[Ohio-talk] Convention Mentors

[Carol Akers]

Hi Colleen,
you bring up some good points regarding newbies at convention.  I would hope we all "as a family" would  go out of our ways to assist and mentor the new families so they would be encouraged to continue attending and participating in our activities, functions and just be contributing active members of our chapters..  We want all the newbies" to succeed at their first and successive conventions.............. There is a great deal to be learned from "seasoned" attendees, both  positive and negative issues can be taught.  When I refer to negatives, I mean things such as learning how to negotiate a packed elevator and assist others without offending them.
 
We had a familiy from Columbus who were first timers and mom was extremely interested in ALL the workshops, but could not attend all of them.   She was so excited to be there yet scared and confused about what to do and how to do it.  I spent quite a bit of time clarifiying things for her, as I had met her at the state convention.  She is from Ghana Africa and it took a lot for her (the woman) to come to this event without her husband there for the entire convention.  She wants to do whatever she can to help her 13 yr old son.  I have friends who are also from Ghana, so I understood a bit of her cultural dilema and uncertainties . It makes a person feel good to be able to mentor someone and know they appreciate it.  WE ahve to keep doing this to grow and help others grow in the NFB.
, 7/15/09, Colleen Roth <n8tnv at att.net> wrote:


From: Colleen Roth <n8tnv at att.net>
Subject: [Ohio-talk] Convention Mentors
To: ohio-talk at nfbnet.org
Date: Wednesday, July 15, 2009, 12:16 AM


Hi Crystal,
I just want to say that part of being a Mentor at Convention is strongly encouraging your mentee to attend sessions. You probably also need to show them the ropes in other areas and invite them to participate in activities with you.
When I spent time with first time conventioneers years ago I always invited them to go to meals with me, to sessions and introduced them to people.
You are right, Crystal. There is more than sessions. Convention is sessions, division and group meetings, volunteering, networking navigating a lot of area, cooperating with others and remembering to be courteous. It's also nice to have some fun.
Personally, I enjoyed visiting with Dawn, her husband and son. Marilee and I enjoyed this. I do wish I could have been there long enough to see people I haven't seen in years.
At least I can see some Ohio people at the Board Meeting and State Convention.
Maybe we can literally assign mentors to new conventioneers if that is being done now.
If you are not a newbie encourage newbies to attend activities and invite them to join you. I am not talking about just the fun stuff either.
Actually you can really have a lot of fun working a table. I do love helping at a table and always hope for an assignment at the State Convention.
There is definitely a lot of walking at the Convention. I did forget how crowded it is too.
Someone wanted to know why we couldn't just take the wheelchair down the escalator. I can't quite figure out how we were going to do this.
The person said wheelchairs take up too much room on the elevator. Oh, well!
Maybe we could have something for those who have never attended a National Convention or those who have questions about them.
Colleen Roth


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