[NFBV-Announce] The Vigilant: September 2019

Sun Sep 15 02:07:21 UTC 2019

The Vigilant - September 2019

Joe Orozco, Editor

>From the President’s Desk

Dear friends,

I’ve heard it told the National Federation of the Blind is like a family. If
that is true, then it would seem fair to say we are fast approaching our
annual family reunion, and we are working hard to make it our best one yet
in the riverside picturesque haven that is Portsmouth.

Plans are quickly taking shape. An agenda will be released in a few short
weeks, and the only thing left to ensure this is the warmest gathering it is
meant to be is to ensure you will be there to share in our fellowship.

Empowerment: Owning Your Future

This theme will guide the programming throughout the course of this year’s
convention. Expect outstanding programming, great presentations, enlivening
conversations, powerful networking, and the spirit that makes the National
Federation of the blind of Virginia convention a must attend event.

Below, we will outline some initial convention highlights, details on hotel
reservations, and guidance on convention registration.

National Representative

I am thrilled that Ron Brown, Second Vice President of the NFB, is our
National Representative.  You will be delighted to note he will be
accompanied by his wife, Jean.  Background information about Ron can be
found later in this newsletter. Both Ron and his wife Jean will be joining
us for convention. Ron is a tremendous leader in the National Federation of
the Blind and is a dynamic force in his local business community.  He is
also just a great person. We are so excited that Ron and Jean will be
joining us and hope you take this opportunity to meet them.

Breakout Sessions

Based on the ideas requested at the August Board of Directors meeting, we
have developed a set of great seminars and break out sessions. Here is a
brief sampling of the upcoming program:

·       Friday: Empowerment Lunch – The National Federation of the Blind
recognizes that our diversity is a core strength. This lunch, featuring Jean
Brown as our keynote, will feature the stories from across the Virginia
Federation Family and will discuss ways we can make our community more
inclusive and vibrant. 

·       Friday: Owning Your Finances Seminar – From financial scams to
strategic budgeting, from buying a home to building your retirement fund.
Come learn how to secure your financial future.

·       Friday: Virginia Department for the Blind and Vision Impaired (DBVI)
Public Meeting – We are grateful that DBVI will hold a public meeting where
attendees can ask questions and speak with agency leadership. DBVI wants to
hear from you so come and share your thoughts and ideas on how DBVI can
better meet the needs of blind and low vision Virginians.  Let your voice be
heard. 

·       Saturday: Chapter Leadership University – Chapter Presidents,
Treasurers, membership coordinators, and participants in the chapter
leadership institute will participate in a Saturday afternoon workshop on
how to make our chapters more engaging, welcoming, and dynamic. Role play
real life scenarios and bring home ideas that can be applied in your chapter
in 2020.

Action on the Convention Floor

We are planning some exciting presentations from across the Federation
Family. Here are just a few teasers of what you can expect.

·       Blind Moms Panel – Overcoming Challenges and Raising Their Families

·       Growing Your Business – Blind Entrepreneurs Building Their Future

·       Full Contact Martial Arts

·       Breaking the ropes: an interactive session on owning your future by
Federation Leader Joanne Wilson

·       Sunday town Hall with Ron and Tracy

Banquet: A Signature Keynote

The highlight of the convention will be our banquet address from Ron Brown,
Second Vice President of the National Federation of the blind and President
of the National Federation of the Blind of Indiana. Ron will share from his
personal story to show how our positive philosophy and great role   models
have led to his personal success and his success as a leader in Indiana and
across the country.

We hope this initial set of highlights gives you a sense of the driving
factors converging to make 2019 a landmark convention you must absolutely
not miss. Each week, we   will provide more details to inspire you to join
us. However, we recommend you act today, and both secure your hotel room and
register for the convention.

All the information you need can be found at our web site:

www.nfbv.org/convention <http://www.nfbv.org/convention> 

Recap of August in Northern Virginia

In August the Virginia affiliate was honored to be visited by the leader of
the blindness movement. President Riccobono kept a busy schedule as he moved
effortlessly between the Southeast Student Seminar, our Chapter Leadership
Institute, the Virginia Blind Parents’ Group, and the summer meeting of the
NFB of Virginia board of directors. In each of his remarks, President
Riccobono encourage questions of the membership, thereby allowing us to
learn a little more of our leader and how he arrives at certain decisions.
Perhaps the highlight of his visit took shape during a luncheon during which
President Riccobono shared a little more of the father and husband behind
the gavel.

