[Nfbmt] IMPORTANT --the use of this discussion listserve

[James Aldrich]

Hi Rik and all,

I do agree!  We had a wonderful convention here this past weekend!  I 
feel the Yellowstone County Chapter was indeed hospitable to all of us! 
That said, it should be remembered we actually had a statewide 
convention planning committee which did a tremendous job in putting 
this convention together! Bruce Breslauer, Travis Moses, Linda Hurlock, 
Rik James, Ted Robbins and myself!  At first, some in the Yellowstone 
County Chapter said, "A convention in Billings?  I want no part of it." 
As the planning progressed, they came online with what needed to be 
done since they realized the convention was being planned by a state 
committee rather than having it dumped on a chapter with no 
instructions! I daresay all who came made this convention very special 
indeed! We truly can pat ourselves on the back so to speak! Were we 
perfect?  Perhaps not!  But I think more went right than went wrong! 
How nice it was to have that braille agenda at the potium.  My thanks 
to Bruce Breslauer for this!  He also reminded me to have some large 
print agendas made up which really came in handy! Of course the story 
would not be complete without our Treasurer Ted Robbins helping us with 
those tedious negotiations with the hotel! i for one was worried about 
the choice we made for our convention hotel! As convention time neared, 
I found I didn't have much to worry about!  Even that annoying 
waterfall was shut down for our weekend!  Perhaps they turn it off on 
weekends normally, I really don't know! Of course, our First Vice 
President Rik James did an outstanding   job as our Banquet MC. Linda 
Hurlock handled those door prizes efficiently and these didn't take 
much time to hand out to those who won them! All who donated door 
prizes really came up with some fine ones! I think we will have much to 
look forward to with next year's convention!  We certainly are well on 
our way to changing what it means to be blind in Montana! Our work is 
just beginning and I believe we have elected some fine people to our 
board of directors! Our work as a board is just beginning!  We 
certainly have many challenges before us and we need to develop that 
rhythm as we conduct the affairs of this affiliate. We of course need 
your help and support so keep those suggestions coming in! We can refer 
to how our convention went as we put it together with a unity of 
purpose as we pave the way for a better life for all blind Montanans. 
We need to work with this same spirit as we go about our work here! 
Some things won't be easily accomplished but I believe persistance and 
patience pay royally!

One place where Changing what it means to be blind needs to happen is 
on the internet! I'm on a number of Email lists.  I often think we as 
blind people have more whiners among us about most anything!  I think 
we have more whiners among us than exist in the general population! 
This is simply my opinion of course! It is so easy to come to this 
conclusion after reading way too many Email messages! I suppose it 
depends on one's definition of whining!  What might sound whiny to me 
may not sound that way to someone else or the one I think is doing the 
whining!  I think we can do our part here by following a simple 
procedure which I think will keep any number of things to a minimum! In 
scripture, one can find a passage which discusses how matters should be 
dealt with in the church.  It may be in the books of Timothy but I 
won't have time to look this up today!  This basically says, if one has 
a disagreement with their brother, bring it before your brother.  if it 
cannot be solved, come before your brother with two others to settle 
your differences.  If it can't be settled in this manner, come before 
the church to settle what needs to be settled. I would need to read 
further the conclusion to all of this but I think if we procede in an 
orderly fashion, allot of unnecessary rumor and dirt would be avoided.

I see it this way!  Do feel free to call me or any other board member 
if you have any concerns troubling you at a given time!  If you speak 
to me and you are still unsettled about what I had said, call me again! 
If I do not satisfy what you wished to be settled, bring it up to 
someone preferably a board member who may bring it before me!  If this 
isn't satisfactory, bring it before the entire board.  I think this 
procedure could work for both positive and negative events.  Simply 
speak with any member of this organization or a board member.  Do not 
consult outside of this organization if this involves matters 
concerning the organization.  Of course, one can confer with any of our 
national leaders as well. We all need to use our megaphones wisely! I'm 
referring to Email Lists and Facebook as well as Twitter as those 
megaphones we all may choose to use. The echos die with the use of a 
regular megaphone!  We loudly get our point across and what we say dies 
with the echoes and may remain in the memory of those who heard it!  
Perhaps what we said through that megaphone might be easily forgotten 
through the years!  Unfortunately, the internet never forgets.  This is 
especially true on Facebook.  What we write may linger for years and 
years to come!  Somebody ten years later may read something about you 
or me, come to conclusions which never happened and much dirt and 
untruth is circulated about us who might be involved in what was 
written those many years ago! All of us should exercise care in what we 
say or it could backfire on us.  If we are quick to point the finger, 
the finger could point back at us with little or no mercy at all!  This 
is a good lesson for each of us!  I think there is no private Email 
list unless it is heavily moderated.  I think if we try to settle our 
differences privately, we will be in much less trouble on the internet!

Thanks everyone for reading! As for a matter at hand, I will do my best 
to lay it to rest!

Thanks for reading!

Jim




Original message:
> Hi folks,

> Rik James here.
> What a wonderful weekend. Thanks for your vote of confidence in me to serve
> as First Vice President.
> We have tons to do and a great group was there in Billings. The Yellowstone
> Chapter deserved our many thanks as the host for our state convention. And,
> thanks to all who worked so hard, and contributed so generously their time
> and actually money, too, in many cases. I love it.

> But let me say this.
> This discussion group is NOT where we should conduct any important and
> official conversations of the affiliate.

> Dan Burke is the List Mom, or administrator.
> And maybe the board can decide it more formally.
> But this discussion group is, in my view not a place to conduct business.

> I think we need a private and exclusive setting for that.
> We can set one up. So let's do that. Okay?

> It is easy to just hit Reply and think we are only talking to each other in
> the thread of a conversation.
> But the list has members who are not in any way involved with much of this.

> I feel the same about Facebook and other social media.
> Let's have a discussion at some point about what is and is not appropriate
> for that at some point, too.

> No, I am not criticizing anyone who is or has been posting on the NFB of MT
> lilstserve or the Facebook. But let's examine this.




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-- 
NFB of Montana

James Aldrich, President
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 Billings, Montana 59101
 Phone: 406–698-3729
 E-mail: jkaldrich at samobile.net
 Web site: http://www.nfbmt.org
 Web site: http://www.nfbmontana.org
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