[nfb-talk] The real reason for a chapter meeting

[Michael D. Barber]

Having interesting chapter meetings is indeed a challenge.  In fact, when I 
was a local chapter president, it was one of my biggest challenges.  Some of 
the things we do is to get people to read the Monitor and then have a trivia 
contest.  People then bet small amounts of money and if the person gets it 
right, they get the money; otherwise, it goes to the chapter.
Kernel books are an excellent source of discussion.  After all, they were 
written by our own members.
Another thing we did when I was president was to have our county auditor 
bring in the Automark voting machine and we taught people how to use it 
before they went to the Polling place.
At some meetings, you should have someone from your public transportation 
provider and discuss public transportation needs, and if you have really 
constructive suggestions on how to make it better, propose it to them there.
When our MTA was preparing to go to what they called a "swipe and ride" 
system where you would have a plastic bus pass which you would swipe through 
a card reader, it was our chapter that proposed cutting off one curner of 
the card so we'd know which way to insert the card, and they took it and did 
it.
Things like this make chapter meetings interesting and keep up the interest 
of the members and make them feel like they really can make a difference.

Cordially,
Michael D. Barber
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "T. Joseph Carter" <tjosephcarter at gmail.com>
To: "NFB Talk Mailing List" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Sunday, May 04, 2008 6:15 PM
Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] The real reason for a chapter meeting


> Terry,
>
> To be fair, the ACB doesn't have the monopoly on local chapters who don't
> really seem to accomplish much of anything.  It comes down to the interest
> and imagination of the members of the chapter.  If one or the other is
> lacking, the chapter seems to meet and discuss what was discussed at the
> last meeting, and what will be discussed at the next meeting.  That stuff
> is generally pretty dull, and people lose interest even more quickly.
>
> I've suggested things that aren't business-meeting related or even perhaps
> not necessarily blindness-related to help attract visibility to the
> chapter.  My ideas, all of which focus on the practical, include:
>
> - An afternoon seminar for high school students and maybe college
>   students focusing on transition issues they don't prepare you for in
>   high school, be it college or job-hunting.
> - A panel discussion where blind people from a variety of fields help
>   brainstorm on ideas for how a blind person can do ... whatever
>   questions get asked.  If there are sighted people in the audience, so
>   much the better.
> - A training session on a device like the Victor Reader Stream.  A LOT of
>   blind people, particularly those who are older, haven't really gotten
>   into this DAISY thing yet and still find it easier to carry a tape
>   recorder that will play back NLS 4-track cassettes.  A workshop and
>   walkthrough (not just a demonstration) would go a long way.
> - Organization.  From David Allen's Getting Things Done to the Slob
>   Sisters to a host of others, people have found effective ways to get
>   organized and see that things are accomplished.  Now you can read a
>   book about it, or you can get some hands-on experience with applying
>   some of these techniques.  Which is more likely to get results?
>
> Why am I not including a discussion of Jernigan speeches or kernel books
> or anything of the sort above?  I refer back to a discussion from some
> months ago where we discussed that the younger generation seems to be less
> interested in getting involved unless they can see tangible benefit.  I
> know that makes my generation and younger sound awfully selfish, but I've
> collected some informal data that suggests we may be less apathetic than
> it appears.  Regardless, by making the benefits of involvement tangible
> and immediately apparent, we move past those factors.
>
> Additionally, within the blindness community, I believe we have reached a
> place where words aren't going to change any minds.   The same thing is
> happening in the Democratic primary--the latest news isn't having any
> effect on how the people voting feel about their candidate.  The ones
> talking about how Obama's pastor is a militant racist weren't voting for
> him anyway.  Likewise with those talking about Clinton's sniper-filled
> imagination.  It's just the people who have made a decision using the news
> to justify the position they already have.
>
> The interesting thing about this state where the value of words has
> dropped faster even than the dollar is that actions remain a valuable
> commodity.  By doing things that people can see have a positive impact
> directly on their lives (and not just on the life of some blind person
> somewhere), we are showing them why our way of thinking is good, rather
> than trying to tell them why.
>
> I think that's important.  Anyone who has ever hear reactions to our press
> releases like, "That's great for those people living in Baltimore" to news
> of something cool our Jernigan Center is doing or, "That's cool if you've
> got $2500" in response to our current generation KNFB reader probably can
> already see why.  To people who make such comments, that we are "National"
> seems to mean somewhere other than here, and "of the Blind" means of
> certain kinds of blind people.  They need to know that "National" means
> right here (wherever here is) and "of the Blind" includes them too.  But
> they're going to have to see it for themselves first.
>
> Just my thoughts.
>
> Joseph
>
> On Wed, Apr 30, 2008 at 07:52:04AM -0400, Powers, Terry (NIH/OD/DEAS) [E] 
> wrote:
>> Hi Mike;
>> Thanks for telling me where those speaches are.  I also was an ACB
>> member for a short while, during my time at AEB in rehab.  I did not
>> know enough about either group and they were the only blind group
>> around.  As a member, we got nothing accomplished, that I can remember.
>> I sure am glad to be home and proud to be a true member of the NFB!
>>
>> Terry Powers
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