[nfbwatlk] Convention

Wed Jul 12 10:33:50 CDT 2006

Mike forgot me.  What can I say? (Grin) 

-----Original Message-----
From: nfbwatlk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfbwatlk-bounces at nfbnet.org]
On Behalf Of Mike Freeman
Sent: Wednesday, July 12, 2006 8:31 AM
To: NFB of Washington Talk Mailing List
Subject: Re: [nfbwatlk] Convention

MMM ... lemme see ... there were three registrants whom Denise and I did
not recognize and of whom one was Lilly Stansberry's friend. Then there
were two first-timers from the Northwest Chapter. I don't know if Mark
Adrian had been to a national convention before or not (he went to a
Washington Seminar years ago). If we count him, that makes six. Then
there's Marty from the Seattle chapter. That makes seven first-timers by
my reckoning. If we count Mr. Habib (the scholarship winner), that makes
eight. I could have missed one or two but even eight is a respectable
percentage of our delegation. Congratulations to all.

Mike Freeman

On Wed, 12 Jul 2006, Bob Sellers wrote:

>
> How many first timers did we have?
>
> Bob
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Mike Freeman" <k7uij at panix.com>
> To: "NFB of Washington Talk Mailing List" <nfbwatlk at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Tuesday, July 11, 2006 8:24 AM
> Subject: Re: [nfbwatlk] Convention
>
>
>> I counted around 40 people from Washington. Gary told me yesterday 
>> that we had 45 atendees.
>>
>> Mike Freeman
>>
>> On Tue, 11 Jul 2006, Bob Sellers wrote:
>>
>>>
>>> Yes, it was an excellent convention. I still think our scholarhsip
> program
>>> is the hihglight of the convention. What is interesting is how the
> academic
>>> endeavors of the scholarship winners have become more diversed from

>>> the past. Twenty years ago most degrees were in the social sciences 
>>> and
> computer
>>> science. There is much more diversity and soon, I believe, thanks to

>>> the NFB, there will be scholarship winners in pursuit of the hard
sciences.
> As
>>> usual there is volumes of information available. Over time I've 
>>> learned
> to
>>> be selective on what and how much I bring home. No longer do I have 
>>> an
> extra
>>> bag just to carry home materials I've collected from meetings and 
>>> the exhibits. I found it beneficial in all the meetings I attended, 
>>> which included, the Web master, grant writing, meet the blind month 
>>> and the advocacy just to name a few. Being in such a huge hotel, 
>>> seem to make
> being
>>> around 3,000 people  less noticeable,  except for an occasional 
>>> elevator ride. The one item that got my attention was HAL, the home 
>>> automated
> living
>>> display.
>>>
>>> How many did we have from Washington Sttate attendning the
convention?
>>>
>>> Bob Sellers
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>> From: "Prows, Bennett (HHS/OCR)" <Bennett.Prows at HHS.GOV>
>>> To: "NFB of Washington Talk Mailing List" <nfbwatlk at nfbnet.org>
>>> Sent: Monday, July 10, 2006 2:01 PM
>>> Subject: [nfbwatlk] Convention
>>>
>>>
>>> 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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