[Nfb-krafters-korner] Fw: board meetings
Eileen Scrivani
etscrivani at verizon.net
Sat Jan 8 16:01:46 UTC 2011
Audry:
Thank you so much for your email that is beautifully written and you get
the issues.
Eileen
--------------------------------------------------
From: "AUDREY WELLNER" <rencraft at snet.net>
Sent: Saturday, January 08, 2011 2:54 AM
To: "List for blind crafters and artists" <nfb-krafters-korner at nfbnet.org>
Subject: [Nfb-krafters-korner] Fw: board meetings
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> Members of Board and Krafters Korner,
>
> In reflecting on all the private social statements and attitudes that
> have been posted on this list in the last week I think these two
> statements sum it up completely.
> ~~~~
> "I have been following all the interesting comments about time for
> lessons,
> and really do not know how you can please everyone, the hard decisions
> have
> to come from leadership.
> Terry K
> Focus on why we have come together, our love of crafting and sharing the
> knowledge we have been blessed with and leave the attitudes off list."
> Susan Roe
> dogwoodfarm at verizon.net
> ~~~~~
> As I have been asked by leadership why don't you post to the list
> anymore, my answer was that I am not a "social butterfly" (not to be
> misconstrued as a label to anyone other than myself). I don't believe in
> airing all my laundry for my neighbors to see and therefore I feel that
> alot of the social chat on this list should have been curtailed long ago
> by leadership.
> The site was supposed to be used strictly for answers to those
> challenging questions concerning problems the visually impaired and blind
> incurred while working with crafts. It was not meant to be strewn with one
> line answers concerning private conversations that should have been held
> off line and should have been corrected long ago and we have wandered far
> away from that central focus.
>
> The topic concerning the taping of classes has both shown to have been
> a help and a detriment. It was started in a naive, innocent manner as an
> aid in opposition of written instructions that a person with restrictions
> could listen to while working their craft. But then, as time progressed it
> became a questionable practice. Personal verses public property,
> copyrights infringement and uses of design ideas made by others.
> From my viewpoint I do not wish to have the readings of my stories
> taped for replay by NFB or private individuals for them to use as
> something they've personally collected and put together to tell other
> people it is their own. Tell me, do you not wish to spend an hour with me
> to listen to me read to you. I have been told (because I'm sighted) that I
> can't teach here, then isn't my contribution of reading stories edited and
> gathered by other people I give credit to, good enough just to gather and
> share?
> In my personal craft as a costumer, I very seldom display my work in
> exhibits anymore because I can't stand the fact that people walk up to
> your design and copy every minute detail, then reproduce it as their own.
> This is outright theft of a persons creativity and I will report it every
> time I can.
> I intended to release this rather personal answer to an inquiry before
> Christmas but then I thought it to be socially unacceptable. I want to
> share this story collection with you and hope that you want to clear time
> from cooking your dinner, being with your husband or bringing your
> children to soccer practice (maybe if they were here to listen they'd get
> more out of the stories than learning how to beat someone down in sports)
> more than placing a tape in a recorder and just listening to my voice or
> perhaps it would be better if you went to the editor and paid her big
> bucks to buy a tape. These inquiries and taping controversy have really
> left me to feel that I too no longer wish to continue my readings.
> This is what's gone from our world - the desire of gathering and talking
> together, the social interactions. What's left is the cold hard typing of
> words that so often can be misconstrued by lack of tonal voice
> inflections. (Continue below)
>
> Ramona and Theresa,
> Ramona, I'm sorry you couldn't make it. These stories were gathered and
> edited by two ladies from a vast collection of ethnic resources for a
> column published in our local newspaper. I collected their publications
> for over 3 years and although I will read them for our members continued
> enjoyment I feel we must be mindful of any copyright infringements that
> might be on them that I'm not aware of that prohibits reproduction.
> Please join me when you can and enjoy the readings so we have the
> opportunity to continue hearing their stories. Be thankful they are being
> shared and that credit is properly given to the originators.
