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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72"><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal>Watching an airplane lift off the ground is always a marvel. You know it’s possible, but knowing it can happen and receiving tangible confirmation inspires two distinct emotions.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>At the close of our convention, we want to take a moment to acknowledge the many people who played a role in making this year’s program lift off the ground. When we made the call to flip to a virtual format, the team gracefully pivoted, and despite questions as to whether or not it could be pulled off a second year in a row, these and many other individuals played a hand in making the possibility a reality.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Let me preface this by acknowledging I may not include everyone who needs to be thanked. I am not a micromanager by nature, and while this style of leadership has its benefits, the greatest disadvantage is that teams are formed with people whose participation may go unnoticed but is no less appreciated. Thank you to our many unsung heroes for everything you did to make this year a success.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>First, a warm thank you to our national representative, Denise Avant of the Illinois affiliate, for giving of her week to spend time in our midst. Her words are consistently down-to-Earth, thoughtful, and custom-tailored to our specific needs as an affiliate. Her avoidance of cookie-cutter methods are always well-received.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Second, thank you to our complete roster of speakers, exhibitors, and facilitators. Without your support and contributions, our airplane would have lacked the fuel to sore. We are better as an organization for having had the benefit of your words to steer us into a new year of possibilities.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>On that note, I want to thank our floor manager, Stewart Prost of the Tide Water Chapter, for having kept the plane moving down the runway. Stewart is one of a few people I know I can task with a responsibility and never feel compelled to double check his progress. His work ethic is impeccable.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Thank you to Arielle Silverman of the Greater Alexandria Chapter for having produced so much of our video content. She took time out of her already busy schedule to learn a new audio/visual software to prepare the content. She is detail-oriented and exactly the person we needed to bring color to our navigation.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Christine Grassman of the Potomac Chapter was first the head of our host chapter. Then she pivoted and became chair of the host committee. In both roles she set the pace we needed to make Friday night entertainment and Saturday morning’s opening ceremonies the warm atmosphere we needed to help all guests feel welcomed. Thank you for you and your team’s nimble juggling act and for making it look so effortless. Thank you as well for everything you do to keep up the momentum with our PAC program, not because it’s a competition for rankings but because it speaks to people’s faith in our ongoing work outside of the excitement of conventions.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Patrick Johnson of the At Large Chapter is the patient soul who agreed to navigate our voting system. We always knew the platform would have a mind of its own, but watching him calmly maneuver the barely accessible software to where we needed to be to manifest our votes is exactly the kind of even temperament we need when technology does not cooperate. Thank you to you and your team for managing this important aspect of our convention.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Thank you to Laurie Wages of the Fredericksburg Chapter for heading up our auction. You may think you do not live up to your predecessor’s standard, but from where we’re sitting, we believe you’ve crafted your own enthusiastic charm that goes far in motivating people to contribute to the important work of the affiliate. Thank you to your entire team for all the work that went into setting up the online component and vigorously running with the live aspect.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>And speaking of Laurie’s auctioneer predecessor, thank you to Jacki Brown for the unexpected generosity announced at last night’s banquet. Charlie Brown’s benevolence lives on through his support of our March on Richmond. We are truly grateful to Jacki for continuing to be a well-loved pillar in our community and for serving as a reminder of the enormous contribution our former affiliate president made, not just in Virginia but across the country.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Thank you to Domonique Lawless and Melody Roane of the Richmond Chapter for coordinating our door prizes. Door prizes are oddly enough a sought after responsibility, but few people realize how much effort goes into pulling off this operation in a seamless manner. Thank you for taking this on for a second year running.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Sandy Halverson of the Potomac Chapter can do no wrong in my book. She keeps going on about how eventually someone else will have to deal with features of the convention like our registration process, and I’m choosing to temporarily tune out that foolish talk. She is a gentle spirit in multiple aspects of our convention planning, and I truly cannot come up with words to express how grateful I personally am for her calming presence during convention planning season.