[Mn-at-large] Fwd: NFB President’s Notebook - week of 12/ 12/2016

Tue Dec 13 03:06:18 UTC 2016

>
>
>President's Notebook
>
>
>
>
>
>National Federation of the Blind
>
>
>
>
>
>Mark A. Riccobono
>
>
>
>
>
><mailto:officeofthepresident at nfb.org>officeofthepresident at nfb.org
>
>
>
>
>
>(410) 659-9314
>
>
>
>
>Dear Fellow Federationists,
>
>This week there are a number of timely 
>announcements that require your attention. I 
>hope that each of you received my email from 
>Friday that outlines the plans for our 
>Washington Seminar. We have some elements 
>planned that you should take into consideration 
>when planning your appointments, if possible. If 
>you have questions about the Washington Seminar, 
>please speak with Parnell Diggs at extension 2222.
>
>There is a lot of speculation about what is 
>going to happen with the incoming administration 
>in Washington, DC. It is worth noting that the 
>Federation continues to seek proactive policy 
>changes in Washington rather than simply react 
>to the political winds of the moment. Of course, 
>changes in government always cause us to take a 
>step back and retool our strategy to make sure 
>we can get the maximum advantage for blind 
>people. Furthermore, we are lining up some 
>potential priorities that will take advantage of 
>where we anticipate Congress and our new 
>president focusing their energy. As we plan for 
>our 2017 Washington Seminar, I encourage each of 
>us to stay focused on building relationships 
>with our elected leaders. Remember that no 
>member of Congress knows more about blindness 
>and the true barriers that stand in our way than 
>the members of the National Federation of the 
>Blind. This is our time to move our policy agenda.
>
>
>
>Critical Actions This Week:
>
>
>
>Communications Survey:
>The deadline for the communications survey is 
>midnight tonight (Monday, December 12). Please 
>distribute the link 
>(<https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/B9MR89H>https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/B9MR89H). 
>As we close out 2016 and plan for 2017 and 
>beyond, we are evaluating various aspects of how 
>we accomplish our organizational goals. To help 
>us plan, we would value your feedback on the 
>NFB's organizational priorities, as well as 
>which forms of communication are most useful and 
>effective for you. This information will help us 
>build a successful communications plan for the 
>future. The survey is confidential.
>
>
>
>News:
>
>
>
>Welcome New Members into the Family:
>This week we are rolling out a new program to 
>welcome new members into the Federation, as well 
>as to collect their contact information. 
>Starting with those members that have joined 
>since July, and then continuing monthly moving 
>forward, affiliate and chapter presidents (or 
>their designees) should enter new members' 
>contact information into the form located at 
><https://nfb.org/new-member-form>https://nfb.org/new-member-form. 
>In addition to contact information, we will need 
>to know if the new member has a cane or would 
>like one, what his or her preferred method of 
>receiving materials is, and what chapter the new member is joining.
>Once the form has been submitted, the new member 
>will begin receiving a series of welcome letters 
>from leaders across the Federation, including 
>two letters from me. Affiliate presidents will 
>receive a new member list monthly to facilitate 
>follow up with new members. Your help is very 
>much appreciated as we endeavor to collect 
>information and assist you in engaging the new 
>members' involvement in our family.
>
>Ready to Slam That!?:
>The 2017 NFB Youth Slam, a weeklong program for 
>blind students interested in science, 
>technology, engineering, and math, will be held 
>July 23-29, 2017, at Towson University in 
>Baltimore, Maryland. Applications for the 
>program are now available online for 
><https://nfb.org/youth-slam-student-application>students 
>and 
><https://nfb.org/youth-slam-volunteer-application>adult 
>volunteers. For more details, visit 
><http://blindscience.org/nfb-youth-slam>http://blindscience.org/nfb-youth-slam.
>
>Holiday Schedule:
>The national office will be closed Monday, 
>December 26, and Friday, December 30, for 
>Christmas and New Year's respectively. The 
>Independence Market will be closed the entire 
>week of December 26-30, and will reopen on Monday, January 2.
