[Nfb-new-hampshire] Fw: [New-hampshire-students] nh board

[Finn, Bill]

I agree Ed,  Jim has some great ideas.  I especially like the idea of
inviting state agency personnel to a wine tasting event <grin>.  All
kidding aside, I hope you all know that I am happy to assist in any way
that I can.  The NFB of NH is a wonderful partner to work with here in
NH.  I have had the pleasure of working with (and getting in and out of
trouble with) you all in one capacity or another for over 30 years.  Wow
you guys must be getting old because I'm not!  I look forward to many
more years of working together beyond this bump in the road.  

Bill 

William A. Finn, Administrator
Services for Blind and Visually Impaired
21 So. Fruit St.
Concord, NH 03301
Tel: 603-271-3537
Tinyurl.com/SBVINH
 

 
-----Original Message-----
From: nfb-new-hampshire-bounces at nfbnet.org
[mailto:nfb-new-hampshire-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Ed Meskys
Sent: Wednesday, February 24, 2010 2:49 PM
To: nfbnh-students; nfbnh-news; nfbnh-board
Subject: [Nfb-new-hampshire] Fw: [New-hampshire-students] nh board

I found this message from Jim very helpful. I think he has some very
good 
ideas. Ed Meskys
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Joe Orozco" <jsorozco at gmail.com>
To: "'NFB of New Hampshire Student List'" 
<new-hampshire-students at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, February 24, 2010 2:12 PM
Subject: Re: [New-hampshire-students] nh board


Hello,

I'm an outsider but follow the list carefully.  Speaking as someone who
does
nonprofit development for a living, both local and national
organizations, I
can pass along a few pieces of advice in the midst of a crazy work day.

1. Invest in a student division.  They're your future leaders, and if
you
don't have enough people for a division, invest in the student you do
have
at hand.  Pump them up.  Give them a scholarship, teach them all you
know
and impress upon them the various reasons why the NFB is a good thing.

2. Scrap the traditional convention format.  Gather the people that show
up
and go out for dinner, drinks, coffee.  In other words, turn the
gathering
into a social, relaxed setting where you can speak intimately of the
affiliate's problems rather than standing behind a microphone where it
is
all too likely the speaker will be full of him or herself.  The
microphone
is the enemy in this case.

3. Have every member on the board come up with 3 things they wish the
affiliate could do in the next year.  Encourage them to be a little
crazy.
The president can always whittle down the list to something reasonable.
Then, assign every leader and member to a specific task.  Committees can
quickly become traps for a whole lot of nothing accomplished, but if you
give people specific tasks, the committees will move along at a good
clip.

4. Invite the state agency personnel, state school faculty, members of
other
organizations to a wine tasting event, happy hour or some other neutral
occasion where a free exchange of ideas can occur in a relaxed
networking
setting.

5. Adaptive technology is always a big seller.  If you do have a
convention,
consider an exhibit hall where dealers can show off their products and
maybe
even set aside a few sessions for some training.  Less talking and more
doing is the ticket.

6. Fundraising is a whole other animal.  You're going to need a good
core
group of people to engage an effective fundraising strategy, but
fundraising
itself can work several ways: A. to raise money; B. to create networks
among
the general public and general businesses; C. design social settings
where
friends can be raised since friends come before funds; and D. raise
public
awareness about blindness itself.

Yet, the best piece of advice in this rather impromptu list is this:
Remember why you joined.  Convince others of the same, and have a hell
of a
lot of fun doing it.

If you need someone to come out and lead an interactive workshop on
whipping
people into shape, let's talk.  I won't come in and tell you what to do.
I'll just creatively help you come up with your own priorities and show
you
strategies to make those priorities turn into active goals.

Best of luck to you guys.  However terrible you think things are, there
is
always an organization that has experienced worse and come out swinging.

Joe Orozco

"Hard work spotlights the character of people: some turn up their
sleeves,
some turn up their noses, and some don't turn up at all."--Sam Ewing


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