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Joe Hobson is not always my calming presence. Joe, however, keeps us honest. Everyone needs someone to keep us on task, and in addition to continuing to review hotel bids and contracts for us, he is the one guy whom we can count on to give candid feedback on proposed agenda items. His type of feedback is what we always need to keep aiming higher. I’m so glad he willingly comes out of retirement to give thumbs up or down on what’s good and what’s just silly. When he says “good job,” I believe him. When he chastises, I listen closer.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Deepa Goraya of the Potomac Chapter does a phenomenal job with running our resolutions. Here is another fine example of set it and forget it. A few email exchanges, and that portion of our convention is executed with finnesce. Thank you for making Tracy’s job a little lighter.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Annette Carr of the Fairfax Chapter is on the front lines promoting the convention to sponsors and exhibitors. She makes the pitch and cultivates relationships in a way that keeps companies and nonprofits keep coming back looking for ways to financially invest in our movement. Virtual or in person, Annette is our little rainmaker. Thank you to you and your team for your persistence.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Convention is the launching pad and culmination for our programs. Brianna Murray has executed an expert handoff in the running of this important program for our students and has effectively proven she is more than up to the task of providing one of the engines that keeps this affiliate moving firmly into spaces previously not tended. Similarly, Louise Walch is the reliable force behind our BELL Academy, and Jimmy Morris keeps uncovering bright talent in our scholarship program. We are grateful to them all and their respective teams for taking the time to highlight some of the wonderful students this commonwealth has to showcase. State convention is but a small blip in the work they do for our up and coming generation, for which you have our undying gratitude.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Jenny Blinsmon of our Tidewater Chapter heads up our help desk. Let me tell you, now that we’ve set up this resource, I’m going to think twice before making myself directly available via the agenda. Why do that when Jenny and her squad can field all incoming questions of a social, informational, or technical nature? Thank you, Jenny, and your team, for making our lives easier in a very concrete way.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Do you know how to tell the difference between fresh blood and seasoned? Seasoned blood knows when to say “hell no” when deadlines are ignored. Except, Jacki Bruce will likely still be too sweet to ever say no even many years from now.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>If you missed last night’s banquet, first of all, shame on you, but Jacki Bruce is the latest addition to the list of recipients who have been bestowed our Seville Allen Award, and it is truly well-deserved. When the decision was made to go virtual, I breathed a little sigh of relief, but I felt for Jacki, whom I knew would be stuck at the center of the wheel: fielding questions, accommodating requests, executing last minute changes, and doing it all with grace and poise. I hope Jacki’s already thrown back a few wine glasses in celebration of this convention being over. We love you Jacki, and as to the rest of you clowns who bombarded our Jacki with last minute requests, I’ll deal with you later.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>And an equally vehement thank you to Jacki’s second in command, Wayne Williams. Wayne hasn’t even met most of us in person, but somehow he’s jumped in headfirst to pulling off another phenomenal convention at the Zoom controls. Wayne is another force of nature we would do well not to prematurely burn out.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Thank you to the entire Zoom team for monitoring and unmuting and doing everything else you do to make an event of this size what it is.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>We save some of our most ardent gratitude to the one person who is the life’s blood of this whole operation. He was so looking forward to dancing and singing for you in person and was probably the most disappointed that he could not gather his Federation family around him this week. Honestly, sometimes I want to smack him for needing to stick his nose into every aspect of convention planning, and then I remember he would not do so if he did not care at his core that you get the remarkable programming you deserve. President Tracy Soforenko, even on vacation, wants to make sure all systems are a go in his absence, and as much as some would like to believe it’s just for the sake of having an enviable convention, the truth is he does it because he wants blind people to live the life they want. I will likely never have the privilege of meeting someone as dedicated as our president. So thank you, Tracy, for being ultimately responsible for helping us all unlock our possibilities. And of course, thank you to Sharon for everything she does and the sacrifice she makes in loaning us Tracy far too much of his available time.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>But our most heartfelt thanks is always, without a doubt, to you, our fellow Federationist, special guest, and most treasured aspect of our convention. We’ve already started hearing from you via our convention survey. Please continue submitting your anonymous responses, and trust your feedback will help shape future state conventions. You make all the hard work worth it. You are the reason we want to push the limits and strive to outdo what we thought was possible. Without you, there is no zeal. Thank you for showing up, for making us stronger, for doing your part to complete this family portrait that is the National Federation of the Blind of Virginia.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Warm regards,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Joe Orozco, Convention Operations<span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>