>
>Student Loan Notifications:
>If you have experienced accessibility issues 
>with student loan communications, we need to 
>hear from you. In October 2014, we entered into 
>an agreement with the US Department of Education 
>to make all federal student loan information 
>accessible to blind individuals. Under the 
>agreement, the DOE and its loan servicers should 
>now offer: (1) accessible websites; (2) digital 
>forms that can be filled out, submitted, and 
>saved on electronic devices; and (3) timely 
>provision of alternative formats for all 
>documents, including notices, statements, and 
>publications. If you have had difficulty 
>receiving accessible federal student loan 
>information in the past year or otherwise 
>believe that the DOE or one of its loan 
>servicers is not fulfilling its obligations 
>under our agreement, please contact Valerie 
>Yingling at 
><mailto:vyingling at nfb.org>vyingling at nfb.org as soon as possible to discuss.
>
>
>
>Reminders:
>
>
>
>Washington Seminar:
>The Holiday Inn Capitol is accepting 
>reservations for the 2017 Washington Seminar, 
>which will occur from January 30–February 2. 
>Please call (8877) 572-6951 or go to 
><https://nfb.org/washington-seminar>https://nfb.org/washington-seminar 
>to make your reservations using booking code F7B.
>
>The rates are $188 a night for a room 
>accommodating up to four persons, and the 
>applicable tax is 14.5 percent. These rates are 
>good for check in as early as January 29 and 
>check out by February 3. While the reservation 
>deadline is December 28, I urge you to take care 
>of this now before the holidays get too busy.
>
>
>
>
>Dates to Keep in Mind:
>
>
>
>Â·        December 16, 2016: 
><https://nfb.org/santa-letters>Deadline for Braille Letters from Santa requests
>Â·        January 30, 2017: Great Gathering-In
>Â·        January 30-February 2, 2017: 
><https://nfb.org/washington-seminar>Washington Seminar
>Â·        March 30-31, 2017: Jacobus tenBroek Law Symposium
>Â·        March 31, 2017: Deadline for 
><http://www.nfb.org/scholarships>scholarship applications
>Â·        April 15, 2017: Deadline for 
><https://nfb.org/bolotin-award-main>Jacob Bolotin Award applications
>Â·        July 10-15, 2017: 
><https://nfb.org/images/nfb/publications/bm/bm16/bm1611/bm161101.htm>National 
>Convention, Rosen Shingle Creek Resort, Orlando, Florida
>Â·        July 21-29, 2017: 
><http://blindscience.org/nfb-youth-slam>Youth Slam, Towson University
>Â·        September 12-17, 2017: 
><http://blindmerchants.org/blast-2017/>BLAST, Nashville, Tennessee
>
>
>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 between blind 
>people and our dreams. You can live the life you 
>want; blindness is not what holds you back.
>
>Mark A. Riccobono
>President
>200 East Wells Street, Baltimore, MD 21230
>(410) 659-9314 | 
><mailto:officeofthepresident at nfb.org>officeofthepresident at nfb.org
>
>
><https://nfb.org/>
>National Federation of the Blind
>
>
> 
><http://www.facebook.com/nationalfederationoftheblind>
>Facebook
>     <https://twitter.com/NFB_Voice>
>Twitter
>     <https://www.youtube.com/NationsBlind>
>Youtube
>
>
>The National Federation of the Blind is a 
>community of members and friends who believe in 
>the hopes and dreams of the nationâ€™s blind. 
>Every day we work together to help blind people live the lives they want.
>
>
>
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/mn-at-large_nfbnet.org/attachments/20161212/7131f6d8/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: 64337f3.png
Type: image/png
Size: 33789 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/mn-at-large_nfbnet.org/attachments/20161212/7131f6d8/attachment.png>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: 6433802.png
Type: image/png
Size: 16173 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/mn-at-large_nfbnet.org/attachments/20161212/7131f6d8/attachment-0001.png>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: 6433812.png
Type: image/png
Size: 16307 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/mn-at-large_nfbnet.org/attachments/20161212/7131f6d8/attachment-0002.png>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: 6433822.png
Type: image/png
Size: 16510 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/mn-at-large_nfbnet.org/attachments/20161212/7131f6d8/attachment-0003.png>