> Audrey Wellner, Secretary
> Krafters Korner, division
> ~~~~~
> This is an example of what I mean. Certainly Joyce, when you finally
> released the statements below I'm sure you didn't mean to write this
> particular paragraph in the manner in which it was written. The statement
> starting with....there was a discussion shouldn't have been placed in the
> same paragraph with the statement that says... I had opened a discussion.
> Because it was I that made the request that with the balance in the
> treasury our current teachers could certainly be rewarded with some type
> of monetary value for all the hard work they performed in the last 3
> years.
> I'm sure you didn't mean to imply that this was your idea or did you?
> (Continue below)
>
> There was a discussion made on honoring our current teachers an rewarding
> them with a gift or monitary gift to show our appreciation. There was no
> motions made regarding this. I had opened a discussion regarding our
> teachers being paid for their classes and a discussion on how to get money
> to pay them were talked about. There were no motions or decisions
> made
> regarding this.
> ~~~~~~
> Seeing the reason for giving classes was to encourage people to
> participate in membership than the best solution for solving this current
> rift is not to have any recordings at all and this will help with class
> attendance. Either you're there or your not and you'll have to wait until
> you can make time in your busy schedule to attend when the class is
> repeated. Put down your IPods, MP3's, recorders or whatever and
> participate. Be an active connective verbal communicant.
> Make this strictly about crafting, nip the social chat to off line
> communications. If you want to talk about personal instructions, than
> contact the teacher off-line like it always has been and should have been
> used.
> Our goal was to solely give our teachers the confidence to know that
> they can teach by doing so on-line, but then any self instruction and
> additional help was something they could develop off-line as a private
> business of their own. The list serve wasn't meant to be used to give long
> on list instructions to everyone--afterall that's what the classes were
> developed for. Nor was it to be used as one line social answers that no
> one cares to know about and actually gets very annoyed because they are
> only understood by two people who should reserve their communications to
> private off-line conversations.
> As I said at the end of my Christmas reading--the Pay It Forward idea
> is a lovely one, but in order for it to be considered worthy and rewarding
> it should not be boasted or written about. It only works if it is left
> unspoken and truly from the heart.
> We don't want to leave all our good friends and teachers behind--if you
> care, choose your written words carefully and hopefully this can be
> mended. People have feelings and don't want to be overlooked, not thanked
> or simply abused for the ambitions and personal gains of others.
> Audrey Wellner, Secretary
> Krafters Korner division
> THE END - I hope
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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> There has been a lot of discussion on the list regarding the recording of
> the classes. So I would like to clarify this to everyone. The classes
> given by National Federation of the Blind Krafters Division have been
> recorded with the knowledge of the teachers and the students. There is
> an
> announcement made when the recording is turned on and in order for anyone
> to enter
> the room a statement is made that the room is being recorded. It is up
> to
> the individual if they do not want to be recorded to hang up.
>
> We have Laurie Porter who is in charge of retreaving the MP3 files from
> our
> conference service, uploading them to send space, obtaining a list of
> email addresses of who attended the class and sending a notice out to the
> students that the recordings are available for the student to download.
>
> It has been NFB Krafters Division policy that recordings are only for the
> students who attend a class. This will continue to be our policy.
> Classes will be recorded and only be given to the students who attend the
> class.
>
> Joyce Kane
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
> --- On Fri, 1/7/11, Blindhands at aol.com <Blindhands at aol.com> wrote:
>
>
> From: Blindhands at aol.com <Blindhands at aol.com>
> Subject: [Nfb-krafters-korner] board meetings
> To: nfb-krafters-korner at nfbnet.org
> Date: Friday, January 7, 2011, 6:37 PM
>
>
> The last board meeting was in Dallas Texas at the Convention and it was
> open to all members.
