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Hi everybody,<br><br>
<br><br>
Over the next couple of weeks, you will see various announcements
concerning our in-person state convention on November 4 through November
6. This is our first in-person convention in three years, so please,
please come and join us. Of course, we will be sending out
the usual convention notice email and letter soon, along with a link to
our convention registration form. There will also be details about our
annual auction as well. However, there is no need to wait to reserve your
hotel room, you can do that right away.<br><br>
<br><br>
Our hotel is the Hilton Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport at 3800 East
American Blvd. in Bloomington. The full name is very important since
there are multiple Hilton hotels in that part of the Twin Cities. Our
room rates are $89 per night plus state and local taxes.<br><br>
<br><br>
You can reserve your room by phone or directly via the web. Unlike past
years, the process to reserve a room through the web is pretty accessible
from our experience. We have successfully booked a room using a screen
reader. The link to reserve a room using the web is:<br><br>
<br><br>
<a href="https://www.hilton.com/en/book/reservation/deeplink/?ctyhocn=MSPAHHF&groupCode=FEDCI&arrivaldate=2022-11-04&departuredate=2022-11-06&cid=OM,WW,HILTONLINK,EN,DirectLink&fromId=HILTONLINKDIRECT">
State Convention Hotel Room Reservation</a><br><br>
<br><br>
Please note that in most email programs, the above link will have a title
that I have added and it fits nicely on a single line. If you receive
emails using plain text, the URL behind this link is very long and it
will probably go to multiple lines. In that case, you may have to cut and
paste each line into a single address in your web browser to get the link
to work. If the link is correct, you will see the arrival and departure
dates already filled in, and the room rate will be $89. Also, “National
Federation” will be displayed on the page.<br><br>
<br><br>
If I have already scared you out of using the link, please know that the
long URL problem mentioned above is very common and is not unique to this
process. Still you can call in by phone. You can use the Hilton’s
national reservation line which is:<br><br>
<br><br>
Hilton National Reservations: 1-800-774-1500<br><br>
<br><br>
They will ask you to specify the Hilton hotel for which you want to make
reservations. Remember that our hotel is the Hilton Minneapolis-St. Paul
Airport located at 3800 East American Blvd. as mentioned earlier.
<br><br>
<br><br>
Next, you need to give them the group code that points to our hotel rates
and block of rooms. The group code, sometimes called the “block code,”
that you need is “FEDCI”. Just as with the reservation link, this code
will cause our $89 room rate to be used.<br><br>
<br><br>
We have also reserved a room using this process and it went smoothly. If
you happen to have trouble with the national number finding our group or
block, You can call the local hotel at:<br><br>
<br><br>
Hilton Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport Phone: 952-854-2100<br><br>
<br><br>
Dial zero to reach the Front Desk, and give them the Group Code of FEDCI
just as you would for the national reservation line. Let me know if you
run into difficulties so we can get any issues resolved.<br><br>
<br><br>
Please know that we respect the fact that some of you will not be
comfortable attending our convention because of personal health concerns.
However, we really need to renew our personal connections after almost
three years of meeting virtually. We will be working very hard to make
our convention as safe as possible by implementing processes that are
similar to what was done at our national convention. While we did a
pretty good job of limiting the spread of the COVID virus in New Orleans,
the fact that we will be together for only forty-eight hours rather than
for an entire week means that starting out with negative tests will be
even more effective. There will be more specifics on that later as well.
<br><br>
<br><br>
If we are careful, and we intend to be, I believe that we can have a
convention that is safe, and one that inspires and energizes each of us.
I am looking forward to meeting some of you for the first time and to
renew old friendships. Please come and join us.<br><br>
<br><br>
Best regards,<br><br>
<br><br>
Steve Jacobson, President<br><br>
National Federation of the Blind of Minnesota<br><br>
<a href="http://www.nfbmn.org/">www.nfbmn.org</a><br><br>
(612) 872-9363<br><br>
<a href="http://www.nfb.org/" eudora="autourl">www.nfb.org</a><br><br>
Live the life you Want.<br>
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