We are excited to report that the board of directors authorized a second
year for our Chapter Leadership Institute. Joe Orozco and Domonique Lawless
have agreed to stay on as co-coordinators, and even as we speak they are
working hard to form next year’s class of future chapter leaders. We look
forward to learning from our first year and generating results that manifest
in the way we propel our advocacy and outreach at a local level.

Project RISE kicked off its 2019-2020 cycle. The program featured a mix of
leadership development, recreation, and mentorship. The program is now in
full swing, and in early September it was a pleasure to see the affiliate’s
youth meeting with members of Northern Virginia chapters at the National
Harbor for lunch and camaraderie.

Final Thoughts

These are just a few of the activities going on in our affiliate. Some we
remember fondly in our recent past. Some we are eagerly anticipating in the
near future. If this is indeed a family, and I hope you will come to feel
this yourself, then it is truly one of the greatest bonds you will ever be a
part.

Please, let us benefit from what you can bring to the table. If we have seen
you recently, I can’t wait to swap notes since the last time we caught up.
If we have not seen you in a while, why is that? We’ve missed you and need
you to come back. If we have never had the privilege of meeting you, let’s
fix that, hopefully at the state convention, if not sooner. You are the
force this family is missing.

Fondly yours,

Tracy Soforenko, President

National Federation of the Blind of Virginia

This Month’s Words of Inspiration

“If you’re dumb, surround yourself with smart people. If you’re smart,
surround yourself with smart people who disagree with you.” - Aaron Sorkin

Appreciation from the NFB of Louisiana

By Pam Allen

On behalf of all those affected by the April tornado, I would like to
express our sincere appreciation for your generous donation! We are deeply
grateful and truly humbled by the support we have received from our family
in Virginia as well as for everyone’s concern and encouragement! 

Your contribution is directly helping one of our members and her family
replace bedroom furniture lost in her daughter’s room as a result of the
tornado!

In addition to assisting families in the recovery process by providing
support for repairs or replacement of items, some of the money also assisted
an individual attend national convention who had planned to cancel their
trip because the tornado caused them to utilize money for storm-related
expenses.  Having partial assistance to attend the convention provided a
much-needed boost.

Please share our heartfelt thanks to all for their love, thoughts, prayers,
and support!

We have all drawn incredible strength from the outpouring of love and
support we have received.

Thank you again from the bottom of our hearts!

I am a Federationist

By Jessica Reed

Editor’s Note: Jessica Reed is a member of the Historic Fredericksburg
Chapter. She is the coordinator for the Blind Parents Group in Virginia, and
in this rare insight into her story, we learn a little bit about what makes
her one of our most valuable members in the movement.

I cry over my blindness, and all too often fall into the trap of "why me"! I
have never felt that my blindness was “just a characteristic.” I would take
my vision back in a Nano second! As a student at the Louisiana Center For
the Blind, I took two weeks to make a lemon meringue pie, dropping more than
one egg yoke on my classmates foot. I am a lot of things, but I would never
call myself “Super blind.” If we are totally honest, for the first ten years
of my blindness I would have flinched and may have smacked anyone who called
me blind. All this, and I am a Federationist.

I lost my vision after medical malpractice at the age of nine. To say that
my family and I were devastated would be an understatement. I was close to
needing to repeat the third and fourth grades because when I did make it to
school, I was more often than not missing and later found hysterical in the
girls bathroom. When it first happened, doctor’s assured my family that my
vision loss was only temporary. I woke every morning expecting to see. Not
until years later was I told point-blank by a prominent neurosurgeon that
“There wasn’t a snowball’s chance in hell.” My family was never the same
after this doctor visit.

Today, I am a stay-at-home mother to two beautiful thriving children. I have
a sighted husband and live in the historic town of Fredericksburg, like I
always dreamed. I have traveled, jumped out of a plane, run a marathon,
graduated from college and worked. I am a Federationist.

When I ventured off to the Louisiana Center for the Blind at the age of
eighteen, I went with the conviction that I would try out their training
(which I wasn’t convinced I needed) but they could keep their NFB
hard-nosed, militant philosophy to themselves. I loved guide dogs and was
not the political type. I had many sighted friends, so therefore did not
need any blindness social club. While in Louisiana, I questioned and argued
with almost everything they taught. The word blind was a slap in the face.
It was a Scarlet letter I had to attempt to hide and mask at every turn, and
I was baffled at how the staff and students could have no shame in it. These
were educated, well-put-together, attractive people. There were people with
children, some with advanced degrees, wealthy and those who lived pay check
to pay check. I slowly began to fall off my pedestal. There were also those
who struggled immensely with cane travel, cooking, computers, or knew no
Braille at all.  There were those that knew nothing other than blindness,
and those like myself trying to navigate a jagged road of anger,
frustration, and immeasurable grief.

