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

Wed Oct 30 21:43:56 UTC 2013

Hi Jim.  I want to agree with you about "Whiners" I have not been a part of any email lists until now to hear from whiners but I have been involved with several disabled groups over the years and I have found many people to be "Whiners." I have been pleasantly surprised to find few "whiners" in the NFB thus far.  This is perhaps my favorite thing about the NFB.  I don't like people who sit around and complain instead of getting out there and making things better.  If we wind up working together for any length of time, you will undoubtedly learn this about me.  On another note, I want you to know that I am looking forward to seing you at the NFB convention in Maryland next week.  
Have a good week and I'll talk to youk lter.

-----Original Message-----
From: Nfbmt [mailto:nfbmt-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of James Aldrich
Sent: Wednesday, October 30, 2013 2:52 PM
To: nfbmt at nfbnet.org
Subject: Re: [Nfbmt] IMPORTANT --the use of this discussion listserve

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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--
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