[Massachusetts-NFB] At-Large Chapter March Meeting Minutes

[Liz Lesperance]

Good Afternoon and Happy Ides of March,

Attached and pasted below please find the minutes from the at-large
chapter's most recent meeting held last Sunday, March 12th.

Thanks,
Liz

**********

The NFB of MA held their March monthly meeting on Sunday, March 12th. The
meeting was called to order at 7:03PM. Those in attendance included:

Liz Lesperance

Shara Winton

Brian Langois

Debbie Malone

Sandra Burgess

Mike Karsok

Rashad Saadieh

Rachel

Cullen Gallagher

ElizabethAnn Johnson



ElizabethAnn recited the NFB pledge perfectly.

Liz conducted the roll call.

Brian put forth a motion to approve the February meeting minutes which
Cullen seconded. The minutes were approved.

Sandy went over the treasurer's report. We increased our balance by $30
last month bringing the total to $1713.93. Liz put forth a motion to
approve the treasurer's report which Cullen seconded. The treasurer's
report was approved.

Cullen summarized the March presidential release. Highlights included:

·       a quick mention of our MA state convention

·       a lot was accomplished on the legislative front at Washington
Seminar. The Medical Device Nonvisual Accessibility Act has been
reintroduced in the House and has 32 original co-sponsers.

·       the Transformation to Competitive Integrated Employment Act was
introduced in both the House and the Senate.

·       there was a victory in the Joe Orozco case which involves ensuring
technology is accessible for federal employees. The U.S. Court of Appeals
for the DC Circuit overruled a lower court's decision dismissing Joe's
case. The appellate court ruled that federal employees do have the right to
bring a right of action against government agencies. At the heart of this
case is the ability to hold federal agencies accountable for Section 508
violations.

Debbie advised us to be on the lookout for legislative alerts and be
prepared to reach out to our local legislators who have not co-sponsored
our bills

National convention registration is open. Hotel rooms are available but
should be booked ASAP. Details can be found at:

NFB.org/convention

Online registration is $25 and will close on May 31st. Banquet tickets are
$70.

We discussed the Crowd Compass app. We will await further details to see if
the app will be updated for this year's national convention. Debbie
reminded everyone planning on attending national convention to move forward
with travel plans and register. Shara reminded us that those who have never
been to a national convention can apply for a Kenneth Jernigan scholarship.

We discussed positive elements of our state convention and ways in which we
can improve the convention going forward.

·       Brian mentioned he attended virtually and had a hard time hearing
the audience. Brian asked that someone with a microphone repeat the
comments of the audience.

·       ElizabethAnn noted the food did not meet expectations. It was often
cold and did not present well.

·       ElizabethAnn said the game night could have been a bit better
organized. Someone could have walked around and obtained a word from each
table and put together one mad libs story. Overall the game idea was great.

·       Shara advised that convention prices will have to increase if
individuals want something other than pasta for the banquet dinner

·       Shara suggested people get to the banquet early so the food doesn't
come out cold

We discussed reading Ever Lee Hairston's book "Blind Ambition" for our
meeting next month. We resolved to read half of the book by the next
meeting.

We discussed holding our popcorn fundraiser again in early May and holding
a different fundraiser in November.

Liz suggested having chapter presidents from other at-large chapters come
speak with us about activities held within their chapters.

Shara mentioned there will be a leadership retreat the first weekend in May
in the Springfield area. It will include at least one or two overnight
stays.



The meeting adjourned at 8:15PM.

Our next meeting will be Tuesday April 11th at 7:00PM. Please disregard any
zoom reminders you receive about a meeting on Sunday, April 9th (Easter
Sunday).
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