[nagdu] Some Perspective on the Policy

Cindy cindyray at gmail.com
Sat Jul 2 00:25:09 UTC 2011 

Could have been more than one. Fact is policy came from aperiod culminating in damage and bad business relations.


Sent from my iPhone

On Jul 1, 2011, at 8:15 PM, Buddy Brannan <buddy at brannan.name> wrote:

> See, and I heard the city we were invited not to come back to was Anaheim. So which was it really? 
> --
> Buddy Brannan, KB5ELV - Erie, PA
> Phone: (814) 860-3194 or 888-75-BUDDY
> 
> 
> 
> On Jul 1, 2011, at 8:07 PM, Cindy wrote:
> 
>> I think the city where we were not invited back was Louisville, though that has since been resolved.
>> 
>> 
>> Sent from my iPhone
>> 
>> On Jul 1, 2011, at 7:50 PM, "Jenine Stanley" <jeninems at wowway.com> wrote:
>> 
>>> ACB was in Chicago in 1994. Marion was correct in that the relief area
>>> situation was horrible, one set of boxes on a 6th floor roof. Street curbing
>>> was dangerous at best but no more so than in Manhattan. 
>>> 
>>> That hotel actually asked ACB back several years ago but rates were way too
>>> high in general. I was personally shocked they'd want us back after the mess
>>> but they had no qualms about it. 
>>> 
>>> Jenine Stanley
>>> jeninems at wowway.com
>>> 
>>> 
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
>>> Of Dan Weiner
>>> Sent: Friday, July 01, 2011 7:40 PM
>>> To: 'NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users'
>>> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Some Perspective on the Policy
>>> 
>>> Just one minor correction.
>>> The convention in 1994 was in Detroit, I was there.
>>> The Chicago convention was 1995.
>>> 
>>> Dan W.
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
>>> Of Lyn Gwizdak
>>> Sent: Friday, July 01, 2011 6:39 PM
>>> To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
>>> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Some Perspective on the Policy
>>> 
>>> Thank you, thank you, thank you, Marion for this post!
>>> 
>>> Maybe you need to hang on to this to paste it into your remeinder of the
>>> policy next year and maybe the folks who complain will finally understand
>>> it.
>>> 
>>> Have fun - I don't envy you when you have to bust people at the conventions.
>>> 
>>> Having close to 5,000 people this year!  Wow!
>>> 
>>> Lyn and Landon
>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>> From: "Marion Gwizdala" <blind411 at verizon.net>
>>> To: "NAGDU List" <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
>>> Sent: Thursday, June 30, 2011 7:46 PM
>>> Subject: [nagdu] Some Perspective on the Policy
>>> 
>>> 
>>>> dear All,
>>>> I hope everyone will read this entire post and that it will give a 
>>>> little perspective to the NFB policy concerning leaving dogs unattended in
>>> 
>>>> guest rooms during convention. Please keep in mind that this policy was 
>>>> enacted in an effort to resolve some very serious problems the 
>>>> organization faced in the past. It is not an arbitrary policy the 
>>>> Federation issued to attempt to make life difficult for guide dog users. 
>>>> Also, please keep in mind that the NFB Board of Directors is very 
>>>> supportive of the National Association of Guide dog Users and its members.
>>> 
>>>> This year, the NFB will spend about $8500 providing relief areas for our 
>>>> guide dogs. This is quite a significant investment! Now, to the purpose of
>>> 
>>>> this post.
>>>> In order to understand the need for the policy, we need a bit of 
>>>> historical perspective. In 1994, the NFB convention was in Chicago, Ill. 
>>>> During that convention, there were some very serious problems, as it 
>>>> pertained to guide dog handlers. There were more than the average number 
>>>> of accidents, partly due to the fact that the area around the hotel had 
>>>> very little grass, except for Grant Park, which was swamped with millions 
>>>> of people for the Taste of Chicago. In addition to these accidents in the 
>>>> public areas of the hotel, several guide dog users left their dogs 
>>>> unattended to go to the fireworks in grant Park because they knew their 
>>>> dogs were afraid of the noise. A very large number of stressed-out dogs 
>>>> carried on well into the night, disrupting other guests staying in the 
>>>> hotel. Furthermore, some of these dogs literally destroyed the rooms. The 
>>>> long story short, since the guests were unable to pay for the damages, the
>>> 
>>>> NFB had to cover the cost, which ran well into the thousands of dollars. 
>>>> Of course, some will say that the NFB should have required the responsible
>>> 
>>>> parties to pay the damages, but you know the old adage of getting blood 
>>>> from a turnip! If the NFB didn't pay the damages, they would have been 
>>>> hard-pressed to find another hotel willing to offer us the rates we are 
>>>> accustomed to receiving. Even though we did pay the damages, though, word 
