[Sportsandrec] Addressing some issues

[Kathy McGillivray]

Hi. I don't think people mean to insult you; they just don't realize what 
goes in to planning such an event. I think all the suggestions are great. 
Let's just keep them in mind for the future. I appreciate the work of the 
Board. Every convention is going to be a little different and we just roll 
with it, so to speak.

Kathy McGillivray
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Joseph Hamilton" <jhamilton at societyfortheblind.org>
To: <sportsandrec at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, June 24, 2009 2:21 PM
Subject: [Sportsandrec] Addressing some issues


> Hello List,
>
> I wanted to bring some perspective to the list as a board member charged
> with monitoring list traffic.
>
> Several times within the last Month, people have inquired about a tandem
> event in Detroit.  Just for the record, the Extravaganza for this year's
> convention has been in the planning stages since last November.  We made
> several attempts to contact local bicycling groups to host some sort of
> event.  We discovered the closest group I Michigan was in Kalamazoo
> which is 168 miles west of Detroit.  We also researched the possibility
> of using a Canadian group but Windsor does not have such a group, or at
> least we couldn't find one.
>
> I am one a group of people who has put in time brain storming and
> researching so we could have an event similar to the one in Dallas last
> year.  Actually, my favorite sport Goalball, is not being offered at
> this year's event either.  That is because the city of Detroit does not
> have very good access to services.
>
> All that being said, as a whole, we need to be more appreciative of the
> work that has been done.  Perhaps if you had contacts that could have
> made an event like this possible, you could have attended one of our
> meetings in January.  Now we are less than two weeks from the Convention
> and so all the questioning of what can be added or changed is insulting.
> I am individually appreciative of all your ideas and offers to help.
> Just remember that you offered because in September, when we begin
> planning for the Dallas convention, I expect we should have quite a good
> group of involved planners.
>
> I am sure just from my working with the planning committee, no one wants
> to leave off sports.  In Dallas, goalball was the highest attended event
> and we were not able to offer it this year.  I recognize the popularity
> of the tandem event.  I know that in Dallas last year we had to put a
> cap on participants and the board is very open to ideas to help grow
> this event for the convention in 2010.  I will say that all the
> questioning and external planning is pretty insulting, because as I said
> we have been trying to make the best of this situation for the last 7
> Months.
>
> I just ask you to consider the hard work put in by folks on this event
> before you start complaining about what got left out or cut because of
> limited space, resources and time.
>
> Perhaps we can all view Detroit as an opportunity to try a new sport or
> recreation.  Once we finish up with this extravaganza, we can all get
> together and talk about Dallas and what the future holds.
>
> Thanks for all of your participation and support of the S&R division.
> Without you, we have no event or group at all.
>
>
>
> Regards Joe
>
>
>
> Joseph Hamilton
>
> Program Manager,
>
> California Access News
>
> Society for the blind
>
> 2750 24th st. Sacramento CA, 95818
>
> 916-732-4010
>
> jhamilton at societyfortheblind.org
>
> www.societyfortheblind.org
>
>
>
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