The National Federation of the Blind philosophy is not the delusion I was
once convinced it was. Though yes, I would love to know exactly what my
children look like and see another sunrise, what stabs threw my heart most
of the time is not that. It is the frustration of not being able to drive.
It is the sadness that I will never be able to teach my son to drive. It is
the anger that rears up when I hear of another blind Lyft or Uber customer
being stranded by a driver because they have a guide dog. It is the anger
that claws up at me when I hear of another blind parent having their child
removed by CPS solely due to their blindness.  It is the sadness I feel when
I meet a highly educated blind person who can’t find even a minimum wage
job. These people are all me, so I am a Federationist.

As a little girl, I had a little wooden cross I would hold nightly during
prayers. I would trace the metal figure of Jesus nailed to that cross. The
number of tears I cried while clutching that cross and wondering what I did
wrong and the number of times I kissed his little feet cannot be counted.
The word “inconvenience" was jarring, even when put into context with “the
proper training and opportunity.” The phrase was jarring, because I didn’t
fully understand it’s meaning... until now. I could not see that the NFB was
simply saying that it did not have to be the debilitating death of my hopes
and dreams that much of society tries to impose on us. The NFB philosophy
that I can live the life I want is not incongruous to the grief of suddenly
and unexpectedly going blind, instead it compliments it. I know what it is
to beg, bargain, and plead for a so-called cure. I woke up every day for
years expecting to see. I had no blind role models who successfully lived
the lives they wanted. I could not picture being a blind high schooler, then
a blind college student, and finally a blind adult. I felt like I was
waiting for my real life to begin, and let me tell you that is agonizing and
exhausting!

Today, the NFB is the beacon of hope that I craved. The NFB fights to
protect the interest of blind parents so that their children are not
needlessly removed from loving homes just because a well-meaning social
worker cannot understand how we safely provide for our children. The NFB
fights for the equal opportunity of guide dog users to use ride sharing
companies such as Uber and Lift without fear of being stranded.  The NFB
legislates for continued accessibility on the internet and everyday home
appliances. The NFB has been fighting for my dreams long before I knew there
would be a fight. Would I like to have my vision back? Yes! Though he was so
cruel in his delivery all those years ago, the prominent neurosurgeon was
correct though. There is little in optic nerve research, so the potential
for any vision restoration is nil. My love and contributions to this world
are not. The National Federation of the Blind is the vehicle to my
contributions, hopes and dreams. I have learned that what cripples me most
is not always my blindness, but an inaccessible world who does not always
understand me. This is a measurable variable that can be improved, and that
is what the NFB strives to do. I am a Federationist.

Today, I am a Federationist because my federation family understands my
sadness, anger, and frustrations of being blind. They listen to and
challenge like only they can. I am a Federationist.

Just as no two sighted people are the same, no two blind people are the
same. I have learned that there are many who have never viewed blindness as
a tragedy. While I do understand where they are coming from, I think we are
falling short as a federation family if we do not acknowledge that there are
also those like me that have come from a place of tragedy. The NFB
philosophy was never meant to imply that blindness is not traumatizing for
some, but instead it does not have to be our end. I am a Federationist. 

National Representative Ron Brown 

Ron Brown, Second Vice President of the National Federation of the Blind and
President, National Federation of the Blind of Indiana

Ron Brown was born in Gary, Indiana, the first of eight children, to
Marzette and Myra Brown on May 15, 1956. When he was a senior in high
school, he became blind after he was shot on his way home from a basketball
game. At the time he knew nothing about blindness and was overwhelmed by the
feeling that his entire life had been radically changed in an instant. One
of the first painful lessons he learned was that many of his friends could
not deal with his blindness and stayed away from him. Luckily, he began to
make new friends, members of the National Federation of the Blind. They
became inspiring role models for Ron, teaching him that it was respectable
to be blind and that he could continue to strive for the goals he had set
himself.

I have been an advocate for blind people for more than twenty-five years,
and with every passing year my commitment to serving the blind of this
nation increases. My life indeed changed the night I became blind, but with
the perspective I now have, I must say that it was for the better.