>
> All that information was available at that board meeting. The
> secretary's
> report was read as she was not at that board meeting. The treasurer's
> report was given at that time and there was 3 board members that
> attended.
>
> We have not had a board meeting since that time.
>
> I called together the board on Jan 5 and gave them a 2 week notice of this
> meeting. I needed to know who would be planning to be at the next board
> meeting in Tampa Florida and to discuss plans for the Convention.
>
> The people who were in attendence were Joyce Kane, Cindy Sheets, Laurie
> Porter Audrey Wellner, Linda Anderson Diane Felipe was not there and
> Ramona
> Walhoff came late and left early.
>
> There was no suggestions about plans for Convention, but there is 4 that
> are planning on attending Convention and no decisions on if plans,
> classes,
> demos volunteers to sit in the Exhibit Hall were made. I will be
> checking
> to see if we can have a room with tables to have the craft show as we did
> the previous two years.
>
> There was a discussion made on honoring our current teachers an rewarding
> them with a gift or monitary gift to show our appreciation. There was no
> motions made regarding this. I had opened a discussion regarding our
> teachers being paid for their classes and a discussion on how to get money
> to pay
> them were talked about. There were no motions or decisions made
> regarding this.
>
> There was a discussion regarding Elections in July at our next board
> meeting in Florida. The two board member positions will be up for
> Election. I
> shared with the others that Ramona has asked to see if we can get someone
> to take her place.
>
> I brought up the topic about the recording of the classes and that
> people
> have asked for the recordings of the classes and it has been our rules
> that you need to attend the class in order to receive the recording. In
> this
> discussion it was talked about people in different time zones not being
> available for the times we offer the said classes. It was discussed about
> finding more teachers to teach classes in these different time zones. It
> has
> been the rule from the first class recorded that students who take the
> class
> get the recording. That is the only way you can get the recordings that
> are being recorded bby NFB Krafters Division.
>
> The National Federation of the Blind Krafters Division has never sold or
> even given any recordings out to anyone except for the students that have
> attended the class.
>
> Joyce Kane, President
> National Federation of the Blind Krafters Division
> _www.KraftersKorner.org_ (http://www.krafterskorner.org/)
> Blindhands at AOL.com
>
>
> In a message dated 1/7/2011 6:45:30 A.M. Pacific Standard Time,
> etscrivani at verizon.net writes:
>
> Cindy:
>
> I've been a paid up dues member of this division & a volunteer instructor
> since just about its beginning. I think it will be 3 years this summer
> and
> in all that time I have never seen any mention of open board meetings and
> maybe saw only one of the board meeting reports about 2 years ago that
> was
> written up by Audrey as Secretary for the division. Another two people
> on
> this list has called it to my attention, something I was not aware of
> and
> something the board for this group does not make publically known is that
> all NFB board meetings for I think all the divisions are open and any
> member
> can attend and be a part of the process. The Nagdu division, has monthly
> meetings (it is a national division so they do it by phone) and they make
> announcements on their list asking if members have questions they would
> like
> to discuss during the phone meeting. In other words, all the members are
> invited to be active participants. With that said, why wasn't the phone
> number for the Krafters division meeting posted and the offer of having
> as
> many members attend as wanted to? If I had been allowed to participate
> in
> the meeting of the other night I would have been there and know there are
> other instructors with similar concerns that would have attended.
>
> Additionally, in the 3 years I've been a dues paying member, I have never
> nor has anyone else who is just a member seen a treasurer's report, no
> report on how many people are signed up to this list no report on how
> many
> of the members are paying dues, no report on classes that have been
> offered,
> no report on itemized expenses for the group. Just no reporting of any
> kind. A little verbal mention on a Monday night chat, by the way is not a
> report nor a substitute for a board meeting. So after 3 years of paying
> dues, how much money is in the Krafters Korners Division's treasury and
> what
> is it being spent on? If you don't have that information off the top of
> your head or other leadership does not know the answers off the tops of
> their heads, then where are the written records in accessible format so
> that
> members can find this information out? Any organization that collects
> money must be above and beyond question and there is an obligation to
> report
> openly & honestly on where the money is going and how much of it there
> is.
