[Travelandtourism] John Pare, Jr is now a member of the Amtrak Disability Advisory Committee.

Sat Aug 22 18:32:59 UTC 2015

Okay, Jordan, I am an NFB member.  I am the Secretary of my local chapter.
I used to sit on three NFB boards.  I am a Commissioner on the Board of
Commissioners of the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority.  

I really don't know where you're coming from because people I know and I
know a lot of folks who have not had the issues you speak of.  And, we
haven't burned any bridges.

Every organization has its way of doing things and each organization
differs from another one in various ways and that's okay.  The way we do
things in NFB is different from the way we do things at the Board of
Commissioners meetings.  

If you have personal experiences you'd like to discuss, please take them up
with our National president, your state NFB president, and so on.

Margo Downey

-----Original Message-----
From: Travelandtourism [mailto:travelandtourism-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Jordan Gallacher via Travelandtourism
Sent: Saturday, August 22, 2015 1:21 PM
To: 'NFB Travel and Tourism Division List'
Cc: Jordan Gallacher
Subject: Re: [Travelandtourism] John Pare, Jr is now a member of the Amtrak
Disability Advisory Committee.

Att least the ACB does not have an it's our way or the highway attitude.

-----Original Message-----
From: Travelandtourism [mailto:travelandtourism-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Cheryl Echevarria via Travelandtourism
Sent: Saturday, August 22, 2015 12:20 PM
To: 'NFB Travel and Tourism Division List'
Cc: Cheryl Echevarria; 'john Tebockhorst'; 'Steven Hastalis'; 'Jemal
Powell'; miltjotaylor at gmail.com
Subject: Re: [Travelandtourism] John Pare, Jr is now a member of the Amtrak
Disability Advisory Committee.

Really and why is that.

Does it state anywhere that we cannot sit on committees.

Other leaders in the Federation have sat on Transportation committees or
advisory boards?

Does it say somewhere in the constitution that we cannot sit on
transportation committees.

I know many that are including local transportation committees in their
towns and states.

Both the NFB and the ACB of NY State are on the Executive Board of the NYS
Commission for the Blind.

Cheryl Echevarria, President
National Federation of the Blind's Travel and Tourism Division A proud
division of the NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND - "Live the life you want"
www.nfbtravel.org
To join the talk list
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/travelandtourism_nfbnet.org
631-236-5138
cherylandmaxx at hotmail.com

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 have the life you want;
blindness is not what holds you back.

Cheryl Echevarria
Travel is our specialty and offering the best of meaningful travel for all
ages is our passion!
http://www.echevarriatravel.com
reservations at echevarriatravel.com
631-456-5394

Visit my website to get my FREE report, "Top 5 Good Reasons to Use a Travel
Professional"

I build my business on referrals. Please pass my details on to friends and
family members that deserve the best vacation that they can imagine

P.S. - Families of all sizes is my specialty. Whether you are just starting
out and looking for that romantic destination for your destination wedding
or honeymoon. Booking that planned family vacation to Walt Disney World or
that bucket list trip that Grandma  & Grandpa are planning for the family,
I would love to help you. 

We have partnered with Braille Smith. www.braillesmith.com for all her
braille needs.  Gail Smith is the Secretary of the NFB of Alabama

-----Original Message-----
From: Jordan Gallacher [mailto:jordanandseptember at gmail.com]
Sent: Saturday, August 22, 2015 1:16 PM
To: 'Cheryl Echevarria' <cherylandmaxx at hotmail.com>
Subject: RE: [Travelandtourism] John Pare, Jr is now a member of the Amtrak
Disability Advisory Committee.

Lol.  And I will refrain from saying what I am thinking, but the NFB has no
business on that committee.

-----Original Message-----
From: Cheryl Echevarria [mailto:cherylandmaxx at hotmail.com]
Sent: Saturday, August 22, 2015 12:14 PM
To: 'NFB Travel and Tourism Division List'
Cc: 'Jordan Gallacher'; 'Amy Baron'; 'Denice Brown'; 'Jemal Powell'; 'john
Tebockhorst'; miltjotaylor at gmail.com; 'Steven Hastalis'
Subject: RE: [Travelandtourism] John Pare, Jr is now a member of the Amtrak
Disability Advisory Committee.

Can you be more explicit on the issues with this.