Armed with this newfound freedom, Ron graduated from Ball State University
with a Bachelor of Science degree in health science. He then went to work at
Tradewinds Rehabilitation Center in Indiana, where he met his wife Jean, who
was on the staff. Eventually he was offered a job in the Business Enterprise
Program. He had always wanted to own his own business, and this gave him the
opportunity to do so. He has now been in business for himself for twenty
years.

Recently Ron returned to school and earned a master's degree in educational
psychology with a certification in orientation and mobility from Louisiana
Tech University. He now owns a second business, teaching cane travel to
blind people in the state of Indiana.

As Ron Brown has developed and matured in his personal life, his commitment
to and service in the National Federation of the Blind have deepened as
well. In the early years he was a chapter president and was then elected to
the  <https://www.nfb.org/about-us/state-affiliates/indiana> NFB of
Indiana's board of directors. He was first elected president of the
affiliate in 1996 and has been reelected every two years since. In 2001 he
was elected to serve on the NFB board of directors.

Looking back, Ron Brown says, "Becoming a member of the national board is
the fulfillment of a life dream. I have been an advocate for blind people
for more than twenty-five years, and with every passing year my commitment
to serving the blind of this nation increases. My life indeed changed the
night I became blind, but with the perspective I now have, I must say that
it was for the better."

Introducing the Renaissance Portsmouth-Norfolk Waterfront Hotel 

By Joe Orozco

For anyone who whined about how last year’s hotel in Fredericksburg was too
complicated to navigate, I am about to make your little heart sing with joy.
The Renaissance is so easy to navigate it’s almost ridiculous. Yes, I found
this hotel, and yes, I will accept drinks for your gratitude for finding an
easy facility.

I’ve returned from doing my customary property walk through and
pre-convention logistics planning. If there is one thing that resonated most
from my early venture down to Portsmouth, it was how overwhelmingly friendly
everyone was. That is to say, if my directions and tips below do not do it
for you, you will not have to walk far before coming across someone who can
kindly point you in the right direction.

If I could break down the layout of the Renaissance into one thought, it
would be this: Everything you will need will be found along a hallway
running East to West.

You will come into the hotel through two sets of automatic doors at the west
end of the first floor hallway. There is no immediate lobby area upon
entering the property. Move east down the corridor until the corridor makes
a slight jog to the right and dumps you into what is referred to as the
rotunda, which, I know, sounds grand and intimidating, but trust me, it’s
not.

The front desk will be on your right. In addition to checking you in, the
front desk sells soft drinks, Pepsi products, and snacks. Bottled drinks
will set you back $3.

To your left will be a door that takes you out to the board walk and dog
relief area. The grass will be on your left. There is a sidewalk beyond the
grass, and then? Well, there’s water. As in, don’t fall into the river
unless you want to be featured bedraggled in our social media channels.
There is a trash can near one of the three entrances for proper disposal. At
the time of this writing, two of the three entrances are locked between 7 PM
and 7 AM. I will work to mitigate this before convention, but please be
mindful not to be locked out because you can’t use your key to get back in.

As you continue east on the main concourse, the tile will give way to
carpeting. The carpeting will be interrupted by a wide strip of hardwood,
and this landmark is important, because as you’re standing on the hardwood,
the entrance to the bar portion of Foggy Point will be on your left. If you
move forward and get off the hardwood and back onto the carpeting, you will
be level with the entrance to the grill portion of Foggy Point, also on your
left.

In case that did not make sense, the items of interest along the left will
be first the board walk and dog relief exits, the bar, and then the grill.

The Grill serves breakfast and lunch. At 3 PM the Grill closes, and the Bar
takes over for dinner. To give you a sense of their pricing, I ordered eggs,
ham, potatoes, biscuits, and fruit, and it set me back $12.32.

Now, if you were to move off that strip of hardwood and were to turn right,
away from the grill, you would find yourself looking at the first floor
cluster of meeting rooms. Walk into the short corridor. Restrooms will be on
your right and can also be accessed via a shortcut from near the front desk.
Continue walking past the restrooms until you come to a T intersection. Take
a right turn to head down a short corridor parallel to the main concourse,
and the only meeting room on your left is Jefferson, which is where our
child care will be held. Unless something changes in the next week,
Jefferson will be the only room we utilize on the first floor. Everything
else will be held on the second floor.

Okay, now I need you to virtually position yourself back on that strip of
hardwood. Remember the bar and grill are on your left. The restrooms and
Jefferson are on your right.

Now move forward. You’re going to continue east until you come to the
elevator bank. There will be one elevator on your left and two on your
right. You’ll know you went too far if you hit a dead end wall. Remember
what I told you about this property being easy?