> These are serious concerns that all need to be addressed openly &
> publically
> for division members.
>
> When exactly and how frequently are board meetings held? What is the
> phone
> number so that members can participate and have a say in what goes on?
> When
> was the last time this board for this group met? When is the next board
> meeting date & time? I think what ever went on in Wednesday's night
> meeting
> was a fraud because yes it was behind closed doors and not at all
> democratic, but very dictatorial.
>
> Thanks for the openness and honesty.
>
> Eileen
>
> --------------------------------------------------
> From: "slery" <slerythema at insightbb.com>
> Sent: Friday, January 07, 2011 3:35 AM
> To: "'List for blind crafters and artists'"
> <nfb-krafters-korner at nfbnet.org>
> Subject: Re: [Nfb-krafters-korner] classes and times
>
>> Eileen,
>>
>> I am NOT speaking for the board in this message. However, I want to
> assure
>> you that your questions and complaints have not fallen on deaf ears. As
>> you
>> stated, the leadership needs to make the final decision. Until that
>> decision
>> is made, you cannot receive an answer. The board does not meet daily or
>> weekly, so a decision cannot be made within a single day.
>>
>> You will be contacted when things are finalized.
>>
>> As to Joyce's comment about wanting to hear from the instructors, you
>> are
>> only one instructor and we want to know why the other instructors or
>> potential instructors are not joining the discussion because it doesn't
>> matter what time students would like classes if there are no instructors
>> available to teach them at alternate times.
>>
>> This topic was started as a way to hear from the membership and create a
>> list of times that we might be able to fill in the future. No one on the
>> board or in the division expects you as ONE instructor to find a way to
>> fill
>> all of these times. You have been a great instructor and provided a
>> valuable
>> resource to this division. There have been many students that have
>> benefited
>> from your classes.
>>
>> Cindy S.
>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: nfb-krafters-korner-bounces at nfbnet.org
>>> [mailto:nfb-krafters-korner-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of
>>> Eileen Scrivani
>>> Sent: Thursday, January 06, 2011 4:43 PM
>>> To: List for blind crafters and artists
>>> Subject: Re: [Nfb-krafters-korner] classes and times
>>>
>>>
>>> Joyce:
>>>
>>> besides seneding you three private emails on this topic, I am
>>> an instructor
>>> who has posted thoughts on the subject of class recordings,
>>> but my messages
>>> to the divison leadeership has fallen on deaf ears.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --------------------------------------------------
>>> From: <Blindhands at aol.com>
>>> Sent: Thursday, January 06, 2011 4:04 PM
>>> To: <nfb-krafters-korner at nfbnet.org>
>>> Subject: [Nfb-krafters-korner] classes and times
>>>
>>> > I am back online with JAWS working 100% so now I can reply to the
>>> > emails.
>>> >
>>> > After listening to all the email regarding classes and after
>>> > discussing this with the board members of the NFB Krafters
>>> Division I
>>> > would like others to know our thoughts.
>>> >
>>> > We defintely have grown and spread not only within the USA,
>>> but around
>>> > the globe. We want to continue our growth and bring
>>> Krafters Korner
>>> > every where there is a need for us to learn, share and teach each
>>> > other the crafting skills of this group.
>>> >
>>> > With all that has been said it has proven that we need more
>>> classes at
>>> > different times. After saying that we have the ability of
>>> doing these
>>> > classes, recording them and having students interact live with the
>>> > teacher and other students. Now we need to find a way to
>>> do this at
>>> > different times to
>>> > include more people around the World. We have heard from
>>> friends in
>>> > India,
>>> > Australia, New Zealan, Canada and Alaska that have taken or
>>> would love to
>>> > take a class, but the timing is not great for them. I ask
>>> each one of
>>> > you to
>>> > seriously think about what you would like from Krafters
>>> Korner and if one
>>> > of your answers are take classes like others, then I ask
>>> you to please
>>> > contact me off list. _Blindhands at aol.com_
>>> (mailto:Blindhands at aol.com)
>>> > I would like to work with you to make this happen.
