[MN-at-Large] Minnesota Information for National Convention

Tue Jun 27 09:13:31 UTC 2023

If you have pre-registered for the national convention, you should already
have received the information below just a few minutes ago. If you did not
receive it and feel you should have, check your SPAM of junk folder. If you
don't find this and you want to be sure to receive any updates that are sent
to those attending the convention in person, please write to me at
president at nfbmn.org <mailto:president at nfbmn.org>  and I'll make sure you are
on the list.

The convention is less than one week away. This note contains information
about the convention that you should have before you leave. Much of it is
specific to Minnesota and is therefore not in the convention agenda. 

We have a wonderful mix of people attending the convention in person. Some
of you are members of the NFB of Minnesota and some of you are not.
Therefore, this note is going to our news list as well as to many of you who
have registered for the convention. It could happen that some of you get
this twice, so please understand that is to make sure everybody gets this
information. Others of you are wondering who I am since we have not had a
chance to meet. I am hoping to change that at the convention. Please write
to me if you have any questions at president at nfbmn.org
<mailto:president at nfbmn.org> .

Be sure to get a copy of the convention agenda soon. You can get a braille
or print copy when you pick up your registration materials, but it is
available in a number of formats at 

http://www.nfb.org/convention along with other convention information.

Attending for the First Time?

If this is the first time you are attending our national convention, here
are a few suggestions that I hope will help. Take some time to visit our
convention website at http://www.nfb.org/convention. In addition to our
convention agenda mentioned above, you will find other information about the
national convention as well. The first three days of the convention,
Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, consist of many separate smaller meetings of
committees and divisions. There are meetings that address many areas of
interests. Although some divisions have a membership process, meetings are
generally open to anybody. The second three days, Tuesday, Wednesday and
Thursday, are when we meet as one large group in general sessions. We will
be sitting together by state. The banquet is on Thursday evening and is the
final event of the convention. Be sure to read the section on exchanging
your banquet tickets later in this email if you want to sit with people you
know.

You might find it helpful to attend the Rookie Roundup, an event for
first-timers, on Saturday evening at 8:00 in Lanier Grand Ballroom A and D.
This is an example of one of many useful pieces of information in the
convention agenda. 

Minnesota Caucus

Each year at the convention, each state holds a state caucus. At our
Minnesota Caucus, we will meet to get questions answered, discuss any issues
that have come up, and to get to know one another. Our caucus will take
place on Monday, July 3, at 5:15 PM in Room 330. You will notice from the
agenda that many of the meeting rooms are numbered rather than named in this
hotel. I mention this to assure you that we are not cramming our caucus into
a hotel room but have a room that should contain our caucus comfortably.

Banquet Ticket Exchange

When you pick up your banquet ticket with your registration packet, that
will give you a meal, but not a specific place to sit. In order to sit with
other people that you know, your ticket needs to be exchanged, along with
tickets from those with whom you wish to sit, for tickets that have a table
number. If you want to sit with others from Minnesota, we have a process to
do that. 

Judy Sanders will collect all of the banquet tickets from people who would
like to sit at a table with others from Minnesota. She will bring them to
the Banquet Ticket Exchange where tickets will be exchanged for new tickets
that have a table number. Your new ticket will then be returned to you using
the list that she and Kayde Rieken have maintained.

If you want to sit with Minnesota but wish to form a small group, choose
somebody from your group to act as a group captain. When Judy returns your
tickets, we will return all tickets for your group to the group captain to
distribute. If you don't need to be part of a smaller group, you don't have
to have a group captain. We will make sure partners can sit together, for
example. 

Before you turn in your ticket, please braille your name, and your group
captain if needed, on your banquet ticket and turn it in to Judy Sanders by
the end of the opening general session on Tuesday morning. Judy works many
hours at the Information Desk near the registration area so you can find her
there much of Sunday and Monday as well. In addition, there will be time to
turn in your ticket at the Minnesota Caucus at 5:15 on Monday as mentioned
earlier in this note. If you need help brailling this information on your
ticket, Judy or others will help you. After the tickets have been exchanged
and Judy and Kayde have divided the tickets into groups and such, the
tickets will be distributed to the group captains and to individuals who are
not part of a groups. This usually happens at the Tuesday afternoon general
session.

Exhibit Hall Table

Every year, the NFB of Minnesota and BLIND Incorporated share a table in the
Exhibit Hall. The table this year is A35. Part of the purpose is to provide
information about our training center, BLIND Incorporated, and it is also a
place where we can display some products. Please check with Yadiel Sotomayor
if you are interested in working at the table at ysotomayor at blindinc.org
<mailto:ysotomayor at blindinc.org>  or by calling him at 318-278-9881, but
please do it soon. 

Products at the Convention

We will be bringing several products to the convention. Because of sales tax
laws in Texas, we are giving these products to people if they make donations
rather than "selling" them. 

The Metro Chapter is again bringing our well-known Minnesota Word Scramble.
For a donation of $5, a person can get a print or braille sheet with twenty
words to unscramble. All persons who return the sheet to Metro Chapter
members by Thursday noon and have all words unscrambled correctly will have
their names placed into a drawing for $50. Please contact Judy Sanders for
more information about the Word Scramble.

This year, we will also have some more of our NFB of Minnesota "drink the
drink you want" print/braille coasters, to distribute in exchange for a $5
donation per coaster. Our Minnesota Association of Blind Students will also
be making t-shirts available for a donation. Some of these products will be
available at our table on Sunday July 2 and Monday July 3, and they will
also be around the convention. Our treasurer Jennifer Dunnam will be able to
take donations by credit card, either with a physical card reader or by
sending a link. Be sure to tell people you meet at the convention about our
word scrambles, t-shirts, and coasters!

BLIND Incorporated Event

Each of our three national training centers sponsors an event where people
can learn about the training that is offered. The event that our Minnesota
training center, BLIND Incorporated, is holding is called "Training
Champions with the BLIND, Inc. Team," The agenda description says " Join the
staff of BLIND, Inc. for this interactive event sure to help you learn how
attending blindness skills training will help you become an all star!" This
event will take place on Sunday morning, July 2, at 9:00-10:30 in Room 343
B.

Wrapup

As I figure it, this will be my 50th convention, so they are clearly an
important part of my journey as a blind person. The convention offers many
opportunities to meet people from throughout the country and even the world.
If you are new to blindness, it is a golden opportunity to try out the
skills you are developing among friends. Please know that we are hear to
help when you need it, give you advice if you want it, and to let you go it
alone if you are taking this golden opportunity to refine the skills you
need to live the life you want. Have a great convention.

Best regards,

Steve Jacobson, President

National Federation of the Blind of Minnesota

www.nfbmn.org <http://www.nfbmn.org/> 

(612) 872-9363

Pronouns: he, him, his

www.nfb.org <http://www.nfb.org/> 

Live the life you Want.

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