[nfbwatlk] NFBW Spring Seminar

Fri May 24 13:58:37 UTC 2013

Marci,

This is an excellent report. You, particularly, should be commended for organizing, and pulling off this event, along with your fellow Seattle Chapter members. We also discussed the latest (to that date) news on the Amazon Kindle E-reader inaccessibility issue. We heard that Amazon has been trying to work around the central accessibility problem by making its Kindle compatible with the Apple products. This is only a partial fix, because the Kindle itself is not usable by the blind, nor do we know whether this solves the "whisper cast" problem for students using the Amazon E-re3ading software, etc. We do know that with Apple products, the table of contents is not usable by the blind as it is for sighted folks. Can't go to a particular page or section of the book or periodical from the contents page, so what use is it.

Anyway, we also heard that the Amazon company is trying to sort of go around the disability community, and contacting at least the Seattle school district officials to find out what they can do or need to do before they can get their product universally accepted in the class room.

Anyway, Mike Freeman and I agreed to draft a letter to Randy Dorn, the state Superintendent of Public Instruction, and then the group will decide what other action we need to take state wide, and in Seattle in particular. 

Just an update, I did some research after the seminar, and discovered that Dr. Maurer has written a letter to *all* state Superintendents of Public Instruction on the whole issue. It was sent back at the end of March. So, we will modify our letter and efforts to follow up with Mr. Dorn as appropriate.

If I can, I may post the letter Dr. Maurer sent.  

Anyway, Marci, once again, this was excellent, and I for one appreciate your efforts.

/s/

Bennett Prows

-----Original Message-----
From: nfbwatlk [mailto:nfbwatlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of mjc59 at q.com
Sent: Wednesday, May 22, 2013 6:08 PM
To: NFB of Washington Talk Mailing List
Subject: [nfbwatlk] NFBW Spring Seminar

Thirty-two Federationists from across  the state gathered in Seattle last Saturday. There were 40 and 50 year veterans and members who joined this year. Members came from Greater Seattle/King County, Vancouver, Spokane, Marysville, Sequim and Oak Harbor. We spent the day learning, connecting, and recommitting ourselves to the growth of OUR NFB. 

For me it was one of the most inspiring, energizing days I have spent in this affiliate!

We spent a large part of the morning getting to know each other better; why we joined the NFB, why we were still here and what we wanted out ot the day. It took a while for 32 people to answer these questions, but I think it was well worth the time. Some people learned about the NFB through our scholarships. Others needed help with a blindness-related issue and came to the Federation for assistance. Some originally came to meet men/women and for the parties. Some met their life partners through the organization. One person heard of the NFB, listened to Dr. Jernigan's speeches and decided to write to him to see if this thing was for real. (Dr, Jernigan, of course, wrote back. It was for real.)

We listened to the Presidential Release, a vital  tool for staying connected to our national news, and discussed legislation. Legislative updates will be posted to the list soon.

After lunch we settled into the  work of determining what we want for our affiliate and who will work on specific issues. Communication, fundraising and membership development were the themes of the discussion; which took place during the NFBW Board meeting and in general session. Here are some of the projects and commitments we made for the coming year:

* There will be an organizing team which will work on revitalizing our Tacoma chapter and exploring the potential for a chapter in Yakima. The team will include Marci, Mike Mello, Julie Warrington and several Clarke County chapter members.

* Members of the Seattle chapter will fork with the Julie and the SnoKing chapter to help develop membership.

* Michael Dickneite will help us to spread our information to other teachers of blind children. We will draw more on the many teachers from our state who have attended  the Teacher of  Tomorrow seminars.

* We will work on getting a debit card for the affiliate; something which is becoming a necessity. Gary will call our national office and help with this.

* Cindy and  Marci will gather chapter membership lists and will send out a list of NFBW Board members, chapter presidents and their contact information to every board member and chapter president in whatever formats desired.

* The NFBW Board will begin holding monthly meetings via free conference call. All board meetings are open to all NFB members and affiliate members are encouraged to participate. Board meetings will  be held on the 1st Sunday of each month at 7 p.m. Pacific Time beginning with the initial meeting on Sunday, June 2nd, 2013. The phone number to call is 1-218-339-3600 and the code to join our call is 849246 followed by the # sign. This information will be sent to all chapter presidents and posted on the listserv one week prior to each board meeting.

* We will get more information out to the general public about the NFB through booths at street fairs, farmers markets and Meet The Blind Month Activities (October)

* We will hold more statewide fundraisers. One will be an evening of music and merriment at a local venue. Several members frequent local "watering holes" and will check with owners to help us find a place. Jim Portillo, Seattle chapter member and folk musician, offered to play. Don Mitchell's group may also be recruited to play. Julie Warrington has some family members who have a band.  We would make money by getting the owner to donate the evening's cover charge to the NFBW.

* Mike Mello will find out how we can fundraise through grocery store cards where a percentage of the amount spent is donated to the organization.

* We will get on the list  of organizations participating in the Big Give Day; a fundraising event sponsored by the Seattle Foundation in which the general public gives to an organization and the foundation matches the money raised.

 I would personally like to thank Mike Mello, Jacob Struiksma and all of the Greater Seattle chapter and state affiliate members who made arrangements for the excellent food we had, helped with transportation planning and other logistics for this seminar.

The discussion was positive, energetic and action-oriented. We reconnected with old friends, made new ones and came away with a clear direction for OUR NFB of Washington.  I hope that those of you who were unable to attend can gain a sense of the energy and commitment and will help to make these things a reality.  See you soon!

Marci Carpenter
206-933-7971
mjc59 at q.com
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