[Nfbwv-talk] Fwd: NFB President’s Notebook - week of 05/13/2019

Tue May 14 14:25:27 UTC 2019

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: President, National Federation of the Blind <
OfficeOfThePresident at nfb.org>
Date: Tue, May 14, 2019 at 9:36 AM
Subject: NFB President’s Notebook - week of 05/13/2019
To: President, National Federation of the Blind <
OfficeOfThePresident at nfb.org>

President’s Notebook National Federation of the Blind Mark A. Riccobono
officeofthepresident at nfb.org 410-659-9314

A belated happy Mother’s Day to all the great moms who also serve as
presidents of our affiliates and national divisions. I hope that each of
you received the love and praise you deeply deserve. Thank you for carrying
the unique role of mom and president, which is a challenging and dynamic
balancing act that is worthy of our deepest appreciation.

Now that we are wrapping up the collection phase of our membership data we
are moving into the full implementation phase of our new-member process.
Through this process, all new members should be added to our system through
the online form found at https://www.nfb.org/civicrm/newmember/form. This
form is meant to be used by the designated person in the local chapter or,
if you choose, the designated person in the state affiliate. The online
form will (1) ensure that our central Connections database has all member
information; (2) trigger welcome emails to go to the new member; (3) notify
affiliate presidents of new members; and (4) prompt mailing of the
new-member packet, which will include a print/Braille membership
certificate and the membership coin. Please note that it is critical that
this form be completed by a designated person who has responsibility for
membership at the chapter and/or affiliate level. Coordination at the local
level is critical for this to work. We will be monitoring the process for
problems at the national level. If you find any issues with the form,
please report them to membership at nfb.org. Please begin using this form
today and use it for any new member who was not included in the submission
of your original membership list for which your affiliate received coins
earlier this year.

I am headed to Minnesota to make a presentation for Global Accessibility
Awareness Day to share the perspective of our organization. While I am
there I will also make a visit to BLIND, Inc. Meanwhile, our 2019
Convention planning is in full swing. I hope you have made your
reservations. You should have received the delegate reimbursement
information. If you did not, please let us know as soon as possible.

News: Blind Parents Connection:
The second episode of the *Blind Parents Connection* *Podcast* is now
available, and this one is all about feeding your children. Listen and
share these stories, tips, and tricks
<https://www.nfb.org/our-community/blind-parents>. We continue to look for
more blind parents to interview. If you have recommendations, please email
them to podcast at nfb.org.   Reminders:

Upcoming Student Seminars:
There are two upcoming student seminars. The Southeast Student Seminar will
be August 9-11, and the Pacific Student Seminar will be August 16-18.
Registration opens May 15 for each of them. Contact Kathryn Webster (
nabs.president at gmail.com) with questions.
Affiliates:

Urge Your Chapters to Join PAC or to Renew Their Commitment to PAC:
I note that not all of our chapters contribute to PAC and that some
chapters have recently become inactive on our PAC plan. I urge chapters to
renew their PAC contributions during our upcoming national convention. Our
state leaders should be urging all of our chapters to join PAC or to renew
their PAC contributions.
Dates to Keep in Mind:

   - June 16-22, 2019: NFB EQ <http://www.blindscience.org/nfbeq>,
   Baltimore, Maryland
   - July 7-12, 2019: NFB National Convention
   <https://nfb.org/convention/2019>, Las Vegas, Nevada
   - February 10, 2020: Great Gathering-In; Washington Seminar begins

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

200 East Wells Street, Baltimore, MD 21230
<https://maps.google.com/?q=200+East+Wells+Street,+Baltimore,+MD+21230&entry=gmail&source=g>

(410) 659-9314 | officeofthepresident at nfb.org

[image: National Federation of the Blind] <https://nfb.org/>

                         [image: Facebook]
<http://www.facebook.com/nationalfederationoftheblind>    [image: Twitter]
<https://twitter.com/NFB_Voice>    [image: Youtube]
<https://www.youtube.com/NationsBlind>

The National Federation of the Blind is a community of members and friends
who believe in the hopes and dreams of the nation’s blind. Every day we
work together to help blind people live the lives they want.

-- 
Sheri Koch, President
National Federation of the Blind of West Virginia
304-993-5103