[Jayhawk-chapter] Convention Notes and Reminders

Thu Nov 9 04:37:04 UTC 2017

Dear Kansas Federation Family,

The time has finally come for our 2017 NFBK convention in beautiful Lawrence
at the Doubletree by Hilton, which used to be known as the Holiday In Hotel
and Convention Centre. This hotel has been the site of several conventions
in recent years. The We of the Jayhawk Chapter enthusiastically wwelcome all
of you and your guests to this great annual event. Our state president Tom
Page has put together an amazing agenda and the convention planning
committee has worked very hard over these past several months in hopes of
making this year's convention comfortable and fun. I hope the information
below will be helpful in giving you a heads-up before you arrive at the
convention site.

..Rooms and lodging. All rooms in our block will be sugsidized down to $99
per room per night. We are aware that some of you have pre-paid for your
rooms before you became aware of our treasury-sibsidized room rates. If you
are one of the affected persons or families, make sure to inform the desk
clerk when you come to check in. If the state affiliate is providing
ffinancial assistance for you, a reservation has already been booked on your
behalf.

.. Convention registration. You may register online or at the registration
desk in the convention hall. In either case, the registration costs are as
follows: registration fee:  $5.00

Saturday noon luncheon:  $17.00

Saturday evening banquet plated dinner:  $25

Grand total $47.00

Note we are no longer charging $10 for those who wait to register at
convention time. This change was voted by your NFBK state board at our
teleconference meeting last Sunday. The forms and registration instructions
are found on our web page at https://www.nfbks.org/. At this point I would
advise you to pay your registration fees via Paypal rather than sending a
check to our treasurer by snail mail. Please use the Friends and Family link
so we are not charged a transactional fee by Paypal. If you do not yet have
a Paypal account, it is easy to create one by logging into
https://www.paypal.com. Once you are logged into your account, make your
payment to treasurer at nfbks.org. This is the same address to use for emailing
your completed convention registration form.

.. Friday evening hospitality. The hospitality room will be open at 5pm on
Friday evening. Members of the Jayhawk chapter will be on hand to greet you
and show you the way to food and beverages. Fresh vegies and a tasty dip
will be provided along with some lip-smacking yummy hors d'oeuvres.

..Other meals. Breakfast is included on Saturday and Sunday mornings during
your hotel stay. There may be, in some cases, a meal or two that are not
included as part of the convention package. TheBoulevard Grill in the
Doubletree has excellent food and braille menus will be available. There are
also numerous fast food poptions on 6th Street just a few blocks south of
the hotel.

.. Accommodations for guide/service dog users. Unlike our national
convention, the Kansas affiliate does not make prior arrangements for dog
food delivery to the convention site at this time. Therefore, guide/service
users will need to bring your service animal's food to the hotel or
otherwise arrange for delivery if it is logistically difficult for you to
bring dog food.

There is an abundance of grassy outdor space for guide/service animal relief
areas on the south side of the hotel near the guest rooms, on the west side
near the hotel lobby, and at the southwest corner by the convention center
entrance. Such an abundance of dog relief areas should enable your dog to
respond to your "outside" command very quickly and efficiently.

.. Indoor climate control procedure. Your 2017 convention committee does its
very best to ensure your comfort throughout the convention including
meetings and social activities in the convention ballroom area. However, the
challenge is that we all seem to have our very individualized internal
thermostats and tolerances for heat and cold. If you are uncomfortable
either way, please find Tom Page, Donna Wood or Rob Tabor who will
communicate your request for a change of room temperature to the hotel
staff. We hope to keep temperature adjustments as few as possible.

..Extended checkout time. Your 2017 state convention committee has arranged
for a checkout time at 1:00pm on Sunday. The annual business meeting should
be concluded in ample time to enable all of you to vacate your rooms and to
settle up with the hotel. However, the extended checkout time has been
provided for out of the abundance of caution.

..  Resolutions. The resolutions committee will meet on Friday eening at 7pm
to study and take committee action on resolutions which will be discussed
and voted durig our annual business meeting on Sunday morning. So if you
have a resolution, please bring it to the committee for study and initial
action as to whether to recommend it for passage. Your resolution must meet
the following requirements:

(a)    Must be in writing;

(b)   Must contain at least one "whereas" clause and at least one "be it
resolved" clause;

(c)    Must clearly state and define a problem related to blindness practice
or policy;

(d)   Must propose  an actionable  remedy for the stated problem or concern.

(e)   Must be professional and businesslike in tone and must avoid usage of
profanity, vulgarity, name-calling, lies,or false accusations.

If you need assistance in drafting a resolution, please contact any of the
following: state president Tom Page, Rob Tabor, Donna Wood, or Tom Anderson.
All of us are grizzled veteran resolution draftsmen. Last and not least, I
would remind chapter presidents to be sure to appoint a representative from
your chapter to both the resolutions and nominating committees.

I hope this covers the need-to-know info, and I look forward to seeing you
at the convention.

Best regards,

Rob Tabor | First vice president/convention co-chairman, National Federation
of the Blind of Kansas

(785) 865-9959

Rob dot Tabor at SBCGlobal dot net

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