>>> >
>>> > While this conversation went on there was not much comments
>>> being made
>>> > from
>>> > our teachers regarding this and I would also like to hear from the
>>> > teachers off list. We do have teachers living in
>>> different time zones
>>> > and maybe
>>> > some of them would be willing to try different times for
>>> classes. I need
>>> > to
>>> > hear from the teachers.
>>> >
>>> > The question has been brought up why and who picked classes to be
>>> > during the week starting at 8 p.m. When Krafters Korner
>>> first started
>>> > out the list was small and most folks were living on the East coast
>>> > and Central time
>>> > zone. Laurie Porter did our first class and it was a
>>> beading class. I
>>> > had
>>> > asked our list people what time and weekend or during the
>>> week would
>>> > be best and that is how we started out. We did try classes on the
>>> > weekend during the day and in the evening and in the evening during
>>> > the week. We had more folks show up for a class in the evening
>>> > during the week. When classes
>>> > began we would maybe have 3or 4 and maybe 5 people at a
>>> class. That did
>>> > include the teacher and me in those numbers. Now look at
>>> the attendence
>>> > of a
>>> > class.
>>> >
>>> > So please contact me off list and let's work together to
>>> develop this
>>> > further.
>>> >
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > Joyce Kane
>
> Eileen,
> I also have been reading the comments on this thread concerning the
> time constraints for classes and I agree with you whole heartily.
> I'm sorry, but as members of this group you pay a $10 membership for
> unlimited classes for a whole year where you can sit home in your PJ's,
> put your finger in the dial and call in an get instructions from a teacher
> who understands your special challenges in crafting, they also spend hours
> making sure their instructions are clearly understood, give you a back up
> MP3 copy of the class and sometimes also makes time for additional
> questions and then she shouldn't have the choice of determining when it's
> convenient for her to conduct the class! The excuses and reasons are a
> little unclear here.
> No teacher I ever had in school, ever worried whether it was
> inconvenient for me to almost kill myself driving through snow laden
> streets to get to class on the time it was scheduled. Never in mind of
> sitting home and dialing in or whether I had to pick up my child, cook my
> dinner (many nights of which I went without between work and night
> classes) to make sure I made it on time, even if they were art or leisure
> classes. I would have never thought of asking my teacher to meet my
> schedule, especially if they were doing it on a volunteer basis.
> When I worked in administration and had to prepare a schedule for night
> school classes, we prepared our community night school calendars six
> months in advance for classes. The time slots were filled and both
> teachers and students had to prepare for the particular time that was set
> aside. Here Joyce is working with a calendar and times where she is trying
> to accommodate everyone's schedule across at least a 3 to 6 hour time
> difference, not just one time zone and trying to find a time convenient
> for most people. As Terry K put it, "the hard decisions have to come from
> leadership."
>
> I have been following all the interesting comments about time for
> lessons,
> and really do not know how you can please everyone, the hard decisions
> have
> to come from leadership. I can do about every time frame, days are
> difficult
> as now new year training like Freedom Science if, computer training.
> However, if I want to learn a new idea, I arrange and plan for it.
> Terry K
>
> It has been interesting to hear the comments and I really feel sorry for
> those who are in the far reaches of our nation and overseas. I'm sure as
> we go forward Joyce and the board will try to make some additional
> arrangements. But please try to understand and be considerate of our
> volunteer, unpaid teachers and not just request their recordings without
> making an effort to give them the courtesy of attending their classes.
> Your individual question can not be properly addressed by a recording.
>
> Audrey Wellner, Secretary
> Krafters Korner, division
>
>
> My goodness......me, me, me
>
>
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