[Mn-at-large] At Large Chapters

[David Andrews]

Per our discussion, on Sunday, I put out an inquiry to the Chapter 
Presidents list, and the state affiliate leadership list, which is 
primarily state presidents.  Both lists are private.  Below you will 
see two responses to my questions.

Dave


>From: "Debbie Wunder" <debbiewunder at charter.net>
>To: "'Mary Willows'" <mwillows at sbcglobal.net>,
>         "'NFB Chapter Presidents discussion list'" 
> <chapter-presidents at nfbnet.org>,
>         "'David Andrews'" <dandrews at visi.com>,
>         "'State Affiliate Leadership List'" 
> <state-affiliate-leadership-list at nfbnet.org>
>Subject: RE: [Chapter-presidents] [State-affiliate-leadership-list] 
>At Large    Chapters
>Date: Tue, 21 Apr 2015 09:56:33 -0500
>Thread-Index: AQIUljU0z15RE0PjjR3WkCpMaA/wawIF5W7nnL8qf3A=
>
>Hi, we have an at large chapter in Missouri, called the Show Me chapter. We
>average 8 to 12 people a month, still growing. We have elected officers just
>like in a physical chapter. We are considering being the host chapter of a
>state convention. We are very much like a chapter that meets in person.
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Chapter-presidents [mailto:chapter-presidents-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
>Behalf Of Mary Willows via Chapter-presidents
>Sent: Monday, April 20, 2015 11:42 PM
>To: 'David Andrews'; 'State Affiliate Leadership List';
>chapter-presidents at nfbnet.org
>Subject: Re: [Chapter-presidents] [State-affiliate-leadership-list] At Large
>Chapters
>
>Hi Dave:
>California has an At Large Chapter as well.  We have been meeting by
>conference call on a monthly basis.  It is conducted exactly the same as a
>regular local chapter meeting.  The attendance varies from four to fourteen.
>I send out a reminder message a few days ahead to everyone who has ever
>attended in the past.  I have noticed that if I send out a last minute
>reminder as well about an hour before the meeting begins we seem to get more
>participants.  I ask everyone to introduce themselves at the beginning and
>say where they are calling from so that I can make a point of how widespread
>the meeting is.  We do collect dues but, we do not exclude anyone from the
>call.  The only tricky thing I have noticed is that people need to be
>reminded to mute when they are not speaking.  Occasionally, people have
>trouble unmuting but eventually everyone gets to make a comment.  Typically,
>the meeting runs about an hour and a half.  There is not much voting except
>to adopt the minutes from the last meeting.
>Hope that helps.
>Best,
>Mary Willows
>
>The National Federation of the blind knows that blindness is not the
>characteristic that defines you or your future.  Every day we raise the
>expectations of blind people because low expectations create obstacles
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>You can live the life you want; blindness is not what holds you back.
>
>National Federation of the Blind of California (NFBC)
>3934 Kern Court
>Pleasanton, CA 94588
>925-462-8575
>
>Thank you,
>Mary Willows, President NFBC
>mwillows at sbcglobal.net
>
>
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: State-affiliate-leadership-list
>[mailto:state-affiliate-leadership-list-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of
>David Andrews via State-affiliate-leadership-list
>Sent: Monday, April 20, 2015 7:40 PM
>To: chapter-presidents at nfbnet.org;
>state-affiliate-leadership-list at nfbnet.org
>Subject: [State-affiliate-leadership-list] At Large Chapters
>
>Hi everybody:
>
>Our state, like many, has started an At-Large Chapter.
>   We meet monthly by conference telephone calls.  We are still quite young
>and small, and are discussing what we want to happen at  our meetings.
>
>We would be interested to know what other states do, what works on the
>phone, and what doesn't
>
>Thanks in advance.
>
>David Andrews, Vice-President MN At-Large Chapter