[NFBF-Daytona] April board meeting minutes

[Bill Outman]

April 2021 Board Meeting 

Greater Daytona Beach Chapter 

National Federation of the Blind 

 

A meeting of the board of directors of the Greater Daytona Beach Chapter of
the National Federation of the Blind was held on Wednesday, April 28.  It
was conducted via Zoom.  

 

All seven board members were present, including president Brian Norton, vice
president Peggy Fleischer, secretary Bill Outman, treasurer Nancy Epps, and
board members Ryan Mann, Kathy Davis, and Mary Ellen Ottman.  This is Mary
Ellen's first meeting as a board member for the current term.  

 

The meeting was called to order by president Brian Norton at 8:03 p. m.  

 

Brian noted the need for a committee to propose revisions to the chapter
constitution to be submitted to the membership for approval.  The main
change under consideration will be staggering the terms of the board so
there will be  a degree of continuity, avoiding the prospect that an
election could seat an entirely new board without experience.  Brian
appointed Nancy Epps as chair, with Peggy Fleischer, Kathy Davis and himself
as committee members.  Former board member Pat Lipovosky was appointed to
represent general chapter membership.  Nancy's main role will be to look at
the final draft before submission to the members.  

 

The board was in agreement with the proposed committee.  Bill Outman
observed that this should be a relatively simple task, as most of the
current constitution is still valid, and merely needs to incorporate the
changes.  

 

The next concern is the need to engage in outreach to build membership,
especially among the youth.  This is not a unique challenge to us, as all
membership organizations are having difficulty with aging membership rolls.
Brian noted he hopes the Division of Blind Services under director Robert
Doyle will be more receptive to recruitment efforts than in the past.  He
noted he hopes to work with Rehab. Center director Jeff Whitehead on this
issue once the center returns to more normal operations coming out of the
pandemic.  Brian indicated he would not object to the Halifax Council of the
Blind having equal opportunity to introduce themselves to students
representing ACB.  

 

The outreach committee will include Mary Ellen Ottman, Peggy Fleischer, Ryan
Mann, and Sue Metcalfe representing membership, along with Brian.  Possible
avenues and activities will be touching base with the local collegeges,
Daytona State, Bethune Cookman, and Embry Riddle.  One possible activity
might be a concert performance by the band from FSDB in St. Augustine.  

 

Brian noted another outreach avenue might be the local organization FAITH,
Fighting Against Injustice Toward Harmony, a coalition of religious
organizations in the county working on social justice issues.  Another
suggestion from Peggy was outreach to PALS, People Adjusting to Limighted
Sight, or at least its past membership.  There is some question as to
whether the area chapters are still active.  

 

Marry Ellen, Kathy, and Ryan discussed the possibility of the new
Conklin-Davis Center structure helping stand up a new PALS organization.
Kathy pointed out the merger is taking up a lot of energy and resources at
the moment.  It was also noted there would also be an issue of giving equal
time if presentations are made to classes at the center, which isn't a huge
hurdle in itself.  

 

Bill Outman reminded the board that notices of organization events can be
sent through the talking book library.  Brian noted the library would send
out post cards to the zip codes in our area.  MaryEllen noted this has not
been quite as effective due to lack of personal contact.  

 

Peggy suggested using the Conklin building for an open house for both
organizations once the building is fully open.  This could be an autumn
activity.  

 

All such activities will depend on the pace of re-opening coming out of the
pandemic.  Kathy reminded us that we all, board amd membership alike, need
to be mindful of our own individual contacts and encourage them to explore
our organization.  It was suggested there could be incentives such as being
entered into prize drawings at meetings.  These could come from the treasury
or be donated.  Brian reminded we had already instituted a lunch discount
for those who attend and join at a meeting.  Kathy noted getting the new
membership is key.  

 

Peggy turned the discussion to the meeting format itself.  She noted it is
not enough to have a guest speaker and do the usual business meeting.  This
can become boring for those who attend.  It is important to have an
interactive setting, especially now as we have had a sense of
disconnectedness during the pandemic.  

 

Peggy suggested one format is in addition to have the speakers would be a
general discussion meeting, or perhaps a fun time such as trivia.  

 

Meeting location was taken up.  Brian suggested if possible we return to
Houligan's, the best place we have found in quite some time.  There was a
scheduling issue with the new management.  Peggy noted we should have a
backup location, and noted that Stavro's, an Italian restaurant in downtown
Daytona Beach where we had held meetings previously, now has a separate
meeting room which it did not have previously.  Ryan noted the room we used
at Woody's Barbecue for the April meeting was too small.  Kathy said we
should reserve Houligan's for the remainder of the year quickly if possible.


 

Brian suggested we could resume having a table at Daytona State's Ability
Day, the gollege' October event to promote disability awareness.  There was
discussion of how effective this event really was for outreach, though
disability student services could be approached again.  

 

Other outreach avenues were tossed around, such as having a table at the
local minor league baseball game on a given day, or working through the
school board to interface with teachers who work with the visually impaired.
It was suggested we might help form a chapter in St. Augustine, where FSDB
is located.  One drawback of this is that students now go home on weekends,
not the situation some of us familiar with the school in the past would
remember.  Ere is the possibility of outreaching to the youth transition
programs at Conklin-Davis.  

 

.               Brian then turned the conversation to college scholarships,
another possible recruitment tool.  Kathy expressed concern that we have
been unable to keep the state scholarship winners in state and joining the
chapters.  The chapter has been contributing $750 annually to these state
scholarships, and there may need to be reconsideration of whether this level
of participation is sustainable.  

 

Peggy suggested the May meeting agenda could  consist of informing the
membership of proposed constitution changes, possible future events and a
directed feedback session from members.  This could be done through specific
questions posed to members.  Board members were asked to develop such
questions.  

 

Kathy indicated we should resume the practice of donating to outside
organizations that come to speak.  This would show that we also contribute
to the society, and are not just taking from it.  

 

Ryan briefly brought up fund raising, noting we could again use events such
as the McKenna's restaurant event that was fairly successful on a couple
occasions.  

 

The last part of the meeting re-emphasized the need for interactive programs
such as dealing with life issues as a blind person.  Peggy noted the Central
Florida chapter has such discussion meetings.  This is part of a qquartely
format where one meeting has a speaker, another is a topic discussion, and
the third is learning about NFB.  

 

The meeting adjourned at 8:59 p. m.  

 

 

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