[Nfbc-info] Hello 2012! East Bay chapter celebrates braille for the New Year!

[Serena Olsen]

Happy New Year East Bay Chapter!

Welcome to another year!  As we emerge from the revelry of the long
holiday season and begin another year, I can't think of a better way
to get things started than a celebration of braille!

Our first meeting of 2012 is in just a few days!  For January, instead
of our regular meeting format, we will set up camp in the front area
of our little Starbucks and do a little hanging out and playful
outreach in the form of braille demonstrations of all kinds, all in
honor of Louis Braille's birthday which is the day before our regular
first-Thursday meeting of January 5th.

Here's what we need:
--RSVP via this list or directly to me at olsen.serena at gmail.com.  Or
text or call me at 831-917-5335 so I can get a general idea of how
many are coming and what we'll have on hand.  RSVP is NOT required,
just helpful.
--Let me know if you'd like to bring a Perkins brailler, some kind of
slate & stylus, a notetaker, a braille book, some NFB literature or
another great idea I haven't thought of yet!  Anyone and everyone who
can bring a little Dymo tape would be great, since it's a fun thing to
dymo label people's names to stick on their travel mugs, etc. and we
can offer to label gift cards as well.  You can quietly demo these
items or chat up the public about them for the more extroverted among
us and let people know how important braille literacy is to blind
people to live and work independently.

Time and place are the same as always--Union City Starbucks at 1752
Decoto Rd. at 7 p.m. on the first Thursday of the month, January 5th.

An emerging tradition?
Many of our chapter regulars arrive early and grab a little dinner at
one of the many delicious restaurants in the area--give a shout-out on
this list to connect with fellow chapter members and share a little
pre-meeting dinner!

And here's a link to the awesome, albeit lengthy, hours of talks given
by working blind professionals at the SF LighHouse's Employment Summit
at Enchanted Hills Camp.
SF LightHouse Employment Summit Audio:
http://lighthouse-sf.org/employment-summit/

Cheers, and see you Thursday!

-- 
Serena Olsen, MAIPS, NCLB
Staff Assistant, Japan Society of Northern California (www.usajapan.org)
Braille Instructor, Lions Center for the Blind (www.lbcenter.org)
President, NFBC East Bay (nfbc-east-bay at googlegroups.com)

"We are all born to be the hero of our own story." --Deepak Chopra