[nabs-l] Scholarship for washington seminar

[Cindy Bennett]

Hi Shikha and Jorge,

There is no national scholarship program to assist people in attending
Washington Seminar.

I am unaware of individual affiliate programs but have not ever gone
to Washington Seminar with an affiliate that had an organized
application-based scholarship program to assist Washington Seminar
attendees with travel costs.

Washington Seminar is a somewhat smaller gathering in comparison to
the national convention. We have about 500 members attend each year.
In my experience, communicating with my affiliate president was the
best way I knew information about my affiliate's representation at
Washington Seminar. The first time I went, it was my first national
NFB event. I was very enthusiastic about Washington Seminar and had
recently helped to reinstate the NC Association of Blind Students. So
the president of the NC affiliate and the board saw it fit to sponsor
my attendance. It was an incredible experience that hooked me to the
NFB. In subsequent years, I kept in communication with my affiliate
president about Washington Seminar starting in the fall. Because I
lived in NC, it was relatively easy to get to Washington; we all
chipped in for a van ride north. Through fundraising with NCABS and my
local chapter, I often obtained assistance. However, this was always
initiated by me. This is similar with affiliate assistance with
national convention. I was proactive year round in being an active
fundraiser and otherwise volunteer in my affiliate. Similarly, I was
enthusiastic about the legislative process and participated in state
efforts during the year when we needed to contact state and national
representatives about important legislation. From the beginning, I
expressed interest in planning the appointments with congress during
Washington Seminar, so before my fourth,  fifth, and sixth seminars, I
did this. Since I played an instrumental role in planning
appointments, it was pretty easy to get assistance from my affiliate.
However, I have typically had to front some of my cost each year  and
know several members who do this.

Now that I live in Washington, I am experiencing a very different
process related to Washington Seminar. Because I live so far away, it
is quite a bit more expensive to send people. So interested members
must be extra proactive in communicating with the affiliate president
ahead of time. My first year in Washington, I asked to plan the
appointments and did just that, thus I got to go, and my attendance
was pretty well financed by the affiliate because of the cost and
since only two to three members go each year. However, I missed last
year's seminar and am missing this year's partially because we try to
cycle through members who want to go, giving them turns. It really
doesn't matter how enthusiastic I am about our legislative
initiatives; until I can fully finance myself, I can't go every year
given Washington's distance from D.C. and our affiliate finances. This
is a different process and has been somewhat hard to get used to since
I was so used to very easily getting to Seminar when I lived in NC due
to the proximity. However, I wanted to bring it up to show how
different affiliates approach Seminar differently. Some are very
organized; the board decides who will go. Other states don't really
care; anyone can go although not all may receive financial assistance.

I would encourage anyone who is interested in going to Washington
Seminar to get in touch with their affiliate president immediately if
you haven't already. Since plans are well in the works for the 2015
seminar, don't be discouraged if it doesn't work out. However, if it
is an event that you don't want to miss in 2016, make sure you are
being proactive by participating in legislative action calls during
the year and for the billionth time, maintaining communication with
your affiliate president. If anyone would like some assistance
contacting their affiliate president, I would encourage you to first
reach out to any affiliate members you know, your NABS regional rep
which can be found by visiting www.nabslink.org, and anyone can of
course email me if they would like assistance or advice on how to
establish and maintain relationships with their affiliate president
and board.

For those of you who will be there, we always host a great NABS
seminar along with a fundraiser, and it is always a lot of fun!

Cindy
On 11/30/14, Jorge Paez via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> There's a scholarship for Washington Seminar?
> That's the first time I hear of it.
> I'm definitely interested as well.
>
>
>
>
> On 11/30/14, Shikha via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>> Hey
>> Does anyone know how i can apply for a scholarship for washington
>> seminar?
>> I am from georgia and i do not have any information about it.
>>
>> Shikha.
>>
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-- 
Cindy Bennett
1st Year Ph.D. Student, University of Washington
Human Centered Design and Engineering

Treasurer of the Greater Seattle Chapter and of the National
Federation of the Blind of Washington
Affiliates of the National Federation of the Blind

clb5590 at gmail.com