[Mn-at-large] NFB President’s Notebook - week of 03/19/ 2018
President, National Federation of the Blind
OfficeOfThePresident at nfb.org
Tue Mar 20 01:02:33 UTC 2018
Presidents Notebook
National Federation of the Blind
Mark A. Riccobono
<mailto:officeofthepresident at nfb.org>officeofthepresident at nfb.org
(410) 659-9314
Dear Fellow Federationists,
Spring is going to arrive this week and with it
comes all of the anticipation of our national
convention, our dynamic summer programs, and the
many innovative things our chapters are taking
on. In case you have been under a rock, the
University of Maryland Baltimore County made
history as a number sixteen seed in the NCAA
tournament, knocking off the number one seeded
team from Virginia—not to pick on any
particular affiliate. Speaking of an underdog
achieving great things against seemingly
insurmountable odds, this happened the same week
that we got the Marrakesh Implementation Act to
drop in the United States Senate (S. 2559). Both
are examples of hard work, great preparation,
dogged determination, and taking full advantage
of opportunities when they come. There have been
many times when the National Federation of the
Blind is thought to be the underdog, but this
does not bother us. We continue to move forward
despite the critics. It is now time for us to
prepare to get Marrakesh passed in time to
celebrate at our 2018 National Convention.
I want to remind you about the pending deadline
for the Jacob Bolotin Awards. I am certain you
have been thinking about the innovative projects,
individuals, and organizations that are out there
creating new opportunities for the blind. Now is
the time to put the ideas in writing so we have
plenty of nominations for our committee to
consider next month. The deadline is April
15—note that you can do your Bolotin
nominations and still have a couple of days to
file your taxes since they’re not due until
April 17 this year. (But please do not wait until
the last minute on your nominations or your
taxes.) It would be great if we could get a
nomination from every affiliate. It would make
the committee’s work really difficult—but since
Federationists are used to doing hard work, do
not let that hold you back from sending in all of your nominations.
I wish to acknowledge the tremendous work of Joy
Harris who stepped down as president of the
National Federation of the Blind of Alabama
during the affiliate convention last weekend. Joy
has been a longtime leader and her
accomplishments are well documented in our
organization. Joy is now working on assisting our
new president, Barbara Manuel, in getting up to
speed at the helm of our Alabama affiliate.
Congratulations to Joy and to Barbara. Please
welcome Barbara to our affiliate leadership list
and be prepared to answer the questions that each
of us have had as new affiliate presidents.
It is an extremely busy time here at the national
office: we just completed a weekend of meetings
and we are getting ready to host our annual
tenBroek symposium, as well as other related
meetings. We are also looking forward to our
Greater Philadelphia chapter visiting on
Saturday. I am hoping to take a couple of days
off with the family during spring break next week
before heading full speed into the national
convention planning rush. Consequently, there will not be a notebook next week.
Critical Actions This Week:
Scholarship deadline:
The deadline to submit scholarship applications
is March 31. Please ensure that the students in
your state have submitted all their forms by
then. Hopefully all the affiliate presidents will
be finished with their recommendation letters soon after that.
News:
Marrakesh Treaty Legislation Introduced:
Senator Charles E. “Chuck†Grassley (R-IA)
and Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Bob Corker
(R-TN), and Bob Menendez (D-NJ) have introduced
the Marrakesh Treaty Implementation Act, S. 2559.
The entire press release can be found at
<https://nfb.org/national-federation-blind-applauds-introduction-legislation-implementing-marrakesh-treaty>https://nfb.org/national-federation-blind-applauds-introduction-legislation-implementing-marrakesh-treaty.
Positions Open:
We have three positions open at the National
Federation of the Blind Jernigan Institute:
<https://nfb.org/web-content-coordinator>web
content coordinator,
<https://nfb.org/social_media_coordinator>social
media and project coordinator, and
<https://nfb.org/logisticsassistant>facilities maintenance/custodian.
2017-2018 Nationwide Braille Readers Are Leaders Contest:
The competition was sponsored by the National
Federation of the Blind of Illinois in
partnership with the National Association to
Promote the Use of Braille (NAPUB), which is an
NFB division. Eighty-one students from twelve
states took part in the contest. The list of
winners can be found at
<https://nfb.org/blind-students-win-braille-reading-contest>https://nfb.org/blind-students-win-braille-reading-contest.
National Convention:
2018 National Convention Exhibit Hall Affiliate and Division Registration:
Now is the time to fill out the
<https://nfb.org/national-convention-exhibitor-application>registration
form to reserve your state affiliate or
division’s spot in the 2018 National Convention
Exhibit Hall! Just select “NFB Affiliate
Exhibitor†as your exhibitor type. Last year
our applications exceeded capacity and we had to
turn some people away, so please be sure to
register before the May 31 deadline. Contact Anna
Adler at <mailto:aadler at nfb.org>aadler at nfb.org or
(410) 659-9314, extension 2282, if you have any questions.
Complete information about sponsoring and
exhibiting, including the exhibit hall dates and
times is
<https://nfb.org/sponsor-and-exhibitor-info>available
online. If you know any vendors or service
providers who may be interested in sponsoring or
exhibiting at the national convention, please
encourage them to check us out and share the
convention information with them.
<mailto:aadler at nfb.org>Let Anna know if she
should reach out or can help with follow up.
Thank you—wee’re looking forward to another great convention!
Other Important Links:
- General Convention Info Page:
<https://nfb.org/convention>https://nfb.org/convention
- Exhibitor Application:
<https://nfb.org/national-convention-exhibitor-application>https://nfb.org/national-convention-exhibitor-application
- Sponsor Application:
<https://nfb.org/national-convention-sponsor-application>https://nfb.org/national-convention-sponsor-application
Dates to Keep in Mind:
* March 22-23, 2018:
<https://nfb.org/law-symposium>Jacobus tenBroek Disability Law Symposium
* March 31, 2018: Deadline for scholarship
applications, <http://www.nfb.org/scholarships>www.nfb.org/scholarships
* April 15, 2018: Deadline for
<https://nfb.org/bolotin-award-main>2018 Dr. Jacob Bolotin Award competition
* July 3-8, 2018:
<https://nfb.org/convention>National Federation
of the Blind National Convention, Orlando, Florida
* July 29-August 4, 2018: <http://www.blindscience.org/nfbeq>NFB EQ
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 nation’s blind.
Every day we work together to help blind people live the lives they want.
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