non-24 is real, we should not 
> try to run from it. If the marketing is not what it should be, we 
> should not run from that either.
>
>
>
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