[Mn-at-large] Fwd: NFB President’s Notebook - week of 11/ 28/2016

Mon Nov 28 21:43:13 UTC 2016

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>President's Notebook
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>National Federation of the Blind
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>Mark A. Riccobono
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><mailto:officeofthepresident at nfb.org>officeofthepresident at nfb.org
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>(410) 659-9314
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>Dear Fellow Federationists,
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>I hope that everyone enjoyed a wonderful 
>Thanksgiving holiday. Just because we are 
>getting into December does not mean the pace of 
>our work has slowed down. The NFB Board of 
>Directors will be here this weekend for meetings 
>to review our progress and plan for 2017, and 
>the list of things to discuss is impressive. As 
>you will find in the critical items below, there 
>are a number of items that require your 
>immediate attention. I also want to call your 
>attention to our communications survey that is 
>not quite time sensitive enough to be critical, 
>but is very important and will help shape a 
>number of activities for us in 2017. Finally, I 
>would like you to stay on high alert just in 
>case we need action on the Marrakesh treaty during the next ten days.
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>Critical Actions This Week:
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>Giving Tuesday:
>#GivingTuesday is right around the corner. 
>Entering its fifth year, #GivingTuesday is a 
>global initiative for philanthropic activity. 
>People all over the world give through social 
>media on the day after Cyber Monday. You can all 
>influence others. Please mark your calendars for 
>November 29, 2016. Letâ€™s see if we can make 
>this our biggest #GivingTuesday ever. We are 
>asking you to donate and to share, retweet, and 
>paste our â€œasksâ€ on your social media. We 
>are using #NFBdonate2016 as our hashtag. Our 
>social media campaign for #GivingTuesday will 
>direct people to our donation page through 
>Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. For more 
>information, please read our 
><https://nfb.org/blog/vonb-blog/it-starts-me-fundraising-national-federation-blind>Voice 
>of the Nationâ€™s 
>Blind<https://nfb.org/blog/vonb-blog/it-starts-me-fundraising-national-federation-blind> 
>blog post on giving options.
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>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 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. If you would like to 
>reserve a meeting room during the Washington 
>Seminar, please contact Diane McGeorge before 
>December 10 at (303) 778-1130, extension 219, or 
>send an email to Lisa Bonderson at 
><mailto:lbonderson at cocenter.org>lbonderson at cocenter.org.
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>News:
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>Communications Survey:
>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 and should 
>take approximately five minutes to complete. 
>Please distribute the link 
>(<https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/B9MR89H>https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/B9MR89H) 
>far and wide. We encourage all willing 
>participants to complete the survey by Monday, December 12.
>Slam That!:
>Some say that blind students cannot learn 
>science, technology, engineering, or 
>mathematics. The members of the National 
>Federation of the Blind say â€œSlam that!â€ 
>Dates and a location are now available for the 
>2017 NFB Youth Slam—a week-long, hands-on, STEM 
>learning program for one hundred blind and 
>low-vision high school students from across the 
>country. This program of the NFB Jernigan 
>Instituteâ€™s National Center for Blind Youth in 
>Science will be held July 23-29, 2017, at Towson 
>University in Baltimore, Maryland. Individuals 
>who are interested in volunteering to help the 
>members of the NFB â€œSlam that!â€ and are 
>available July 21-29, 2017, should apply at 
><http://www.blindscience.org/nfb-youth-slam-volunteer-page>http://www.blindscience.org/nfb-youth-slam-volunteer-page. 
>The deadline to apply is January 31, 2017.
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>New Bulletin Board:
>We have a new bulletin board in the Betsy 
>Zaborowski conference room. The multi-layered, 
>interactive bulletin board features highlights 
>of the 2016 NFB BELL Academy. The background is 
>Braille paper containing surplus handouts from 
>an NFB BELL Academy Training Seminar. There is a 
>button to the right of the board that, when 
>pressed, plays "Braille is Beautiful."
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>Dates to Keep in Mind:
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>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 21-29, 2017: Youth Slam, Towson University
>Â·        September 12-17, 2017: BLAST, Nashville, Tennessee
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>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.
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