[Iabs-talk] FW: [Nfb-newsline-sponsors] August 2009 NFB-NEWSLINE Happenings - TheNewsletter for Sponsors

Tue Sep 1 14:54:35 UTC 2009

-----Original Message-----
From: nfb-newsline-sponsors-bounces at nfbnet.org
[mailto:nfb-newsline-sponsors-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of West, Renee
Sent: Monday, August 31, 2009 2:45 PM
To: nfb-newsline-sponsors at nfbnet.org
Subject: [Nfb-newsline-sponsors] August 2009 NFB-NEWSLINE Happenings -
TheNewsletter for Sponsors

NFB-NEWSLINE(r) Sponsors:

Please find attached and below (in plain-text format) the fashionably late
August, 2009 issue of NFB-NEWSLINE(r) Happenings.  Should you have any
questions or comments regarding the newsletter or contents therein, please
don't hesitate to call or e-mail me; my contact details are available in my
signature block. 

Thank you!

Renee West
Manager, Marketing and Outreach
Sponsored Technology Programs
NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND
1800 Johnson Street
Baltimore MD 21230
Phone: (410) 659-9314 ext. 2411
Fax: (410) 659-5129
Websites: www.nfb.org <blocked::http://www.nfb.org/> ; www.nfbnewsline.org
<blocked::http://www.nfbnewsline.org/> ; www.nfbnewslineonline.org
<blocked::http://www.nfbnewslineonline.org/> 

There is a Braille literacy crisis in America.
You can be part of the solution.
Buy the Louis Braille Bicentennial Silver Dollar now!
<blocked::https://catalog.usmint.gov/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryD
isplay?langId=-1&storeId=10001&catalogId=10001&identifier=4000> 

Text of the August NFB-NEWSLINE Happenings follows:

NFB-NEWSLINE(r) HAPPENINGS-AUGUST 2009

Main Menu

 The NFB-NEWSLINE(r) team has been on the go this month, traveling to
Oregon, Kentucky, and Florida to help promote our service to individuals and
service providers - this steady diet of travel makes for a very slim
newsletter indeed! 
 As you know, we've made some tremendous expansions to the delivery of our
service with NFB-NEWSLINE(r) Online.  While we are building our service with
online developments we are, however, still invested and interested in
improving the foundation of NFB-NEWSLINE(r), that being our traditional,
phone-based access method.  One means by which to do so is to offer
additional options for the synthetic speech.  Earlier this month we provided
subscribers with an opportunity to listen to samples of new voices and asked
them to offer their opinions as to the best voice.  After the votes were
tallied it seems Paul is the likely new voice for NFB-NEWSLINE(r), but we
will still offer our traditional voice for those who appreciate the ability
to modify the rate of speech.

 Lastly: a celebration of 300!  We have added several new publications over
the past few weeks, and as a result we now have 300 publications offered on
our service!  The new publications are:

Charleston, South Carolina - The Post and Courier, McAllen, Texas - La
Frontera, Victoria, Texas - Victoria Advocate, Lubbock, Texas - Lubbock
Avalanche-Journal, Albuquerque, New Mexico - Albuquerque Journal, and a new
magazine, Texas Monthly, was also added along with grocery ads in
Philadelphia, PA, and Midlands, TX! 

Channel Chat

When you make important updates to your channel, it's important to alert
subscribers!
Don't forget to put an announcement in your greeting if you've added
something new and exciting, especially if it's of a time-sensitive nature,
and if it has a real impact on the lives of your listeners.  By making your
state's subscribers aware of new content they are more likely to locate and
listen to your message.

Remember...this is YOUR space, so get out YOUR message!

JUST THE STATS, MA'AM

We received a total of 144,692 calls in July; that's up by over 1,300 calls!
We've also got another tremendous number this month: 1,259.
1,259 is the number of new subscribers we added in July.  I am duly
impressed and most excited by our progress.  Thank you all so much for your
hard work!  Because I have no silly overarching theme this month for the
numbers, let me provide you with two non-silly quotes about
numbers:

"Originality exists in every individual because each of us differs from the
others.  We are all primary numbers divisible only by ourselves." 
- Jean Guitton

"To finish the moment, to find the journey's end in every step of the road,
to live the greatest number of good hours, is wisdom" 
 - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Top Ten Minutes Used:

Subscribers enjoyed a total of 2,761,590 minutes of use in July; that's
139,014 more than June's numbers-up over 5%!  Florida has had 15,412 more
minutes than in June, a near 9 percent increase!  California's numbers are
up by 5,766, and New York's by 2,467!

1. California 276,300
2. New York 179,888
3. Florida  175,238
4. Massachusetts 174,410
5. Ohio  150,378
6. Illinois 137,220
7. Maryland 119,781
8. Texas  117,779
9. Pennsylvania 91,574
10. Virginia 89,805

Top Ten New Subscribers:

A total of 3,516 new subscribers are needed to reach our goal of 72,500
subscribers by end of year; we need just 879 new members each month.
We're well on our way, so keep up the good work!  If you'd like some ideas
about how to get your new subscriber numbers up, please e-mail
Renee West at rwest at nfb.org.    

1. Florida with 786 (WOW! WAY TO GO!)
2. California and Texas tied with 44 new members each 3. Illinois with 27 4.
Michigan with 26 5. Wisconsin with 24 6. Ohio with 21 7. Maryland with 19 8.
Pennsylvania with 18 9. North Carolina with 15 10. New York and West
Virginia tied with 14 new members each

E-mail Superstars:

Efforts are still underway to bring you detailed e-mail statistics.
While we cannot provide state-specific e-mail usage data, I can tell you
that the total number of e-mails sent in July was 166,109.

Top Ten Registered Subscribers:

The usual crowd is here, superstars all!

1. Florida  11,663
2. California  6,623
3. Maryland 3,010
4. Texas  2,820
5. Michigan 2,629
6. North Carolina 2,592
7. Wisconsin 2,383
8. New York 2,345
9. Ohio  2,261
10. Massachusetts 1,993

Congratulations, Everyone!

Your Monthly Helpful Hint

  We occasionally receive calls from subscribers who have accidentally sped
up their speech rate and are unable to slow it down so as to be
understandable.  Here's a reminder about two ways that the speech parameters
can be reset to default values.  After logging into NFB-NEWSLINE(r),
pressing the key sequence of "pound 00" from the Main Menu will reset the
volume, pitch, speed, and voice back to default values.  The effect of using
the reset speech values command will be to return the subscriber's speech
parameters back to the same condition as when they logged in for the first
time.  As the sponsor, you may log in as the subscriber on the telephone, go
to the Main Menu, and press "pound 00."  Additionally, any sponsor agent
with access to the administration Web site may change these values by
locating the subscriber's account and selecting the "Reset Speech" button
near the top of the page. 

Talk with you next month!
The NFB-NEWSLINE(r) Team

We Need Your Help!

Support Braille Literacy and help provide blind children and adults with the
tools they need to succeed by purchasing the Louis Braille Coin.  Created in
honor of the 200th birthday of Louis Braille, this beautiful coin is made of
90 percent silver and is the first US coin ever to feature readable Braille.
Visit www.braille.org or call the National Federation of the Blind at (410)
659-9314, extension 2216, to learn how you can make change with a dollar!

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