[Oabs] Please read, regrouping!

[Kaiti Shelton]

Hi, OABSters,

Please read this entire email, because it is important.  If you have
any questions at all after reading this, please don't hesitate to
email me directly or on-list depending on the nature of your question.
IF it is something you don't absolutely think pertains only to you,
please do ask publically so that others who might have the same
questions and may not be as quick to ask them can benefit as well.

I understand that on Friday our meeting was very poorly attended.
Many of us were traveling and at the mercy of roaming signals.  I
myself was unable to call in due to poor cell phone coverage and a
really bad storm that neither Sprint nor ATNT service could handle,
but I hear that we only had two people show up to the meeting and
after 20 minutes they left.  This is not something we can accept, and
call it a month for July.  I propose that, since we have some time
left in the month, that we find a half hour time slot to meet via
phone, even if it is before the fundraising meeting next Friday.  We
need to regroup on a couple of things I will mention below, but more
importantly we need the membership in order to do that.

Speaking of membership, the membership committee is struggling and has
had very poor attendance at meetings for the past few months.  The
brochure which was written back in January has yet to be sent out, and
that is because there has been a lack of contact with agencies across
Ohio.  We need to fix this.  We can not build this division without
making a concerted effort to do so.  I know summer is usually the hard
part of the year for us since everyone is scattered in different
directions for camps, vacations, conventions, etc; but we need to pull
it together.  That starts with coming to membership meetings and
working to recruit more members.  Our discussion posting schedule has
not worked out as we had hoped it would, so we need to draft a plan B
in order to make sure there is participation from multiple members on
the list.  I need to know from you all what didn't work about that,
because if we need to come up with a different calendar system or a
different way to remind people who agreed to help with the project to
post, then we will have to do that.  However, we also need to
personally exercise some autonomy, meaning that when we draft a plan B
I want it to be the last plan we draft.  If we agree on a different
calendar format but keep the expectation that everyone will check the
calendar Aleeha or I furnish them with, then it will be expected that
individuals do that.  Perhaps there was a miscommunication this time
or some other fluke, but we agreed durring the meeting in which the
project was planned that we would each pitch in to make the list a
more lively and resourceful place for all.  We need to look towards a
possible retreat next year, and start looking at recruitment
strategies for our State convention in November.  There is plenty of
work to be done, but the work starts with us.

I have a challenge for us all, and it is an easy one but one I think
is important to phrase as a challenge.  Any time you find someone who
is eligible to become an OABS member (either they hail from Ohio and
can be studying anywhere, or they are studying in Ohio from another
state, or are just generally concerned with the education of blind
students), then make sure they know about OABS.  Send them a facebook
message or tell them about what OABS is.  Invite them to a meeting
like you would to recruit for a chapter.  I have done this with
several blind students over the past few months, and even if they
don't show to a meeting at least I can say they were told about OABS
and were invited to join.  It's easy to do, and it also may be a very
beneficial resource to someone who didn't know OABS existed.  You can
also be the contact person to get their foot in the door, and one they
look to for guidance or for advice, and that's what each of us should
offer to others as members of a student division.

I do have to congratulate Lillie on some excellent membership work,
which could be pretty beneficial.  Lillie did a little networking at
convention with a friend of her's, who is president of the
Massachusetts Association of Blind Students, and the division is
interested in possibly working with us to better both divisions, share
ideas, etc.  While MASABS is not in our region, just networking
closely with any division could be beneficial.  Unfortunately, the
presidents of the state NABS divisions don't network very well, even
though we have our own list with which to do so.  I have reached out
to several division presidents and have not received a single
response, but I did not know MASABS was also looking for networking
opportunities, nor that they would be more receptive to that kind of
relationship than other divisions in our region.  I would have never
found this myself, so Lillie finding this connection really
illustrates how it takes all of us to strengthen the division and
network on its behalf.  We all have different contacts around the
country and run in other circles besides our state division, so
sometimes that works in our favor.

Fundraising likewise needs some TLC.  I am going to contact Emily
about the fundraisers we have planned tonight.  The raffle needs to be
taken care of this week so that the $75 we owe to the bell program can
still be beneficial to the folks in Columbus.  I understand from Emily
and our contact at PNC Bank that the title change on our account and
our Doing Business As status is finally set up, and all it will take
to complete is for Emily and I to sign some paperwork, which she will
be bringing to work tomorrow.  I am very concerned about having enough
people, instrumentalists, and musical numbers to make the musical
bonanza possible, and we do not have many rehearsal opportunities
especially considering that some of us work during the week.  We also
need to seriously look into the convention fundraiser, and start
planning logistics for the spaghetti dinner with Eric and the
convention planner, the hotel, etc.  This, too, will be contingent
upon whether or not fundraising committee meetings are attended.  Like
the brochure project in membership, the braille bookmark fundraiser
has been put on hold because there has been a lack of contact with
agencies about pricing, production of the bookmarks, etc.  As I
understand it from both committee chairs who are dealing with this
issue, this falls mainly on a lack of follow through on individual
levels.  I am not blaming anyone or pointing fingers, but we all can
do a little better with doing what we say we are going to do so that
we get some traction under our feet.  I understand that we are all
busy; trust me when I say as someone who is scheduled for her lightest
semester yet at 18 credit hours with a job that I totally understand
the difficulty in balancing school, jobs, and social/advocacy
organizations including OABS, and I also understand that even in the
craziness of school at least we all have a routine schedule which can
help keep us focused and attentive to OABS and our other projects, but
we do need to give OABS some immediate attention.  This is our
long-term project, so I am very concerned that it is still not off the
ground when our goal was to have bookmarks ready to sell by the end of
August when everyone headed back to school.  Out of all of our
fundraisers, that is our most important one since it is something
which could potentially sustain OABS over a long period of time.

Again, I am not pointing fingers or directing this email at any one or
two individuals.  This truly is a message for the entire division, and
I understand from even my own experiences that it is more difficult to
keep OABS together over the summer months.  However, it is something
we need to do.  Again, if you have any questions send them my way or
over the list, and unless it's a one-on-one question nothing you can
ask is not worth asking.  Let's get a move on and end the summer with
a bang!

Kaiti