[Oabs] A word about elections (was) Recap from tonight's meeting.
Deborah Kendrick
dkkendrick at earthlink.net
Sun Oct 19 08:35:10 UTC 2014
Kaiti and all,
This lengthy report and set of reminders is absolutely wonderful, and deserves commendation! So there you have it! Great job!
Now, I would also like to say a word about OABS elections.
This whole area is, of course, the business of all of you, but I do feel a responsibility at least to state an opinion.
The student division has been more organized and productive this last year with its current officers and board than in many years.
As you may have noticed, a pattern in the NFB is often to retain people in offices for long periods of time. The rationale for that is that once leaders learn to work together and learn the ropes of the job, they are more efficient at doing the job than might be the case if there was a rapid turnover in leadership.
As you know. Dr. Maurer just retired after some nearly 30 years as president of the national organization. Barbara Pierce served as our own state president for some 20.
Obviously, since students are not students for lots of years (or so it is hoped), there needs to be a more frequent change in the student division.
That said, having people in the same position for a couple of years can lend some significant stability.
You know the cliché "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."
Again, whatever you all do with elections is entirely your business, not mine, but I felt a responsibility to point these facts out to you.
And, let me say just one more word about elections. If individuals do decide to run for offices not previously held, it is essential that you be open, respectful, and kind.
Those attitudes constitute success for any organization.
Peace,
Deborah
-----Original Message-----
From: Oabs [mailto:oabs-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Lillie Pennington via Oabs
Sent: Saturday, October 18, 2014 9:41 PM
To: Kaiti Shelton; Ohio Association of Blind Students list
Cc: Ohio Association of Blind Students list
Subject: Re: [Oabs] Recap from tonight's meeting.
There are several national divisions such as the crafters and I believe the human services division that except online due payments.
This is something we could probably look into for the future.
Sent from my iPhone
> On Oct 18, 2014, at 8:00 PM, Kaiti Shelton via Oabs <oabs at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>
> I will check with Emily, but I think cash or check would be preferable. the problem with using PayPal is that since we will vote on dues before elections, you wouldn't be able to pay before elections in order to vote. Also, PayPal takes some of every payment, so your payment wouldn't completely go to OABS. I don't know of any other division or chapter who takes dues electronically, so for now at least I'm going to say no.
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
>> On Oct 18, 2014, at 11:55 AM, Macy McClain <macymcclain at yahoo.com> wrote:
>>
>> Hi Kaiti,
>> I will be getting to the hotel on October 30. I can help selling raffle tickets, as well as be a marshall.
>> I do have a question regarding paying dues. I don't always carry cash on me, but is there any way I can send that via PayPal? If not, not a problem—I will withdraw some from my ATM prior to coming to the convention.
>> Thanks!
>> Macy
>>
>> Sent from my iPhone
>>
>>> On Oct 18, 2014, at 1:13 AM, Kaiti Shelton via Oabs <oabs at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>>
>>> Sorry for all the errors; my JAWS decided to give out and be uncooperative.
>>>
>>> An additional note: If you will be able and willing to help set up
>>> for the seminar, which will involve helping to carry the pizzas and
>>> other items to the room, helping me set up the ballot system on the
>>> tables, acting as a caller to help direct students towards our
>>> meeting place, please let me know that information as well. Aleeha
>>> cannot as she will need to run the stream till the end of general
>>> session, and Emily will be kept busy taking dues once we establish
>>> that as a set amount, so she might not be able to stand outside of
>>> the door or in the doorway to listen for late-comers. It would also
>>> be really helpful to have someone by the food table to explain the
>>> layout; I considered making braille labels, but if the pizzas are
>>> greasy that could be kind of gross, and it's easier to say,
>>> "Peperoni, cheese, Hawaiian, and buffalo chicken," for example.
>>> Throw in a little bit about how cookies, pop, and napkins are at the
>>> end of the table (and I will figure out a system for the pops too so
>>> people can independently tell them apart if that's what we end up
>>> getting), and you're done. We want to show that we're organized,
>>> friendly, and excited about what we're doing.
>>>
>>>> On 10/18/14, Kaiti Shelton <kaiti.shelton at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>> Hi all,
>>>>
>>>> Though formal minutes were not taken for tonight's conference call,
>>>> I wanted to make sure everyone had access to an account of what we
>>>> discussed. Please read on for details about how we are going to
>>>> prepare for convention, reminders, and more.
>>>>
>>>> Old business was brief; we just approved what we discussed in
>>>> September. Everyone at the last meeting was present again tonight.
