[nabs-l] NABS Meeting Agenda and Elections

[Arielle Silverman]

Hi all,
I believe that President Sean Whalen and the current NABS board have
produced an excellent agenda for this year's business meeting, and I
dare say, stronger than either of the agendas put out by my
administration. I like the idea of dividing the scholarship winner
introductions into thirds rather than doing them all at once, and I
believe that the current leadership have done well in balancing
information with inspiration. The NABS meetings are long because we
try to pack them full of both information (i.e. updates from Learning
Ally, BookShare, ETS etc.) and inspiration (i.e. stories from blind
students, youth program participants, etc.) As NABS president I know I
was often inundated with requests from our partners to share
information, and I admit that I struggled to pack enough inspiration
into our meetings. I think the current president and board have lived
up to this task and I am excited to see what they have in store for
us.
As for elections, I believe doing them last is appropriate because it
is hard to predict exactly how long elections will take. The length
depends on the number of candidates running for each position, which
can be difficult to predict in advance. Holding elections at the end
ensures that scheduled speakers don't have to wait if elections go
overtime.
Speaking of, many of you may recall that in past NABS meetings
elections have taken a long time,and last year's was epic. While this
can be tiring, I think the long elections have been a good sign of a
healthy organization in which many members are interested in serving
the organization by holding elected offices. This year, for the first
time, the board will be fully staggered, meaning that only half the
board (three officers and two board members) will be up for election,
which will shorten the election process considerably. However, I
expect and hope that several of you will seek elected office if you
believe you have the time, talent and dedication to offer your
leadership and service to us. More important, as I have said before, I
hope that those of you who run but are not elected will still serve
the organization through working in your state student divisions or
volunteering on national NABS committees. On tonight's election forum
call, I was pleased to hear that both presidential candidates (who
worked closely together as my vice-presidents) are willing to continue
collaborating in the leadership of NABS regardless of the outcome of
the presidential contest. Let's keep NABS a place that invites the
leadership contributions and ideas of all members, and that preserves
goodwill among all regardless of how the elections turn out.
Looking forward to seeing you in Dallas,
Arielle Silverman, Past NABS President 2009-2011