[Nfbc-info] Convention reports

[David Bear]

[ finally caught up with being away from work for a week ]

As always the Ham Radio group was the very first item on the agenda, 
meeting early on Saturday morning.  The Technology session was 
oversold and if you did not pre-registered (and most people didn't 
know that was necessary) you were not allowed to attend.  The 
Computer Science Division met Sunday afternoon where Microsoft came 
to talk about Windows accessibility; a new service to solve CATTCHA; 
and a panel on accessibility on Macintosh.  The driving simulation 
and the display of the self-driving Ford Escape was definitely 
something I hope everyone visited.

The general sessions and the banquet speeches were good as always, 
but sitting outside the hallway at the hearing assistance table let 
me see a whole different side of the national convention.

Throughout the whole convention I ran into this lady several times 
being accompanied by her teenage grandson - he was taking her 
everywhere: trying out the driving simulator, getting the FM receiver 
amplifier, sitting through the general sessions, walking to the 
restroom...  it is hard to find such a good kid these days.

Something else that would never happen in California: 
construction.  Even though the atrium is about 3 floors high, the 
construction, using gas-powered equipment and without any covering, 
made the place really noisy and dusty and smell like exhausts, not 
just around the construction zone but all over the place.  The 
weather was horrible (thunderstorm and heavy rain) and with everyone 
staying indoor most of the time.

--David

At 06:33 PM 7/10/2010, you wrote:
>Greetings Fellow Federationists,
>I trust everyone got home from Dallas safely.  I know you hear this 
>all the time but, that really was a great convention.  Now that the 
>schedule is one day shorter it seems even more difficult to attend 
>all the division and special interest meetings at a national convention.
>
>That is why I am writing this message.  I would really appreciate it 
>if you could take out just a few minutes to write down your thoughts 
>and feelings about the individual meetings which you attended in 
>Dallas.  A couple of paragraphs would be fine.  Tell us where you 
>went and a brief summary of the speakers you heard or topics which 
>were discussed.  I would like to get your reports up on the website 
>so everyone can read them.
>
>Thank you,
>Mary Willows, President
>National Federation of the Blind of California
>mwillows at sbcglobal.net
>
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