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<h1><b>President's Notebook</b></h1><br><br>
<br>
<h1><b>National Federation of the Blind</b></h1><br><br>
<br>
<h1><b>Mark A. Riccobono</b></h1><br><br>
<br>
<h1><b><a href="mailto:officeofthepresident@nfb.org">
officeofthepresident@nfb.org</a></b></h1><br><br>
<br>
<h1><b>410-659-9314</b></h1><br><br>
<br>
Dear Fellow Federationists,<br>
<br>
I have just returned from Alaska where our affiliate had a strong
convention full of great hospitality and plans for the future. I noted
that Alaska was using the new streaming platform we have established, and
that sixty-eight unique listeners tuned in. I hope you are planning to
use this new service from our national organization. It is always
rewarding to be in the middle of our grassroots activities. And speaking
of our affiliates, in the past couple of weeks we have had some changes
in our affiliate presidents. <br>
<br>
Let me first give a shout out to Hawaii's long-time president, Nani Fife,
who turned over the affiliate presidency at the most recent convention,
which took place at the end of September. Many of you have had the
opportunity to get to know Nani over the years and likely experienced the
Hawaiian spirit she brought to our movement when her affiliate helped
host the national convention a couple of years ago. Thank you to Nani for
her service and congratulations to Virgil Stinnett, our newly elected
president.<br>
<br>
Our North Dakota affiliate has also transitioned to a new leader. Many of
us will miss hearing "Milton Ota from North Dakota," but the
good news is that Milton is still an active member of our affiliate board
there in the north. Thanks to Milton for his service and for turning
things over to a new affiliate president, Jessie Shirek, who is eager to
grow our presence in North Dakota. <br>
<br>
Recently, some presidents have asked me about whether the affiliate code
of conduct needs to be updated. In case you missed it, the national board
adopted a revised policy in April of this year, and it is written with
the intent that it applies across the organization. Therefore, there is
no need for every affiliate to have their own version. Please link to our
organization's code of conduct on the affiliate website by referring to
this link:
<a href="https://www.nfb.org/about-us/history-and-governance/code-conduct">
https://www.nfb.org/about-us/history-and-governance/code-conduct</a>.
Continue to remind members about the code and review it with your
affiliate leaders periodically.<br>
<br>
Have you gotten your UNO Braille cards yet? I love hearing the stories
about members walking into Target and picking up Braille cards off the
shelf.<br>
<br><br>
<h2><b>Critical Actions This Week:</b></h2><br><br>
<br>
<h2><b>Open-House Gathering—Calls for Prospective
Members:></b></h2><br><br>
Share this event information with contacts who are interested in the
National Federation of the Blind, but are not members yet: Sunday,
October 20, 2019, at 4:00 p.m. EST, the National Federation of the Blind
is hosting another call for blind people to learn about membership and
its benefits. This is a great opportunity to hear from active members and
leaders on the myths and uncertainties of the Federation. Sign up by
emailing <a href="mailto:membership@nfb.org">membership@nfb.org</a> or
calling 410-659-9314, extension 2509. <br>
<br><br>
<h2><b>News:</b></h2><br><br>
Presidential Release:<br>
The October Presidential Release is available at
<a href="https://www.nfb.org/resources/publications-and-media/presidential-releases">
https://www.nfb.org/resources/publications-and-media/presidential-releases</a>
. <br><br>
<h2><b> </b></h2><br><br>
<br>
<h2><b>Meet the Blind Month Twitter Chat: Web
Accessibility:</b></h2><br><br>
There is great buzz about the activities happening so far during Meet the
Blind Month across the nation. In addition to the many local activities,
the National Federation of the Blind is hosting a weekly Twitter chat
each Friday from 12:00 to 1:00 p.m. eastern in October. Here is the
schedule:
<ul>
<li>October 18, 2019 – Independence and Traveling | 12:00 p.m. ET to 1:00
p.m. ET | #MeetTheBlind
<li>October 25, 2019 – Meet Our Members | 12:00 p.m. ET to 1:00 p.m. ET |
#MeetTheBlind<
</ul> <br>
A Twitter chat is a scheduled, organized topical conversation on Twitter
centralized around a specific hashtag. Our hashtag is #MeetTheBlind.
Learn more about how to participate in the <a href="nfb.htm">Meet the
Blind Month</a> Twitter chat. We look forward to your participation.<br>
<br>
NFB BELL Academy Training Seminar:<br>
This year’s NFB BELL® Academy training seminar for coordinators and
teachers will take place January 10-12, 2020. This year we are inviting
one coordinator and one teacher from each veteran NFB BELL Academy state
to come to Baltimore for a weekend of hands-on learning and preparation.
If you have questions, please feel free to reach out to Karen Anderson at
<a href="mailto:kanderson@nfb.org">kanderson@nfb.org</a> or 410-659-9314,
extension 2243.<br>
<br><br>
<h2><b>October Braille Monitor Available:</b></h2><br><br>
This month’s <i>Braille Monitor</i> includes more national convention
highlights, why click-by lawsuits damage our progress, coming to terms
with vision loss, and the partnership between the National Federation of
the Blind and Mattel Games.
