[Nfbwv-talk] President Riccobono's Notebook for November 9, 2015

Tue Nov 10 19:51:16 UTC 2015

November 9, 2015
President's Notebook
National Federation of the Blind
Mark A. Riccobono
officeofthepresident at nfb.org<mailto:officeofthepresident at nfb.org>
(410) 659-9314

Dear Fellow Federationists,

As we approach the official seventy-fifth anniversary of the Federation, we need to continue to expand our reach and influence. When I first got to know the Federation, our Immediate Past President Mark Maurer wrote to me that "not all the nifty ideas have been thought up." As we move into our next seventy-five years, we need to continue to cultivate this spirit of continuous improvement and building for the future. You may have noticed that the November presidential release is not yet available. This is partly due to the fact that I have been on the road, but it is also due to our pilot testing a new all-Spanish audio version of the release. This will also allow us to make a written transcript of the release available to individuals who are deaf-blind. If you have other ideas for new communication tools, please let me know. Finally, I look forward to receiving feedback on our Spanish release and how our affiliates are able to use it to build the organization.

News:

National Convention:
It's official! The 2016 National Federation of the Blind Convention will be held June 30-July 5 at the Rosen Shingle Creek. Watch the Braille Monitor for more details.

Space Available Letter of Support from Bob Dole:
Senator Bob Dole has written a letter to Senator John McCain supporting our work to allow 100 percent service disabled veterans to participate in the military's Space Available program. We have a blog post about it, available at https://nfb.org/blog/vonb-blog/senator-dole-supports-space-available-veterans-disabilities.

NFB v. Lamone: Oral Argument:
We recently had the appeal hearing in our case against the State of Maryland for its preventing access to an absentee ballot marking system. The court has posted an audio recording of the hearing, which you can access at http://coop.ca4.uscourts.gov/OAarchive/mp3/14-2001-20151028.mp3.
Dr. Jacob Bolotin Award Program deadline extended:
The award program will be accepting nominations from November 15, 2015, to April 15, 2016. The deadline was previously March 31, 2016.
Reminders:
Archival Guide:
The Jacobus tenBroek Library has released a new guide to assist state affiliate and national division leaders who are considering sending their records to the archives. Structured as an FAQ, this document provides easy answers to the most common questions concerning evaluating and preparing your files for submission to the archives. The guide is available online at https://nfb.org/archive-faqs. For additional assistance, please contact Anna Kresmer at akresmer at nfb.org<mailto:akresmer at nfb.org> or (410) 659-9314, extension 2310.

Did you know?

Monday is the seventy-fifth anniversary of the National Federation of the Blind. Are you going to one of the Birthday Bash events?

Dates to keep in mind:

*         Fall conventions<https://nfb.org/state-conventions>

*         November 13, 2015: Deadline to register for NFB BELL seminar, registration form<https://nfb.org/bell-seminar-registration-form>

*         December 10-13, 2015: BELL Seminar

*         March 3-5, 2016: NFB STEM2U San Francisco

*         March 31, 2016: NFB Scholarship Program application deadline, https://nfb.org/scholarships

*         April 15, 2016: Dr. Jacob Bolotin Award Program nomination deadline, https://nfb.org/bolotin-award-main

*         May 17-20, 2016: BLAST, Chicago

*         May 19-21, 2016: NFB STEM2U Minneapolis

*         June 19-25, 2016: NFB EQ (first iteration)

*         June 30-July 5: National Federation of the Blind Convention, Orlando, Florida; Rosen Shingle Creek

*         July 31-August 6, 2016 (second iteration)

*         August, 2016: WBU-ICEVI General Assembly

The National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the characteristic that defines you or your future. Every day we raise the expectations of blind people, because low expectations create obstacles between blind people and our dreams. You can live the life you want; blindness is not what holds you back.

Mark A. Riccobono, President
National Federation of the Blind
200 East Wells Street at Jernigan Place
Baltimore, Maryland 21230
Phone: (410) 659-9314
Fax: (410) 659-5129
Email: officeofthepresident at nfb.org<mailto:officeofthepresident at nfb.org>
Twitter: @Riccobono and @NFB_Voice
Web: www.nfb.org<http://www.nfb.org/>

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