>>>> travels quickly in the hospitality industry and the NFB was having a 
>>>> difficult time finding properties willing to host our conventions and 
>>>> negotiating the rates.
>>>> The NFB attempted to assess a surcharge of $25 for each guide dog user,
>>> 
>>>> but this was met with a great deal of resistance and this plan was 
>>>> scrapped very quickly. The resulting compromise was the policy that draws 
>>>> so much contention every year.
>>>> I would like to offer a real-life analagy. Most communities have a 
>>>> public intoxication law. Basically, this law says that, if you are 
>>>> intoxicated and behave in a disorderly fashion, you are going to jail. The
>>> 
>>>> law is enacted because there was a problem with intoxicated people 
>>>> behaving in a disorderly manner. Now, some could argue that it is their 
>>>> right to drink if they are over the age of 21 and they would be correct. 
>>>> Therefore, they would argue, it is their right to become intoxicated and, 
>>>> again, they are right! However, if your public intoxication results in 
>>>> behavior the community deems disorderly, impinging on the rights of others
>>> 
>>>> to be free from such behavior, the police have the right to impose the 
>>>> remedies available under the law. at the same time, if one chooses to 
>>>> become intoxicated in public and behave themselves, no one really cares. 
>>>> It is only when that state of intoxication imposes negative consequences 
>>>> on public order that the remedies available are imposed.
>>>> One post implied that I was only agreeing to the policy because it came
>>> 
>>>> from the leadership. This member is absolutely correct. Policies and laws 
>>>> are enacted for the general good of the community in an effort to provide 
>>>> remedies for behaviors that negatively impact that community. Barking and 
>>>> destructive dogs negatively impact the NFB community and the leadership of
>>> 
>>>> this community has designed a policy to resolve this issue and provide 
>>>> remedies. As a member of this community, you agree to abide by the 
>>>> policies or laws that govern that society's behavior or face the 
>>>> consequences for their violation. Whether that society is a country, 
>>>> state, county, city, place of business, workplace, or the NFB convention, 
>>>> there are acceptable behaviors and consequences for unacceptable behavior.
>>> 
>>>> Anything else is anarchy!
>>>> I reject the notion that this - or any other - policy treats one like a
>>> 
>>>> child. In fact, what is childish is being intentionally oppositional and 
>>>> defiant of societal norms and mores. Remember that it was not too many 
>>>> months ago when someone believed he had the right to insult anyone he 
>>>> wanted to on this list and no one could do anything about it. How many of 
>>>> you rejoiced when it was announced that he was permanently banned from 
>>>> subscribing to any of the NFBNET lists? Parenthetically, he telephoned me 
>>>> to advise me that he intended to disrupt the NAGDU meeting this year. the 
>>>> Board has taken the measure of refusing his membership for conduct 
>>>> unbecoming a member. Since only members in good standing can speak on the 
>>>> floor, this effectively bars him from disrupting our meetings. Might he do
>>> 
>>>> so anyway? Perhaps! But there are other remedies available, too!
>>>> I hope you have a better understanding of how this policy came to be 
>>>> and the practical issues it addresses. It is not an anti guide dog policy;
>>> 
>>>> rather, it is meant to prevent a serious issue and maintain order for the 
>>>> common good of all concerned. It is unfortunate that such a policy had to 
>>>> be implemented to deal with a problem created by a few. Just as most 
>>>> people are generally honest, but we have laws against stealing to provide 
>>>> remedies for the few that are not, most guide dog users are responsible. 
>>>> The policy is to provide remedies for those who are not!
>>>> I hope that everyone has a fantastic convention. I understand that we 
>>>> are expecting more than 4000 in Orlando. That means we will most likely 
>>>> have close to 500 guide dog teams! I hope many of you will join us for the
>>> 
>>>> NAGDU meetings on Sunday & Tuesday in the Panzacola H-3 ballroom at 7:00 
>>>> pm! I'll see you then or here on the list afterward! Have an awesome 
>>>> Fourth of july!
>>>> 
>>>> Fraternally yours,
>>>> Marion Gwizdala, President
>>>> National Association of Guide Dog Users (NAGDU)
>>>> National Federation of the Blind
>>>> 813-626-2789
>>>> President at NAGDU.ORG
>>>> HTTP://WWW.NAGDU.ORG
>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nagdu_nfbnet.org/linda.gwizdak%40cox.n
>>> et 
>>> 
>>> 
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>> 
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> 
> 
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