<a href="https://www.nfb.org/images/nfb/publications/bm/bm19/bm1909/bm1909tc.htm">
Access the October
</a>
<a href="https://www.nfb.org/images/nfb/publications/bm/bm19/bm1909/bm1909tc.htm">
<i>Braille Monitor</a> </i>or
<a href="https://www.nfb.org/resources/publications-and-media/braille-monitor">
subscribe to the monthly publication</a>.<br><br>
<h2><b> </b></h2><br><br>
<br>
<h2><b>Upcoming Braille Readers are Leaders Contest:</b></h2><br><br>
The American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults and National
Federation of the Blind announce the 2019-2020 nationwide Braille Readers
are Leaders contest for children and adults. K-12 students and adults
learning Braille across the U.S. compete to read the most Braille pages,
going up against other participants in similar contest categories for
seven weeks. Registration opens November 1, 2019 and the contest will be
from December 1, 2019 to January 18, 2020. It isn’t too early to start
getting ready for the contest. One way to prepare is by getting books
from <a href="https://sharebraille.org/">ShareBraille.org</a> now. <br>
<br>
Name Change at NLS:<br>
Effective October 1, NLS has a new name: National Library Service for the
Blind and Print Disabled. The goal of the name change is to remove
outdated language in the old name and replace it with wording that more
clearly communicates the audience that they serve. They will continue to
use NLS as the abbreviation. <br>
<br><br>
<h2><b>Reminders:</b></h2><br><br>
Changes to Affiliate and Division Boards:<br>
All changes to your boards should be sent to Beth Braun at
<a href="mailto:bbraun@nfb.org">bbraun@nfb.org</a>. <br>
<br>
<br>
AIRA Access for Fall Convention: <br>
It has come to my attention that some affiliates have offered the Aira
corporation free sponsorship or exhibit space in exchange for site access
at the affiliate convention. Please note that you are not required to do
this. Here is exactly what is stated in the current agreement between NFB
and Aira: "Aira will continue to provide Access at the NFB National
Convention and at State conventions. In return, the NFB agrees to promote
Aira at its functions and through its communications tools."<br>
<br>
You are not required to trade anything to get site access at your
convention; every affiliate has the right to it already. If you wish to
give more to Aira than simply promoting the availability of the service
and encouraging members to try it out, that is up to you. However, if a
representative of the company tells you they would like something in
exchange, please note that they are operating on the principle that it
does not hurt to ask. Please do not let them tell you this is a
requirement to get the service and please do not believe that the
national organization requires it. We negotiated our partnership
agreement to give every affiliate site access with the promise that we
would encourage affiliates to promote its availability. If the company
tells you there is a dollar value to the service, they are telling the
truth. However, we negotiated for that value already. You are not
expected and should not be expected to give more in return. From there,
you should make the call about what to give anyway to any for-profit
company gaining value from being part of our convention. I give you this
background to clarify the situation. By the way, the existing partnership
agreement with Aira ends in January 2020.<br>
<br><br>
<h2><b>Did You Know?</b></h2><br><br>
Guitar Chords for “Live the Life You Want”:<br>
Chorus - <br>
Play three times through G E minor C G<br><br>
Lift - <br>
D-E minor-C-G<br><br>
Verse - <br>
Play two times through E minor-C-G<br><br>
Lift - <br>
D-C<br><br>
Bridge - <br>
G-C-G<br><br>
<br>
<h2><b>Dates to Keep in Mind:</b></h2><br><br>
<ul>
<li><a name="_Hlk21941390"></a>January 10-12, 2020: BELL® Academy
Training Seminar
<li>February 10, 2020: Great Gathering-In; Washington Seminar begins
<li>March 26-27, 2020: Jacobus tenBroek Law Symposium, Baltimore,
Maryland
<li>April 14-17, 2020: <a href="http://www.blindmerchants.org">NABM
BLAST</a>; Chicago, Illinois
<li>June 30-July 5, 2020: NFB National Convention, Houston, Texas
</ul> <br>
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.<br>
<br>
<br>
Mark A. Riccobono, President<br>
200 East Wells Street, Baltimore, MD 21230<br>
(410) 659-9314 |
<a href="mailto:officeofthepresident@nfb.org">
officeofthepresident@nfb.org</a> <br>
<br>
<br>
<a href="https://nfb.org/">
<img src="https://nfb.org/images/nfb/images/email/2/nfblogo.png" width=210 height=76 alt="National Federation of the Blind">
</a><br>
<br>
<a href="http://www.facebook.com/nationalfederationoftheblind">
<img src="https://nfb.org/images/nfb/images/email/2/facebook.png" width=24 height=24 alt="Facebook">
</a>
<a href="https://twitter.com/NFB_Voice">
<img src="https://nfb.org/images/nfb/images/email/2/twitter.png" width=24 height=24 alt="Twitter">
</a>
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/NationsBlind">
<img src="https://nfb.org/images/nfb/images/email/2/youtube.png" width=24 height=24 alt="Youtube">
</a><br>
<br>
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.
<br>
<br>
<br><br>
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