[nfbwatlk] Convention

[Prows, Bennett (HHS/OCR)]

I haven't seen any reports yet on the convention just finished.  I
thought, that despite some hotel glitches, that this was one fantastic
convention.  The feature of course was the release of the Kurzweil NFB
reading machine.  It seems to work very well with most printed or text
material for now.  I was impressed that it could be brought close to
signs, etc, and mostly read the material fine.  As it is upgraded, this
small, portable device will become invaluable for reading many things.
It was exciting to hear that the 30 NFB scholarship winners this year,
in addition to receiving at least $3000 in scholarships, (one winner
received $12,000), the winners received another $1000 from Kurzweil
company, and a copy of the Kurzweil 1000 scanning software, and as a
bonus got a Kurzweil NFB reader, valued at $3,500.  That's not to
mention their expenses to convention.  What a program.

 

We also had great convention sessions, and division meetings, etc.  The
visit from Kinky Freedman, the gubernatorial candidate in Texas, who is
a Jewish comedian, author and musician was fun and interesting.  He
entertained the thousands gathered at the opening plenary session on
Tuesday.  This came just before the ceremony honoring the blinded
veterans in attendance who are Federationists.  It was impressive to
hear how many leaders we have in the movement who have served in the
various branches of the military.  The ceremony was extremely moving to
all who were present.

 

The National Association of Blind Lawyers put on the ninth annual mock
trial this year, and we raised some money for the division as well.  I
heard there were about 305 people there, so we did pretty well this
year, and the folks who came were overwhelming appreciative of the
entertainment and education about the discrimination case which was
based on a real case the NFB was involved in concerning a large
automobile manufacturer who refused to hire back a foundry worker who
was laid off after becoming blind.

 

The highlight presentations again were Doctor Maurer's Presidential
Report and Banquet address, both of which will be available soon at our
web site at <www.NFB.org>

 

Of course, we had great social gatherings too, and met new friends, and
renewed old friendships.  There were indeed about 3000 people attending
again this year.  So, now recharged, we move on to the year in the NFB.

 

More stories from the convention I'm sure are coming up.

 

/s/

Bennett Prows, J.D.

Health Information Privacy Program

Office for Civil Rights

Seattle, Washington

(206) 615-2621

E-mail:  Bennett.Prows at hhs.gov

 

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I haven&#8217;t seen any reports yet on the convention just finished.  I thought, that despite some hotel glitches, that this was one fantastic convention.  The feature of course was the release of the Kurzweil NFB reading machine.  It seems to work very well with most printed or text material for now.  I was impressed that it could be brought close to signs, etc, and mostly read the material fine.  As it is upgraded, this small, portable device will become invaluable for reading many things.  It was exciting to hear that the 30 NFB scholarship winners this year, in addition to receiving at least $3000 in scholarships, (one winner received $12,000), the winners received another $1000 from Kurzweil company, and a copy of the Kurzweil 1000 scanning software, and as a bonus got a Kurzweil NFB reader, valued at $3,500.  That&#8217;s not to mention their expenses to convention.  What a program.
 
We also had great convention sessions, and division meetings, etc.  The visit from Kinky Freedman, the gubernatorial candidate in
Texas
, who is a Jewish comedian, author and musician was fun and interesting.  He entertained the thousands gathered at the opening plenary session on Tuesday.  This came just before the ceremony honoring the blinded veterans in attendance who are Federationists.  It was impressive to hear how many leaders we have in the movement who have served in the various branches of the military.  The ceremony was extremely moving to all who were present.
 
The National Association of Blind Lawyers put on the ninth annual mock trial this year, and we raised some money for the division as well.  I heard there were about 305 people there, so we did pretty well this year, and the folks who came were overwhelming appreciative of the entertainment and education about the discrimination case which was based on a real case the NFB was involved in concerning a large automobile manufacturer who refused to hire back a foundry worker who was laid off after becoming blind.
 
The highlight presentations again were Doctor Maurer&#8217;s Presidential Report and Banquet address, both of which will be available soon at our web site at <www.NFB.org>
 
Of course, we had great social gatherings too, and met new friends, and renewed old friendships.  There were indeed about 3000 people attending again this year.  So, now recharged, we move on to the year in the NFB.
 
More stories from the convention I&#8217;m sure are coming up.
 
/s/
Bennett Prows, J.D.
Health Information Privacy Program
Office for Civil Rights
Seattle
,
Washington
(206) 615-2621
E-mail:  mailto:Bennett.Prows at hhs.gov Bennett.Prows at hhs.gov