[Nfbmt] NFB of Montana - for those who are planning or considering going to Washington Seminar, Jan 26

[Rik James]

You folks probably already have this information. At least I hope so.
But I just thought I would do a copy and paste from the cyber pages of The 
Braille Monitor.
You know, the deadline approaches rapidly. This Friday I believe. Everyone 
must Contact Diane McGeorge. Not the hotel.

I am not yet certain if I can go myself. We have a very big concert here in 
Bozeman at the end of that week. And I just may have to rely upon you all to 
do this.
If I do go, I will provide my own transportation and lodging in any case. I 
remember last year how incredible it was. And I am very curious to find out 
how the newly remodeled hotel will be.
So, stay tuned. And get cracking!

Side note, for what it is worth or not worth. I am not very enthused or 
optimistic about support we might gain for our issues among our newly 
elected congressional or senate representatives. It is not about party 
affiliation, really. But just what I have been able to discern from the 
campaigns and the way our populace seems to be heading, or not heading. 
Still, if we can get some good contacts this year from each of their 
offices, this will be really important for us to bring home and share. OK?

I was tracking this last week's congress stuff pretty routinely by listening 
to C-SPAN.

I hope I will be proved wrong by the forthcoming voting records of Misters 
Zinke and Daines. I know politics will be what it will be and we must 
continue to do what we can with who we have as to our representation. It is 
upon each of us to be as informed as we can, no matter what.

In any case, I strongly believe, that whoever goes from our affiliate,  and 
however we are applying our energy and scarce resources to go to the 
national meeting, I appeal to each of us to act all year long locally. We 
each must be vigilant. Gathering together in the nation's capitol is also an 
essential part of our movement. So, please hop on and let's ride that train 
to Congress.

Thanks.
Rik James

from the December Monitor...
2015 Washington Seminar: What's New in the Rooms and Reserving Yours by 
Diane McGeorge

>From the Editor: The following message comes from Diane McGeorge, who 
organizes much of the logistics of Washington Seminar:

This is a reminder about making your hotel reservations for the 2015 
Washington Seminar. Our deadline with the hotel is December 19, 2014, and, 
although I know most of you are busy as we approach the holiday season, we 
would certainly appreciate getting your reservations as early as possible.

Sleeping room rates are $180 for single, double, triple, or quad rooms, and 
the tax rate is 14.5% per night. The address of the Holiday Inn Capitol is 
550 C Street, SW, Washington, DC 20024. We would like to have representation 
from all fifty states, so please encourage members from your state 
affiliates to attend.

The Holiday Inn Capitol in Washington DC has undergone a great number of 
changes since our last visit, including becoming completely non-smoking. All 
of the sleeping rooms have been completely renovated, giving them a classy 
and fresh look and feel. The rooms with two beds have been upgraded from 
double beds to queen beds and can no longer accommodate rollaway beds. All 
king rooms will have walk-in showers instead of bathtubs with showers. All 
rooms will also have laptop-sized safes in the closets.

All of the meeting rooms have also been renovated, and along with the new 
look are new names. We will no longer have any meeting rooms or office space 
on the second floor.

The former Apollo and Mercury rooms are now sleeping rooms and are no longer 
available to us. The communication center and office for our Washington 
Seminar will now be found in room 353. The Columbia Ballroom is now called 
Capitol Ballroom, and the Discovery Ballroom is now called Congressional 
Ballroom. Saturn/Venus is now called House Room, Jupiter is now called 
Senate Room, and Mars is now called Caucus Boardroom.

The hotel restaurant, too, has undergone changes. The buffet has been moved 
to provide more guest seating. The Deli Express is no longer. In its place 
you will find a new public seating area, complete with device-charging 
stations. You will find the new Lobby Market to the right as you face the 
front desk. You will be able to grab snacks there 24/7. They are expected to 
provide frozen dinners, ice cream, little boxes of cereal, milk, and that 
type of thing. They are hoping to have coffee in the lobby as well.

With all of these changes, the hotel has removed soda and snack machines on 
each floor, but you can still find ice machines on each level. Keep in mind 
that Starbucks will still be in place, so you can get your coffee as well as 
their usual fare.

I hope you have made your requests for meeting room space, since these 
meeting rooms fill up very quickly. If not, please notify us prior to 
December 10, giving us the name of your meeting, the number of people you 
expect in attendance, and the type of room setup you wish to have.

Following is the information I will need to make your hotel reservations:

Your dates of arrival and departure. First and last names of any roommates 
that might be sharing with you-please spell first and last names of each 
person sharing the room, and please include arrival and departure date for 
each person. Please specify how many beds you wish to have in the room, 
either two queen beds or one king bed. Please indicate if you need an 
accessible room. Rollaway beds are $15 per night, but can now only be used 
in a room with a king bed, since the regular rooms will have two queen beds 
and will no longer accommodate a rollaway bed. Refrigerators are standard in 
all guest rooms at no additional charge. Per the hotel contract, individual 
cancellation must be made seventy-two hours prior to date of arrival to 
avoid one night's room plus tax cancellation charge. You must get in touch 
with Lisa Bonderson or me to make changes to your reservation as soon as 
possible to avoid such a charge. Please do not contact the hotel to make 
your reservations. I submit all the reservations for the Washington Seminar. 
You may call (303) 778-1130, extension 219, to make your reservation, or you 
may email your reservations to Lisa Bonderson at < lbonderson at cocenter.org 
 >. We will confirm receipt of your reservation either by return email or by 
telephone, so be sure to give us your telephone number and your email 
address. .