[Nfbwv-talk] President Riccobono's Notebook for April 4, 2016

Tue Apr 5 17:46:25 UTC 2016

April 4, 2016
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,

Play ball! It's baseball season, which comes in third place behind only the convention and Christmas seasons. I am in New Orleans preparing to present on a panel on accessibility at the Microsoft Envision conference. Yesterday I was catching a little of the opening-day activities and it got me thinking about how much the Federation is like a strong baseball team. Everyone has a role to play and how well every person executes his or her role impacts the rest of the team. Once in a while someone is in the wrong position or we need to back someone up who is still learning, but the team must act as a unit to be at peak performance. Even when players are waiting on the bench, there is a lot they can do to watch the signs of the other team, recognize patterns, share information, and cheer on the active players.

This weekend I had the pleasure of attending the NFB of Mississippi convention. Sam Gleese just completed his thirtieth year as president of our affiliate and he has turned over the presidency to a new leader, Patrina Pendarvis. I observed the convention and how smoothly the ball was thrown between members of the Federation to take care of problems, deal with business, and make sure everyone felt welcome. What I observed was the execution of good leadership, good training and planning, good communication, and the cultivation of a team atmosphere. Congratulations to Mr. Gleese on a tremendous record of service as president of our Mississippi affiliate. You have built a great squad of the NFB team and we appreciate your example and your continued leadership in our organization.

Critical Actions This Week:
Last Days of the KNFB Reader Sale:
KNFB Reader's Spring Break Sale: $84.99 through April 5, 2016. Make this year's spring break more independent than ever before. Read boarding passes, menus, hotel TV channel listings, hotel bills, bar bills, tour brochures, all at your convenience with KNFB Reader. www.nfb.org/knfbreader<http://www.nfb.org/knfbreader>

News:

Delta Air Lines Offers a Discount to National Federation of the Blind National Convention:
Members of the National Federation of the Blind, and all individuals planning their travel to attend our annual national convention, are being offered discounted airfare from Delta Air Lines through their Delta Meeting Network. Those interested should simply go to delta.com/booking<https://www.delta.com/air-shopping/searchFlights.action?> to book their flight and enter the meeting event code: NMNBW. The discount will be calculated based on your specific travel arrangements and could range from 2 percent to 10 percent. If you have any questions, call the Delta Meeting Network, (800) 328-1111, 7:00 a.m.-7:30 p.m. central time, Monday through Friday.

Marrakesh Call to Action:

The Senate will be returning this week from its Easter recess, and it is important we take this opportunity to put the Marrakesh Treaty at the top of the priority list for the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. Today, please call the office of Senator Bob Corker (R-TN,) chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, to express your support as a blind American for the treaty, and to ask him to promptly schedule a hearing. Also, please call both of your senators to encourage them to provide their advice and consent when the treaty is brought before the entire Senate. State president and legislative directors in states with representation on the Foreign Relations Committee will receive additional instructions in the very near future. All senators can be reached by calling the Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121.

Hillary Clinton - Eliminating Subminimum Wage:

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton expressed support for eliminating "the tiered minimum wages for people with disabilities." Our related press release can be found at https://nfb.org/national-federation-blind-praises-secretary-clinton%E2%80%99s-remarks-employment-people-disabilities.

New Membership Cards:
Our new membership cards are in. The cards are bi-fold, similar in size to a business card when folded. On the front, they feature our logo. They open vertically and on the upper half of the card is a QR code that leads to a webpage that contains basic NFB information such as our one minute message and the NFB pledge. The bottom half has a place for the new member's name to be written or Brailled, the date they joined, and the signature of the chapter president. My signature is on the lower, right-hand side. The very back of the card says "Live the life you want." These are shipped at no cost to you in bundles of twenty-five, and you can contact Danielle Trevino via email at dtrevino at nfb.org<mailto:dtrevino at nfb.org> to order yours.

Dates to Keep in Mind:

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

*        April 15: Kenneth Jernigan Convention Scholarship Fund deadline, https://nfb.org/images/nfb/publications/bm/bm16/bm1603/bm160310.htm.

*        April 25: NFB EQ student application deadline, https://nfb.org/nfb-eq-form

*        May 1: Distinguished Educator of Blind Students Award application deadline

*        May 17-20: BLAST, Chicago

*        May 19-21: NFB STEM2U Minneapolis

*        May 21-26: International Council on English Braille 6th General Assembly

*        June 7: NFB EQ teacher application deadline, https://nfb.org/nfb-eq-teacher-application

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

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

*        July 31-August 6: NFB EQ (second iteration)

*        August 2-6: NFB EQ teacher cohort

*        August 18-25: WBU and ICEVI General Assembly, Rosen Centre, Orlando, Florida, www.wbu-icevi2016.org<http://www.wbu-icevi2016.org>

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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