>>>> New business mainly consisted of organizing a plan for gathering
>>>> items for our auction basket and door prizes. As a reminder to
>>>> those who agreed to help out, here is what I have you all down for procuring:
>>>>
>>>> Emily and Lillie Pennington: Ask for donations from Patty's
>>>> Popcorn, see if Greaters Ice Cream will donate a box of chocolates
>>>> and hopefully a gift card, and get some nicer hot chocolate and
>>>> apple cider mixes from Kroger.
>>>> Myself: I will get the slippers and/or fuzzy slipper socks, and a
>>>> Darton Restaurant gift card (for those you don't know, Darton is a
>>>> company that owns a couple chains including Olive Garden and Red
>>>> Lobster. This one gift card is good at any of the Darton
>>>> restaurants). Will pick up a copy of Frozen, as it is a good
>>>> family movie. Will ask Wal-Mart manager if the store would be
>>>> willing to donate a gift card and/or sponsor us, and if they want
>>>> to let the payment for some of the smaller items slide or cover the
>>>> Darton gift card, that's fine too.
>>>> Brandon: will get the basket and some wrapping for it to go in.
>>>> (Be sure to get clear wrapping so the items inside will be visible).
>>>>
>>>> Other convention prep responsibilities include:
>>>>
>>>> Tickets for split the pot: Aleeha, tickets 1-100; Kaiti, tickets
>>>> 101-200; Emily/Lillie, tickets 201-300. All who have slates and
>>>> know how to use them should bring them if we need to make more. If
>>>> you can bring a brailler, that would also be awesome.
>>>> Kaiti: Will pre-cut fhodog, hamburger, and pizza ballots for voting
>>>> at student seminar. Will personally call Tim Pennington to request
>>>> his artistic expertise. (Yes, I am aware that Emily and Lillie
>>>> could easily rope him in if they haven't asked him already, but he
>>>> and I are also buds).
>>>> Kaiti: Will bring instruments from the music therapy stash for
>>>> songs (If you want to help with this aside from Emily and Aleeha
>>>> who already said they'd like to play, just let me know so I don't
>>>> bring too little. I won't bring much and I've already got some
>>>> ideas of instrumentation for certain songs because they make
>>>> musical sense, but if 3 people want to play I don't want to just
>>>> bring 2 egg shakers, for example. Also, if you're particularly
>>>> gifted rhythmically and can improvise rhythms within a simple 4-4,
>>>> let me know that as well. It's fine if no one can do that, but it
>>>> would just allow for you and I to have some fun. I plan to encorperate Elif's cane idea as well).
>>>> Emily has generously offered to buy the pizza for the division.
>>>> She and I were thinking of getting your basic Peperoni pizza,
>>>> cheese pizza, and maybe one or two other ones with different
>>>> toppings. There will be options.
>>>> Emily and Kaiti are both planning on going to various restaurants
>>>> in our areas to ask for donations for door prizes. Take whatever
>>>> the store is willing to give you in terms of gift cards. When
>>>> choosing locations to go to, try to stick to major chains like
>>>> Chipotle, Panera, Starbucks, etc. We want the card to be useful to most people.
>>>> E.G, I won't bother going into Bad Frog Frozen Yogurt, because
>>>> although I know it's great and a favorite around Dayton, I know
>>>> that Cincinnati doesn't even have one. Potbellies and Smashburger
>>>> are also not the greatest choices, as they're fairly uncommon.
>>>> Likewise, I'm sure the northern Ohio people won't buy Kulvers cards
>>>> because people in southern parts of the state can't use them.
>>>> (Unfortunately). It is best to go directly into the establishment
>>>> and have the flyer, the sponsorship form, and a business card
>>>> handy. If you are a current state or national scholarship winner,
>>>> or have won scholarships on either level in the past, be sure to
>>>> mention that so the manager sees that you are a person that the NFB and the NFB of Ohio have helped.
>>>>
>>>> General notes about convention:
>>>> If you are interested in selling the raffle tickets, please let me
>>>> know no later than Wednesday the 29th. I will most likely be going
>>>> to convention on Thursday night now due to the way transportation
>>>> is panning out, so I'll need to know how many selling kits to
>>>> prepare before I leave Dayton. I'll probably make an extra one
>>>> just in case, but if you don't tell me you're interested and
>>>> someone else does not as well, I might not pack enough.
>>>> Several of our division members will be speaking throughout the
>>>> convention on various topics. I know Lillie will be speaking on
>>>> the Stem2U panel, Aleeha will be giving a demo of the KNFB Reader
>>>> app, and I was just asked today to speak on a panel about Braille.