The Renaissance has seventeen floors. The guest rooms are comfortable and do
feature small refrigerators beneath the flat screen televisions that are
blissfully empty. As in, there are no expensive beverages. Did you hear
that? National Office? :)

Now here’s something worth noting. The Renaissance is undergoing guest room
renovations. When I stayed there, they were hard at work on the sixteenth
and fifteenth floors. As they move down the tower, they will create buffers
to minimize noise, but since we will primarily be there during the weekend,
any spillover noise should be minimal.

With the one possible exception of child care, the NFB of Virginia state
convention agenda is invading the second floor of the property. Let’s assume
we’re back at the elevator bank on the second floor. Because there are
elevators on both sides, let’s use cardinal directions to stay on the same
page regardless of which side you come out on. If you come out of the
elevators and turn east, you are going to encounter the Commodore Room just
around a slight corner from the elevator bank. The Commodore Room is going
to serve as our hospitality suite for the weekend and will replace the
traditional presidential suite. This is the only meeting space we are using
east of the elevators.

Now, if we were to come out of the elevators and turn west, you would be
facing a long corridor with meeting rooms on your left and a bank of windows
on your right. The windows along the northern wall look out on a terrace
which are accessible from doors along the right. You may use this area for
smoking. Please do, not, use this area for dog relief.

If you were to continue down the long corridor past the bank of windows on
your right and ballroom on your left, you would come to something of an
intersection. On your right would be a door giving onto the Admiral’s Board
Room, which we will be using for affiliate office space and is generally off
limits to the membership.

If you were to continue forward, you would hit a set of doors that give onto
a stairwell. These stairs only service the first and second floors. When you
come out on the first floor, you would find yourself at the rotunda with the
front desk on your right.

Now, let’s go back to the elevator bank and explore the space along the left
or southern wall of the second floor.

When you come out of the elevator bank, you will find yourself at an L
intersection. This general area is called the Portsmouth Foyer. It is here
that box lunches will be distributed on Friday and Saturday at noon. If you
turn left, you will find yourself facing a corridor running south that makes
up the short end of the L. The first thing you will find on the left side of
this corridor will be the built-in registration desk. Past the registration
desk will be first the men’s restroom tucked away in an alcove, and then the
women’s restroom tucked away in its own alcove. There is no drinking
fountain, but there will be water stations out in the corridors for your
convenience.

Alright, now we get to the bulk of the layout description for the meeting
rooms. Cardinal directions are key here, so stay with me.

The Portsmouth Ballroom is divided into eight sections. The meeting space is
literally divided into Portsmouth 1, Portsmouth 2, Portsmouth 3, etc. I want
you to imagine a large square. Take this square and divide it into four
strips running north to south. I want you to take the east most strip, the
strip closest to the registration desk, and divide that strip into three
sections. So, if you were back in the short length of the L corridor, and if
you were to follow along the right wall, you would hit entrances to
Portsmouth 6, Portsmouth 7, and Portsmouth 8. You with me so far?

Okay, now come back out into the main east/west corridor. Put your back to
the elevators and start heading west. Remember, along the right you are
going to start walking past a bank of windows, but along your left, you are
going to hit the entrance to first Portsmouth 5 and then Portsmouth 4. What
you need to remember is that the two center strips of your large square, 5
and 4, are your long strips. General Session will be held in Portsmouth 5.
Now you remember the intersection at the end of the east/west corridor? This
is the intersection where making a right would take you into the forbidden
office space and moving forward would take you past a set of doors into the
stairwell. If you were to make a left, you would be moving down a corridor
with meeting space along your left. Along this left wall you would find
entrances to Portsmouth 3, Portsmouth 2, and Portsmouth 1.

So, from the top, Portsmouth 1, 2, and 3 are on the west side of the square.
Portsmouth 4 and 5 are in the center and make up the longer strips, and
Portsmouth 6, 7, and 8 are on the eastern side of the square.

For you brave souls who are really working hard at nailing all this down in
your brains, here’s one more fun fact: Portsmouth 7 and 8 are currently one
combined block, and so is Portsmouth 1 and 2.

Whew! Okay, next to sitting down with the hotel and assigning meeting spaces
for Tracy’s agenda, writing out the hotel description is probably the second
most daunting task. I’m always worried no one will actually read the damn
thing, and if people do, I’m worried I will get one detail wrong and make
you question the rest of my mental map.

