[Nfb-kzoo] Draft Meeting Minutes for April 15

[Rhonda Scott]

Great job on minutes for being a temp, J.J.

The only thing I think they need included is any contact info for the people 
who need to be contacted for something, like Roxanna, or any others folks 
might want to get in touch with.

Rhonda

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "J.J. Meddaugh" <jj at bestmidi.com>
To: "NFB of Kalamazoo Michigan List" <nfb-kzoo at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Saturday, April 17, 2010 7:40 PM
Subject: [Nfb-kzoo] Draft Meeting Minutes for April 15


Here's the draft minutes for the April 15 meeting. IMHO, it was a very 
productive and well-attended meeting, with 14 people present.
If the minutes seem a bit disjointed, it's because we had a lot of sidebars, 
but they involved some useful ideas so were included.
Please let me know if I missed anything. Leanne, you can have this job back 
now.



Meeting Minutes
Kalamazoo Chapter
National Federation of the Blind of Michigan
April 15, 2010 at TGI Fridays.

Members Present:
Matt McCubbin
Christine Boone
J.J. Meddaugh
Megan Orourk
Ian Shadrick
Miles Matte
Gabe Guzman
Jan Collins
Tammy Jost
Allen Hood
Ronald Brooks
Ron Williams
Geoffrey Krause
Theresa Root

Meeting called to order at 6:45 PM.
It was determined that quorum was reached.
J.J. gave a quick introduction of the chapter and the NFB and then gave a 
summary of Tyler's agenda notes.
Ian wanted to talk about a possible convention in Kalamazoo. This was added 
to the agenda.
J.J. moved and Christine seconded to approve the agenda. The motion carried 
unanimously.

Food at Board Meeting
Kalamazoo is hosting state affiliate board meeting on May 22 from 11 AM to 
4:30 PM downtown at the Kalamazoo Public Library. Those in attendance will 
pay $5 for food with the state paying for the remainder.
Caffe Casa is offering us a half sandwich with pasta salad for $7.25/person. 
A dessert tray can be added for an additional $1.50/persons and drinks for 
another $1/person. It may be better to bring in drinks from elsewhere.
Some members recommended we get coffee from Something's Brewing instead.
Christine moved we take the Caffe Casa offer with coffee from Something's 
Brewing.
* Ian will check on prices of coffee from Something's Brewing. Caffe Casa 
charges $18/pot.
* J.J. will organize food for the meeting.

Allen Hood suggests we create a list of businesses with blind owners or 
managers. Others were quite receptive to the idea and proposed we explore 
further.

National Convention
Christine talked about national convention and explained how it was in the 
past.
Gabe attended in Detroit. it was a bit overwhelming.
You should reserve your room quickly if you want to go.
Call the Hilton Anatole directly at 214-761-7500.
Matt says you can preregister for convention and banquet until May 31 at 
nfb.org.
Some members are interested in Jernigan scholarships, and J.J. will explore 
if these are still available.

Allen and Jeff says we should reach out more to doctors.  There is no 
information being given to people, and they are told there is "nothing they 
can do."
This is something the chapter could work on.
Christine says she doesn't think she's seen a client who heard about the 
commission from their doctor.
We could check with local radio stations to see if they would air a PSA.

Skydiving
Roxanna is planning a skydiving jump, perhaps in May. Cost would be around 
$250.
Let Roxanna know if you are interested.

Upcoming Convention
Ian is a board member of the Mid-American Conference of Rehab teachers.
There is talk of them being the shareholder in a joint conference with AER.
Discussion of possibly bringing it to Kalamazoo for Oct/Nov 2011.
There may be good opportunities for promotion, colaberation, etc, though 
political reasons may prohibit this.

Megan suggested we actually do a treasurer's report.
Current balance is $246.

We need to improve our communication system, so Megan has a call list. If 
she has not talked to you, then talk to her.

Commission Update
Christine filed an appeal, but no hearing was given. She has opted for an 
arbitrator.
There have been many BEP operators thrown out of the program, and those 
stands are now being operated by sighted contractors, even though there are 
qualified people.
RSA says the state agency is not supposed to take away licenses.
Customers don't get copies of their own Individual Plan for Employment.
Agency directors speak in an appropriate manner about consumers.
Larry Posont has requested a meeting with the governor. A secretary said we 
need to talk to DELEG, but we (NFBM) already did.
Skip has refused a meeting with Larry, because the subject is on appeal, but 
the meeting was to be about the BEP, the job posting, and MCB policies on 
keeping records for new hires.
What we can do: People can write to Nathaniel Lake in the governor's office 
to request a meeting with the NFB.
Also Contact the Drudge Report at drudge at drudgereport.com to attempt to get 
coverage.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:20 PM.

Respectfully submitted,
J.J. Meddaugh
Acting Secretary


J.J. Meddaugh - ATGuys.com
A premier Licensed Code Factory and KNFB Reader distributor
_______________________________________________
Nfb-kzoo mailing list
Nfb-kzoo at nfbnet.org
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfb-kzoo_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
Nfb-kzoo:
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nfb-kzoo_nfbnet.org/earthmagic7%40sbcglobal.net