[NFB-Idaho] The importance of attending our national convention

[pres.nfbidaho at gmail.com]

In my opinion, the most impactful way to learn about the vastness of our
organization, is to attend a national convention. Our state affiliate has
always, at least since I have been a member, helped members get to our
national convention. At our convention, attendees observe blind people
navigating a large, complex hotel, and they learn that they too can do this.
Members also meet others from around the country and the world and learn
from these conversations. The convention provides a wealth of knowledge from
the excellent speakers to the special division meetings that occur
throughout the week. My first convention was in Los Angeles in 1976. I was
24 and full of youthful enthusiasm and excitement. In those days, our
affiliate chartered a bus to travel to and from the convention. When we
arrived,  everyone was navigating the hotel and I joined right in. At that
time, Wednesday afternoon was devoted for tours. I went to Universal studios
and Disney Land. I didn't get back to the hotel until after midnight, but I
was ready for general session the next morning. The speaker who left the
greatest impression was not Dr. Jernigan's banquet speech, but Sharon Gold,
a blind resource teacher from California. She explained her techniques for
teaching reading to her sighted students. At the end of the convention, I
organized a sight seeing trip to Hollywood. I had planned to fly home,
rather than taking the bus, because I wanted to meet a special friend, who I
had met at a church conference.  I had made all of the plane reservations
independently, and he and I spent a lovely afternoon with a picnic on a
beach in San Diego. I share these experiences, because it was the federation
influence, combined with the excellent blindness training I had received,
that gave me the belief that I could do all of these things.  By the way, I
never saw my church conference friend again,   but I will never forget that
convention and all of the special events that were a part of it.

As an affiliate, we need to be sure that attending our national convention
can be possible for everyone. That's one reason why our affiliate fundraiser
is so important. Please remember to join our event This Sunday, November 26,
at 7:00 MST, 6:00 PST on zoom. I will send out the zoom link in my post
tomorrow.



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