So we all know what you are talking about. Also, I had been in touch with
Amtrak since December 2014. So I also sent the information that I got from
Amtrak to John Pare. FYI, Amtrak has been saying the same things for months
with no changes. But at least we have someone from the NFB now on the
Board.

Cheryl Echevarria, President
National Federation of the Blind's Travel and Tourism Division A proud
division of the NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND - "Live the life you want"
www.nfbtravel.org
To join the talk list
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/travelandtourism_nfbnet.org
631-236-5138
cherylandmaxx at hotmail.com

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 have the life you want;
blindness is not what holds you back.

Cheryl Echevarria
Travel is our specialty and offering the best of meaningful travel for all
ages is our passion!
http://www.echevarriatravel.com
reservations at echevarriatravel.com
631-456-5394

Visit my website to get my FREE report, "Top 5 Good Reasons to Use a Travel
Professional"

I build my business on referrals. Please pass my details on to friends and
family members that deserve the best vacation that they can imagine

P.S. - Families of all sizes is my specialty. Whether you are just starting
out and looking for that romantic destination for your destination wedding
or honeymoon. Booking that planned family vacation to Walt Disney World or
that bucket list trip that Grandma  & Grandpa are planning for the family,
I would love to help you. 

We have partnered with Braille Smith. www.braillesmith.com for all her
braille needs.  Gail Smith is the Secretary of the NFB of Alabama

-----Original Message-----
From: Travelandtourism [mailto:travelandtourism-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Jordan Gallacher via Travelandtourism
Sent: Saturday, August 22, 2015 12:53 PM
To: 'NFB Travel and Tourism Division List' <travelandtourism at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Jordan Gallacher <jordanandseptember at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Travelandtourism] John Pare, Jr is now a member of the Amtrak
Disability Advisory Committee.

Oh no they don't.  E-mailing someone now who can make sure that that does
not happen.

-----Original Message-----
From: Travelandtourism [mailto:travelandtourism-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Cheryl Echevarria via Travelandtourism
Sent: Saturday, August 22, 2015 10:55 AM
To: 'NFB Travel and Tourism Division List'
Cc: Cheryl Echevarria; 'john Tebockhorst'; 'Steven Hastalis'; 'Jemal
Powell'; miltjotaylor at gmail.com
Subject: [Travelandtourism] John Pare, Jr is now a member of the Amtrak
Disability Advisory Committee.

Good afternoon everyone:

I was on Facebook today and, John Pare, Jr., Executive Director for
Advocacy and Policy with the National Federation of the Blind had announced
he is now a member of the Amtrak Disability Advisory Committee.

I am a member of the Amtrak disability advisory committee. We had our first
face-to-face meeting this past week at the Amtrak headquarters in
Washington DC. I urged them to fix the calendar problem and to discontinue
use of a separate, specialized web site for blind and low vision customers.
The calendar problem prevents a blind person who is using screen reading
software from entering ones travel dates thereby completely blocking a
blind person from purchasing a ticket. This problem will be fixed in one to
two months. The reason for the long delay is not the difficulty of the
problem but the long testing time for Amtrak to roll out any changes to
their website. In the meantime you can use the low vision website or the
IOS app.
They will also be phasing out the separate website for blind and low vision
customers but I did not get an exact date for this change.

Cheryl Echevarria, President

National Federation of the Blind's Travel and Tourism Division

A proud division of the 

NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND - "Live the life you want"

www.nfbtravel.org <http://www.nfbtravel.org> 

To join the talk list

http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/travelandtourism_nfbnet.org

631-236-5138

cherylandmaxx at hotmail.com

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 have the life you want;
blindness is not what holds you back.

Cheryl Echevarria 

Travel is our specialty and offering the best of meaningful travel for all
ages is our passion!

http://www.echevarriatravel.com

reservations at echevarriatravel.com

631-456-5394

Visit my website to get my FREE report, "Top 5 Good Reasons to Use a Travel
Professional"

I build my business on referrals. Please pass my details on to friends and

family members that deserve the best vacation that they can imagine

P.S. - Families of all sizes is my specialty. Whether you are just starting
out and looking for that romantic destination for your destination wedding
or honeymoon. Booking that planned family vacation to Walt Disney World or
that bucket list trip that Grandma  & Grandpa are planning for the family,
I would love to help you. 

We have partnered with Braille Smith. www.braillesmith.com for all her
braille needs.  Gail Smith is the Secretary of the NFB of Alabama

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