[nabs-l] Reaching out to the young?

[Brandon Keith Biggs]

Hello,
The people running for the Nabs leadership positions this year have been in 
agreement on one topic:
Getting younger people into Nabs.
I'm wondering what thoughts and ideas people have on doing this?

My thoughts:
I am super new to NABS, only joining the listsirve last month and that was 
only because I wanted to learn about the people I would be meeting this year 
in Dallas because I won a scholarship.
Now I'm all excited about the community we have here and that we have a 
place to discuss issues and problem solve on things we all can relate to.
The reason why I didn't join before this was because I had no idea there was 
a listsirve, and I'm not aware of a Nabs chapter within 20 miles of my 
house.
I'd love to see first a Nabs chapter created for those who don't know of a 
chapter near them and who are a little nervous about joining a chapter.
This would mean that one wouldn't need to travel to go to the meeting.
I'd love to see a nabs group that's totally through a social conferencing 
system like Skype. That way we can participate no matter where we are. I'm 
not sure if the big national Nabs meetings are public on Skype or something 
comparable, but I'd like to know if there is a Skype meeting I can join!
This not only would allow people to attend meetings from their home, they 
can get to know the community of Nabs before going to a chapter meeting 
live. They also don't need to say anything.

I'm also wondering why I never got an email from Nabs asking me to join the 
listsirve when I was told that I was a scholarship winner? Patty Chang and 
Lorraine Rovig send us something about every day talking about stuff going 
on on other listsirves, why hasn't a message from Sean shown in there?
Also, I would love a place to point my blind friends to who are scared of 
NABS because they think they're a bunch of "Militant students who flay you 
alive with pointy canes if you don't do everything independently".
They could sign up for the list serve, but what if they don't want to read a 
ton of messages all the time in their inbox? Is there someone who is really 
good with people who can reach out to these people and be willing to talk to 
them through email or some way? And is there a place in NABS for people like 
that?
People want to know how they can make a difference when they join a group 
like NABS. I need someone who will tell me I'm needed and wanted because I 
can do something!
There are also people who are not computer nerds and how can we reach them? 
Someone in the middle of the rainforest in Oregon, how are they going to 
hear about and participate in nabs?

The key to the success of just about anything is marketing, marketing, 
marketing.
So how can NABS develop its marketing to the fullest?

Thanks,

Brandon Keith Biggs