>>>> Speakers, if you know the time of your speech or panel, please send
>>>> it to me when you can. I would really appreciate it, as I'm still
>>>> going through midterms and have been missing emails for a while
>>>> lately. I really want to highlight those who are speaking so the
>>>> division members who will be at the hotel can be sure to show
>>>> support, as well as learn from what each has to say. I'm also
>>>> really happy with the fact that at least 3 of us will be speaking,
>>>> and think we'll be rewe-represented on the convention floor. If
>>>> you will be speaking and I have not named you yet, please let me know that as well.
>>>> ***TAKE NOTE*** An important note about elections. If you are
>>>> considering running for an office you don't currently hold, I would
>>>> encourage you to have a one-on-one conversation with the person who
>>>> currently holds the position so you can ask questions about the
>>>> duties of that office. You will want to be sure you know what to
>>>> expect before you get infvoled in the elcectio. Also, as a
>>>> courtesy, it is nice to tell anyone you know will be running
>>>> against you that you're intending to run, so that no one is totally
>>>> shocked when they get to the elections. Of course, nominations can
>>>> and may be made from the floor, but it's just a courtesy to the
>>>> person you know. I do not want to see any discussion of election
>>>> intentions over the list, or discussion of what you do not tintend
>>>> to run foras that information can be used to make inferences about
>>>> what you are actually wanting to run for. If someone tells you
>>>> that they are planning on running for the same office as you, try
>>>> not to take it personally; elections are a democratic process that
>>>> is a part of every organization, and I don't think anyone here has
>>>> any sort of bad feelings towards another person that would motivate them to run against another person out of spite.
>>>> A huge no no that I will be very upset about if it happens, is
>>>> campaigning over the list. This is not a huge organization like NABS.
>>>> Most of us know each other, and I don't want anyone who joins the
>>>> list prior to coming to their firsta convention and student seminar
>>>> to be bombarded by campaign emails before they get to know the
>>>> group or individuals. Also, campaigning is also what the speeches
>>>> will be for when we are carrying out the elections. If you want to
>>>> practice your
>>>> 60 second elevator speech, I would encourage you to do so.
>>>>
>>>> We will follow Robert's Rule as normal. We will allow for trickle
>>>> down, so if say you aren't elected to be corresponding secretary,
>>>> you could still run for treasurer or one of the board member positions.
>>>> Depending on how many people attend the meeting, we may vote on
>>>> whether to amend our constitution to altar our board structure so
>>>> that we can fill it again. This would be accomplished by combining
>>>> the recording and corresponding secretary positions into a single
>>>> officer role, and reducing the number of at large board members to
>>>> one to create an odd numbered board if it were to happen. Anyone
>>>> who swishes to votein the elections must pay dues to Emily prior to the election.
>>>> We will vote to establish the official amount of dues as our first
>>>> order of business after introductions, so people can have
>>>> sufficient time to give Emily money. In the election, I will
>>>> remind everyone to not vote on popularity. We all need to vote
>>>> based on what we feel is best for the division, and not allow for
>>>> high school stuff to get in the way of that. Always go with the
>>>> person who you think would do the best job.
>>>>
>>>> Dr. Maurer will most likely make an appearance during our seminar,
>>>> but it will be on a he gets there when he gets there basis. If he
>>>> should not happen to show up at the seminar, I would encourage you
>>>> to sneak in a conversation with him at some point in the weekend.
>>>> Although I only shook his hand at convention last year, and bumped
>>>> into him in the hallway, I can say from those encounters that he's
>>>> very nice. He also agreed to have a selfie taken with Emily this
>>>> year at convention, which I might have to join in on too.
>>>>
>>>> I will send out a copy of the seminar agenda in a few days. YI
>>>> will be the hard copy, so feel free to produce it in the medium of
>>>> your choice or store it on a notetaker if you wish. Aleeha and I
>>>> will also make several other methods of receiving the agenda
>>>> available at the time of the seminar. I will have a brf file on a
>>>> flash drive or SD card , which we can pass around to those who
>>>> would like to access it on notetakers. Aleeha will have a copy of
>>>> the document ready to air drop to users of Iphones and braille
>>>> displays. I will also bring a limited number of braille and large
>>>> print copies, so everyone should have a way of accessing the
>>>> information. Also, remember to tell your friends you may meet that there will be ***FREE PIZZA**!
>>>> --
>>>> Kaiti Shelton
>>>> University of Dayton 2016.
>>>> Music Therapy, Psychology, Philosophy President, Ohio Association
>>>> of Blind Students Sigma Alpha Iota-Delta Sigma
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> Kaiti Shelton
>>> University of Dayton 2016.
>>> Music Therapy, Psychology, Philosophy President, Ohio Association of
>>> Blind Students Sigma Alpha Iota-Delta Sigma
>>>
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