[Ohio-talk] NFB President’s Notebook - week of 06/25/2019

Wed Jun 26 21:15:20 UTC 2019

President’s Notebook

National Federation of the Blind

Mark A. Riccobono

 <mailto:officeofthepresident at nfb.org> officeofthepresident at nfb.org

410-659-9314

Dear Fellow Federationists,

This is the one week of the year when we try not to think outside the box. Our national office is full of boxes which are about to be sealed and loaded on to a truck that will head to Las Vegas on Friday. The convention is right around the corner. We are looking forward to our best convention ever. You are critical in making that come true. We are in a new place, with lots of new attendees, new exhibitors, and new sponsors. Your leadership will be critical in making the convention experience great for all. Thank you in advance for your work.

During the convention, please be sure to capture stories that exemplify our work together. Share these stories with our communications group during or after the convention, so we can continue to help communicate the impact we make with the world.

Stay tuned as we get closer to the convention as there may be last minute announcements that we need to share with you. 

Convention:

Contributions at the National Convention:
During the national convention, we will collect financial contributions for the Jernigan Fund, the SUN Fund, and the White Cane Fund. In recent years, our Imagination Fund has not operated differently than our White Cane Fund, so we have combined it into one fund—the White Cane Fund. As you know, that is how we designate general donations to the National Federation of the Blind. Please keep this in mind when making contributions to the organization at the national convention.

*	If you are making contributions to multiple funds, please write one check per fund payable to the National Federation of the Blind or NFB and identify the fund in the memo line of the check.
*	Financial contributions to the tenBroek Fund should be made payable to Jacobus tenBroek Memorial Fund or JtB. Please do not include NFB anywhere on the check.
*	All fund contributions should be in individual envelopes clearly marked in print and Braille with the name of the affiliate, the fund, and the amount.
*	Financial contributions to NFB Camp or Kids Camp should be made payable to NFB Camp and given directly to Carla McQuillan, president of the NFB of Oregon. These do not need to be announced during the roll call. 

2019 National Convention Live Stream:
We are proud to provide portions of the 2019 National Convention via our live stream for those who are unable to be with us in person. The convention will be streamed during the Board of Directors Meeting, General Sessions, and the Banquet. Find the media players available to access and the sessions scheduled to be broadcasted at https://www.nfb.org/livestream.  

Agenda and other convention documents available on NFB-NEWSLINE:
To read the agenda or the other convention-related documents using the telephone access method, go to Option Five for Newspapers in Different State, then Option Five for National Meetings of Interest to the Print Disabled and follow the prompts to select the item of your choice such as the 2019 NFB Convention Agenda, the 2019 NFB Convention Exhibitors, 2019 NFB Convention First Timers Guide, or the 2019 NFB Convention Restaurant Guide. If you're using NFB-NEWSLINE Mobile, choose Publications, Publication Options, and All Publications to maneuver to the documents. 

Google Calendar:
Below is a link to a public Google calendar for the upcoming national convention. You can access and subscribe to this calendar from within apps if you want to see the whole convention agenda or just add individual events. 
https://calendar.google.com/calendar/ical/pqckoub820qm8r0s3i12vidl3c@group.calendar.google.com/public/basic.ics

News:

New Executive Director of BLIND, Inc.:
Jennifer Kennedy has accepted the position of executive director of BLIND, Inc. starting in late July. She is a long-time Federationist who comes with a strong background of leadership in blindness rehabilitation. She currently works as a lead cane travel instructor at the adjustment-to-blindness training center in Utah. Additionally, she serves on the National Orientation and Mobility Certification Trainers (NOMCT) committee, an appointed committee of structure discovery cane travel certification holders whose purpose is to supervise cane travel apprenticeships, grade certification exams, and evaluate agencies desiring structure discovery certification. Thank you to Brian Delude for ably serving as interim executive director and to Dan Wenzel for his years of service as the previous executive director at BLIND, Inc.

Blind Prisoner 
A BBC program <https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0005t9p>  aired recently in the UK regarding the case brought by Maryland blind prisoners and similar cases in the UK. Most of the episode is a discussion with our counsel, Eve Hill, and with Tyrel (they only used his first name), one of the inmates who participated in the litigation. Kurt Decker from NDRN also participated as they have brought similar cases. Please share with our members the work we did and its significance. Here’s the link: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0005t9p

Dates to Keep in Mind:

*	July 7-12, 2019: NFB National Convention <https://www.nfb.org/get-involved/national-convention> , 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

(410) 659-9314 | officeofthepresident at nfb.org <mailto:officeofthepresident at nfb.org>  

 <https://nfb.org/> 

                          <http://www.facebook.com/nationalfederationoftheblind>      <https://twitter.com/NFB_Voice>      <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. 