[nFBMI-Talk] Save The Date: Friday, April 13, 2018 From 9:00 AM-3:00 PM - BEET Conference

Kane Brolin kbrolin65 at gmail.com
Sat Mar 3 22:06:46 UTC 2018


The third, annual installment of the BEET Conference is right around
the corner, co-sponsored by Goshen College and by the Michiana Chapter
of the National Federation of the Blind.

Friday, April 13, 2017 from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM EST
College Mennonite Church
Campus of Goshen College
1900 South Main Street
Goshen, Indiana 46526

 While you're thinking about it, please visit the NFB Michiana
Facebook page, like us, and confirm your attendance at this exciting
event: BEET Conference 2018.
https://www.facebook.com/NFB-of-Michiana-412752602094987/

 BEET stands for "the Blind in Education, Employment, and Technology."

Attending the BEET Conference is not just passively observing a series
of canned presentations.  We openly encourage Q&A, for the purpose of
problem-solving and arriving at strategies that will help more blind
residents of the Michiana region to complete college, trade
school, and university degree programs and then to engineer their own
successful transition into the working world.

People who are blind or visually impaired frequently get jobs in
retail, medical billing and transcription, shipping and receiving,
information technology, and manufacturing--not to mention positions as
attorneys, engineers, financial and insurance professionals, writers,
and musicians--even scientists. And we excel at those jobs. Find out
how. Take part in Q&A, problem solving and brainstorming with guest
speakers who are blind themselves and who have decades of collective
experience in preparing blind persons for the right jobs, matching
them to prospective employers, and fighting against unlawful but still
all-too-prevalent discrimination.

 Doors open at 8:30, when a continental breakfast will be available.
Lunch will be provided for all attendees.  Tickets are available at
the door.  A $5 suggested donation is welcome.

Our keynote speaker/demonstrators will be very familiar to blind Michiganians:

•       Christine Boone.  This blind attorney has served as counsel for both
a general vocational rehabilitation agency and a separate agency for
the blind and has prepared work for the Pennsylvania Office of Equal
Opportunity.  Christine has provided legal support  for a
multi-faceted non-profit Maryland agency which included a large
manufacturing operation, a comprehensive training center serving blind
persons from transition age to senior citizens, and a series of base
service stores operating at military installations under the Javits
Wagner O’Day Program.  She has provided compliance reviews under the
Americans With Disabilities Act for some of the Country’s leading
resorts and hotel chains and has prepared winning arguments for State
Civil Rights agencies.  In addition, Christine has served the citizens
of Pennsylvania, Maryland, Michigan and Oklahoma as state agency
director, non-profit corporate counsel, comprehensive adult training
center director and school superintendent.
•	Doug Boone, Christine's husband and frequent partner in
rehabilitative services.  Weather permitting, Doug will give us a
hands-on introduction to orientation, mobility, and structured
discovery.  Ever encountered someone who was blind or visually
impaired and getting around remarkably well just using a long, white
cane and wondered how he or she did it?  It’s no accident.  Doug will
show us how that white cane is partnered with keenly honed perception
to build skills that allow blind people to survey their environment
and to get to where they want to go with safety and efficiency.

 We also look forward to participation from Brian Norton, senior
technologist for
 Easter Seals/Crossroads, based in Indianapolis.  And Jeanette Shown,
associate professor of computing science at Goshen College, will do a
brief presentation along with some of her students about how a blind
person can successfully write
computer code using the Python programming language.

Blind youth and adults are encouraged to attend.  Also welcome are
those working for rehabilitation agencies, private and public
secondary schools, colleges, trade schools, universities, vocational
rehabilitation agencies, and workforce development agencies.

What's more, we invite you to come if you're just curious but don't
know where you fit into all this.  Not blind or visually impaired,
yourself?  Not sure if you've ever met
a blind person?  No problem.  It is our desire to educate, to inform,
to have fun while we're doing it, and to foster an inclusive and safe
learning environment where all feel comfortable to share honestly what
is on their minds and hearts.  The period following lunch likely will
be set aside for an open forum whose purpose is to discuss any
challenges, opportunities, frustrations, and suggestions
that are on the minds of either presenters or audience members.

Questions?  Phone (574)386-8868 or send a note to nfbofmichiana at gmail.com.

I look forward to meeting you at Goshen College on Friday, April 13, 2018.

Cordially,

Kane Brolin, President
Michiana Chapter, National Federation of the Blind
(574)386-8868 (cell)
https://nfb-michiana.org/
https://www.goshen.edu/




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