For anyone interested, the gym and indoor pool are located on the third
floor.

It’s a nice hotel. Even if my directions made zero sense, I promise you’re
going to be zipping along the place without any issue. I’m almost
contemplating only using marshals on Friday and calling it good. At the time
of this writing, there is a very slight possibility we may be holding the
banquet on the first floor, but this too will be easy for you to target.

The only other thing I would mention of my trip is that the Uber
availability in the area can feel a little slow. If you’re taking Amtrak
down there, the station is only about a 12-minute drive, but you might be
waiting just as long to get picked up. Of course this could depend on the
time of day, etc. The station is a small one, so just be prepared. The
airport is about a 20 minute drive.

I’m looking forward to seeing y’all soon!

Additional Convention Logistics

Note all this information can also be found on our convention landing page:
nfbv.org/convention

Reservations for the Event should be made directly with Marriott
reservations.
<https://www.marriott.com/event-reservations/reservation-link.mi?id=15639915
03818&key=GRP&app=resvlink> Book your room online or call them directly at
(888) 839-1775. Individuals must identify themselves as being with the
group, National Federation of the Blind of Virginia 61st Annual State
Convention at the time the reservation is made in order to receive the
special group rate. If you run into any issues, when calling Reservations,
please ask for Debra, who works Monday through Friday between 8:30 AM and
4:30 PM.

Cancellation policy is 48 hours prior to arrival.

Convention Registration

 <https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/4332886> Pre-registration will run
until Tuesday, October 8. After October 8, the registration rates and meal
prices will go up.

Child Care

Childcare is available to the children of registered convention attendees
(ages infant through 5th grade) during 6 sessions of convention.  These
sessions are:

·       Session 1 Friday morning 8:45 am to 12:15 pm

·       Session 2 Friday afternoon 12:15 pm to 5:15 pm

·       Session 3 Friday evening 6:00 pm to 10:00 pm

·       Session 4 Saturday morning 8:45 am to 12:15 pm

·       Session 5 Saturday afternoon 12:15 pm to 5:15 pm

·       Session 6 Saturday evening 6:45 pm to ½ hour after banquet
adjournment

Snacks will be provided during Sessions 1, 2, 4 and 5.  Even though
childcare will be open and fully staffed during lunch on Friday and
Saturday, lunch will not be provided.  Parents should either pick their
child up for lunch at the end of Sessions 1 and 4 or provide a lunch for
their child to eat in the childcare room.  Also, dinner will not be provided
on Friday or Saturday evening.  Parents should feed their child dinner prior
to bringing them to Sessions 3 or 6.  The cost of childcare is $10 per
family per session.  If you need more information, please contact Uricka
Harrison at (757) 349-9234 or  <mailto:uricka.harrison at icloud.com>
uricka.harrison at icloud.com.

Please indicate the number of children per session on the Convention
<https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/4332886> Pre Registration Form.

On Friday and Saturday, box lunches will be available for a cost of $17.50
if purchased in advance on the convention pre-registration form.  Box lunch
tickets are specific for each day and are not interchangeable.  Box lunches
can only be guaranteed for those purchased on the convention
pre-registration form.  A limited number may be available for purchase at
the convention.

On Saturday, student lunches will be available for a cost of $8.00 if
purchased in advance on the convention pre-registration form.  Student
lunches can only be guaranteed for those purchased on the convention
pre-registration form.  A limited number may be available for purchase at
the convention. 

Please  <https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/4332886> register online,
or call toll free: 800-838-3006.

Using the free telephone service may be easier and more efficient.

Sign Language Interpreting

If you require up close or tactile sign language interpreting, please
<mailto:jsorozco at gmail.com> notify Joe Orozco by the convention
pre-registration deadline of Tuesday, October 8. We cannot properly arrange
for interpreters beyond this date.

Interpreting can be provided for the plenary sessions on:

·       Friday, November 1: 9 AM - 12 PM

·       Saturday, November 2: 9 AM - 12 PM

·       Sunday, November 3: 9 AM - 12 PM

Roommate Finding Assistance

If you are in search of a roommate to help offset state convention expenses,
please contact Britney Ingram, who can be reached via email at:

brittany.e.crone at gmail.com

Britney will first collect names of people interested in roommate matches
and then correspond with chapter presidents and others to find potential
matches.

NFB Pledge

I pledge to participate     actively in the effort of the National
Federation of the Blind to achieve equality,     opportunity, and security
for the blind; to support the policies and programs     of the Federation;
and to abide by its constitution.

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