<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
</head>
<body>
<p>Hello from the National Association of Guide Dog Users, I hope
that everyone is having a great summer and staying safe. This
email is to share a few updates concerning NAGDU at national
convention. Instead of responding to individual messages that have
been posted over the past week, I will summarize things as best as
I can.</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p>The NAGDU Board of Directors. I'd like to introduce the new board
as it stands after elections at convention. To contact the board,
you can email <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated
moz-txt-link-freetext" href="mailto:board@nagdu.org"
moz-do-not-send="true">board@nagdu.org</a>. To contact an
individual member, use the first initial plus the last name
@nagdu.org, as in <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated
moz-txt-link-freetext" href="mailto:rgallegos@nagdu.org"
moz-do-not-send="true">rgallegos@nagdu.org</a> or <a
class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="mailto:scook@nagdu.org" moz-do-not-send="true">scook@nagdu.org</a>.<br>
</p>
<p>President Raul Gallegos, Texas<br>
</p>
<p>Vice President Paul Sandoval, Colorado</p>
<p>Secretary Stacie Gallegos, Texas</p>
<p>Treasurer Jessica Snyder, Ohio</p>
<p>Board Member Al Elia, New York</p>
<p>Board Member Brianna Murray, New Jersey</p>
<p>Board Member Steve Cook, South Carolina</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p>Dog Relief Area. This year at convention, NAGDU took a more
proactive role concerning the dog relief area. Because we hired an
outside company to maintain it, we also held a 50/50 raffle to
help fund this expense. Furthermore, we accepted and are accepting
donations to help pay for this cost. The outside pooper scooper
company was in charge of cleaning the area located in the valet
parking area of the Marriott. I had a chance to meet them, and was
able to explain a few things concerning what to expect and a few
other logistical things concerning how we have maintained the dog
relief area in the past. Since this is the first time we have done
this, we are looking for feedback from those who attended in
person concerning their experiences.<br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p>Resolutions. This year, NAGDU submitted two resolutions, which
passed. The resolutions were written by Vice President Paul
Sandoval with Stacie and Raul Gallegos contributing. Both
resolutions were concerned with the continued denials by Uber and
Lyft drivers when a blind person with a guide dog wants to travel.
NAGDU will be working with our national organization to move
forward with this. One nice surprise, was that a Lyft
representative was able to join us during the business meeting and
was able to answer a lot of questions and take feedback to give
back to Lyft.</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p>Seminar and Business Meetings. Our seminar and business meetings
were successful and were packed with a lot of information. The
topic for the seminar was, awareness is everybody's business, and
it focused on learning best methods of self-advocating and knowing
what your rights and responsibilities are as a guide dog user. The
business meeting was equally packed with information. As already
mentioned, we heard from a Lyft representative, and we also heard
the latest in legal updates from Tim Elder and Al Elia. In
addition to the NAGDU yearly report, we also heard from various
state guide dog user divisions and committees.<br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p>The Zoom Broadcast. There has been a lot of chatter on the main
NAGDU list about the quality of the Zoom broadcast during the
seminar and business meetings. I realize and acknowledge that
there were issues with people not being able to hear and a few
technical issues concerning the screen reader voice which made
things even more difficult to hear. This year, as in past years,
we used a laptop computer to broadcast. As what tends to happen,
things beyond our control changed at the last minute. To my
knowledge, only NAGDU, and maybe one or two other divisions of the
NFB offered a virtual meeting experience. This is something that
we are not obligated to do, but are very much interested in doing
while we have the resources. With this in mind, we will take
better steps with the technical issues. One solution is to hire
the hotel to do the technical setup, so all we need to do is show
up, plug in our equipment, and start broadcasting. As you can
imagine, this option is not our first choice since it is quite
expensive. Another option is to have a dedicated person handle the
technical aspect of broadcasting the meeting. Preferably someone
who is already at convention and doesn't mind volunteering their
expertise to make it a better experience. This is what we tried
this year, and while the fine folks who assisted with this are
truly technical and know what they are doing, things happened
which were out of their control. My thanks go out to Paul Sandoval
and Steve Cook for everything they did on the technical side
considering the challenges. If you are going to come to convention
in the future and would like to volunteer your technical and audio
expertise to make things even better, we will be open to
considering your assistance.</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p>In closing, we would like to hear from you concerning your
experience with the NAGDU meetings and with the dog relief area.
If you visit <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://nagdu.org/national-convention"
moz-do-not-send="true">https://nagdu.org/national-convention</a>
you will find two survey links. One survey is for the NAGDU
meetings, and one is for the dog relief area. This survey will be
open until Friday, July 22. We welcome all constructive feedback
and we will use this feedback to improve things wherever
appropriate. If you need assistance with filling out the survey,
please email <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated
moz-txt-link-freetext" href="mailto:board@nagdu.org"
moz-do-not-send="true">board@nagdu.org</a> and we will be happy
to help.</p>
<br>
<p>-- </p>
<div class="moz-signature">
<div class="moz-signature">Respectfully,<br>
<b>Raul A. Gallegos</b> / President<br>
National Association of Guide Dog Users, <i>NAGDU</i><br>
346.439.7444 | <a href="mailto:rgallegos@nagdu.org"
moz-do-not-send="true">RGallegos@nagdu.org</a><br>
<a
href="https://calendar.google.com/calendar/ical/nagdu.org_7eopjofhnd4968m46rcmgrck0s%40group.calendar.google.com/public/basic.ics"
moz-do-not-send="true">Subscribe to the NAGDU Public Events
Calendar Here</a><br>
<a href="https://app.greminders.com/c/rgatechsolutions/nagdu/"
moz-do-not-send="true">Schedule a 30-minute Zoom meeting with
me here</a><br>
<a href="https://m.facebook.com/groups/nagdu"
moz-do-not-send="true">Join NAGDU on Facebook</a> | <a
href="https://twitter.com/nagdu" moz-do-not-send="true">Follow
NAGDU on Twitter</a><br>
"Blindness is a characteristic, not a handicap." -- Dr. Kenneth
Jernigan<br>
<br>
<br>
</div>
</div>
</body>
</html>