[Ohio-Talk] Are You In?

[Suzanne Turner]

2022 National Convention:

The 2022 Convention of the National Federation of the Blind will take place
in 

New Orleans, Louisiana, 

July 5 to July 10, at the New Orleans Marriott at 

555 Canal Street, New Orleans, Louisiana, 70130. 

 

You can reserve a room now at the Marriott by calling 

800-654-3990, which is the headquarters hotel

 

If you wish to stay in  The overflow Sheraton New Orleans hotel that is
directly across Canal Street, call 855-516-1090. 

 

The nightly rate for both the Marriott and the Sheraton is 

$109 for singles and doubles. 

Triples and quads can be booked for $119 per night.

 

The combined sales tax and tourism support rate is 16.2 percent, 

there is a hotel occupancy fee of $3.00 per night as well.

 

Both hotels will take a deposit of the first night's room rate, taxes, and
fees and will require a credit card or a personal check. If you use a credit
card, the deposit will be charged against your card immediately. 

 

If a reservation is cancelled before Monday, June 1, 2022, half of the
deposit will be returned. 

 

Refunds will not be issued for 

Cancellations ,made beyond that date 

 

The hotels sit astride the storied Canal Street at 555 and 500 Canal Street
respectively, 

only blocks from the mighty Mississippi River and even closer to the
historic French Quarter. Both hotels offer a range of 

dining options and twenty-four-hour fitness centers. You'll find a rooftop
pool at the Marriott while the Sheraton features a Starbucks in its atrium
lobby.

 

The schedule for the 2022 convention is:

 

Tuesday, July 5            

Seminar Day

Wednesday, July 6      

Registration and Resolutions Day
Pre-Registration is $25 and onsite is an additional $5.

Thursday, July 7          

Board Meeting and Division Day

Friday, July 8               

Opening Session

Saturday, July 9           

Business Session

Sunday, July 10           

Banquet Day and Adjournment

The cost of the banquet is $70.00 and onsite is $5 extra

 

The health of our members is of paramount importance as we plan for our
first in-person convention in three years. Both of our convention hotels are
committed to ensuring the safety of guests and have implemented cleaning
protocols and elevated practices to deliver on this commitment. The National
Federation of the Blind will continually monitor masking policies,
vaccination requirements, and other health guidelines that may apply to our
convention. Updates will be shared with members throughout the months
leading up to convention, so members can plan accordingly.

 

The Kenneth Jernigan Fund:

This is an opportunity to assist our first timers

Sighted and blind members who have never attended the

Convention and who has a lack of funding to do so.

  If you have attended the 

virtual convention, but have not

attend an in person convention, you are eligible to apply

 

The three biggest ticket items you need to cover when attending an NFB
national convention are the 

roundtrip transportation, 

the hotel room for a week, 

and the food (which tends to be higher 

 

Mentor:

recommend that you find an NFB member as your personal convention mentor, 

Mentors can provide tips on navigating 

the extensive agenda in the big hotel. 

Your mentor 

will help you get the most out of the amazing experience 

that is convention week.

 

How do I apply for funding assistance?

 

This year we will be accepting applications online. Since applications must
be completed in a single session online, we strongly recommend you prepare
your responses in a document, and then cut and paste your responses into the
application form. The application form does not support complex formatting,
so we recommend avoiding formatting such as bullet points and fonts/styles.

Effective January 1, 2022, the application form can be found at the
following link:
https://nfb.org/form/kenneth-jernigan-convention-scho?q=form%2Fkenneth-jerni
gan-convention-scho

The application will ask for the following information:

*	Contact information: Include your full name and both your primary
phone where you can be contacted by your state president and your mobile
phone you might use at convention, if available.
*	Please include your mailing address and, if you have one, your email
address. If you don't have an email address, please consider if there is a
friend or chapter member who might be able to assist with email
correspondence.
*	State Affiliate/chapter information: Include your state affiliate,
your state president, chapter, and chapter president, if you attend a
chapter.
*	Mentor information: Include your personal convention mentor and
provide that person's phone number.
*	Funding request: Include your specific request and explain how much
money you need from this fund to make this trip possible for you. We suggest
you consult with other members to make a rough budget for yourself.
*	Essay questions to explain why this is a good investment for the
NFB: 
*	How do you currently participate in the Federation?
*	Why do you want to attend a national convention?
*	What would you receive?
*	What can you share or give?
*	Any special circumstances you hope the committee will take into
consideration.

If you cannot apply online, you can still apply by writing a letter to your
state affiliate president answering the above questions. This letter should
be emailed to your state affiliate president. Once you have decided you will
apply, please contact your state president in person or by phone to request
his or her help in obtaining funding. Be sure to tell the state affiliate
president when to expect that your application will be submitted and mention
the deadline.

Once your application has been submitted, your application will be provided
to your state president via email. It is still your responsibility to
contact your affiliate president. He or she must email a president's
recommendation directly to the Kenneth Jernigan Convention Scholarship Fund
Committee at kjscholarships at nfb.org <mailto:kjscholarships at nfb.org> . Your
president must email the recommendation no later than the deadline of April
15, 2022. If you have applied outside of the online form, the state
affiliate president must email both the recommendation and the application
letter.


Notification of Award


If you are chosen to receive this scholarship, you will receive a letter
with convention details that should answer most of your questions. The
committee makes every effort to notify winners by May 15, but you must do
several things before that to be prepared to attend if you are chosen:

*	Make your own hotel reservation. If something prevents you from
attending, you can cancel the reservation. (Yes, you may arrange for
roommates of your own to reduce the cost.)
*	Register online for the entire convention, including the banquet, by
May 31.
*	Find someone in your chapter or affiliate who has been to many
conventions and can answer your questions as a friend and mentor.
*	If you do not hear from the committee by May 15, then you did not
win a scholarship this year.