Call to Order/Introductions
Adoption of Agenda:
Open Forum:
Ken Stewart asked if the BOP has thought about adding a lead paragraph to Braille Forum articles giving a brief bio of the author. (Ken also raised this issue in the August meeting.) Ron said this can be part of the discussion when the BOP considers the content of “The Braille Forum” and E-Forum.
Finalization and Adoption of the 2017-18 ACB Board of Publications Work Plan
Ron reviewed the work plan draft with the goal of finalizing tasks and timelines, identifying task leaders, updating recent activities and adopting the work plan. Items with later due dates were not discussed in detail. Some items discussed elsewhere on the agenda during the meeting are summarized here for continuity and completeness.
• ACB Braille Forum RFP Cartridge Production: Staff proposes to contract with Perkins for the production, distribution and management of the cartridge versions of the E-Forum and Braille Forum for the next year rather than soliciting an RFP. Perkins is the sole source currently for production and distribution of materials on cartridge and is the cartridge supplier. ACB has no experience managing such a project with cartridges being returned, and Perkins would likely be the only bidder with experience based on their similar work for NLS. When all of the contracts are up for renewal next year, there may be other qualified bidders and ACB should be more equipped to evaluate proposals at that time.
Motion: Paul moved and Donna seconded that the BOP recommend contracting with Perkins for the production, distribution and management of Braille Forum and E-Forum cartridges for the next year. Motion passed.
Paul asked that the contract be shared with the BOP. Deb noted that the management of cartridge return should be added to the KPI tracking tool.
Kim recommended that a notice should be included with all future cassette production to alert readers of the change coming in January.
• 2018 Budget: The due date is revised to October 25 in order to make preliminary request projections available for the fall ACB Board meeting.
• KPI Tracking Tool: Ron, Sharon and Larry will be leads on this with support from others who provide data. Ron will track data in the KPI tool and Deb will track it for the Minutes.
• Convention Program Feedback: Due 12/31/2017 with Ron as lead. Paul suggested that ideas for modifications of the large print and Braille program could be sent to Ron.
• Braille Forum and E-Forum Content and Format: Ron asked that this be expanded from the original focus on the E-Forum to include both publications. The due date is March 31. Paul expressed that discussions should be separate work plan items with the E-Forum addressed first. He felt that it is important to determine the scope and structure of the E-Forum and what changes we are willing to support. Ron explained that this agenda is somewhat driven by the fact that the Communications group and PR committee will also be looking at the publications in terms of organizational messaging and therefore we should address the bigger picture in terms of both publications. Ron explained that we have three options: change the E-Forum, change the Braille Forum, or change both.
Motion: Paul moved and Donna seconded that the discussion of the publications be separated and that we begin with the E-forum. Ron clarified that this would mean adding a discussion of the Braille Forum as a separate item on the work plan. There was discussion. The motion did not pass.
Ron proposed to establish a task group from the BOP, Communications and PR to define the content parameters and messaging for the Braille Forum an E-Forum. Susan and Donna will represent the BOP and Ron will be involved as well. Paul will be involved through PR.
Jo Lynn explained that ACB has two grants from the Delta Gamma Foundation that support production of the Braille Forum and E-Forum. ACB recently approached the Dr. Scholl Foundation for a grant which would increase production of the Braille Forum from 6 to 12 issues. We need to demonstrate for this application that we are ready to meet the obligation of increased production and content.
Ron asked if the new grant can only be used to increase the number of Braille Forum issues or if the option exists to increase the length of the existing number of issues. Jo Lynn said the request was specifically to increase the number of issues from 6 to 12. Deb noted that there would be no restriction on whether those additional issues were the Braille Forum or the E-Forum.
From the budget perspective, Ron thought it was important to consider proposals with and without the Dr. Scholl grant. Paul asked that the budget also consider determination of what it would cost to lengthen the E-Forum regardless of the grant status. There was discussion regarding whether the E-Forum could be lengthened by linking to existing content or whether that content would have to be reproduced in full for the audio version. There was general consensus that if the content belongs to ACB or is integral to an article or topic it probably should be reproduced to allow access for all. Ron will build the budget based on both 48-page and 64-page editions.
• BOP Editorial Policy: This is due June 30 and will be led by Deb and Paul. The goal is to clarify and simplify language in addition to making any necessary edits.
• Large Print Reader Survey: Due date is 10/31/2017 with Deb Ron and Sharon as leads. Ron will get the data to Deb who will score and rank the data and identify it with the samples. She will then share it with the work group so a recommendation can be finalized.
• The Candidates Forum and Writers Workshop will be discussed after the fall meeting of the ACB Board.
Motion: Deb moved and Donna seconded adoption of the BOP 2017-2018 work plan. Motion passed.
BOP Chairman’s Report: Ron Brooks
• Updated the Draft 2017-18 ACB Board of Publications budget and distributed for discussion and action at the September 5 meeting
• Updated and redistributed the 2017 BOP KPI Dashboard. The dashboard is still missing a significant number of data points. The report was reviewed during the September BOP meeting, and the rest of the outstanding data that can be located will be integrated into the September 30 update to the Dashboard. The BOP Chairman will also establish a monthly calendar item to request updates so that the dashboard remains more current in the future.
• Conducted conference call with Eric Bridges, Sharon Lovering and Kim Charlson regarding next steps for the production of ACB Braille Forum and E-Forum news magazines on NLS cartridges. A summary of the meeting was provided during the September BOP meeting.
• Transmitted email to Communication and Marketing Action Planning Committee Chairwoman, Katie Frederick requesting an opportunity to discuss how the BOP and Communications and Marketing Action Planning Committee and the PR Committee can collaborate on ensuring that the ACB Braille Forum and E-Forum news magazines contribute to the success of ACB’s outreach and communication efforts.
• Sent emails to Sharon Lovering and Nancy Becker regarding the status of the compilation of data from the ACB Large Print Reader Preference Survey. As of August 31, the data has been shipped to Minneapolis for compilation.
• As a member of the Website Testing Group, reviewed several pages of the new website for ease of use, ease of navigation, ease of locating information and overall ease and accessibility. Provided comments to the web developers.
• Updated the ACB Volunteer Hours Tracking Spreadsheet for all BOP members through August 2017.
Editor’s Report: Sharon Lovering
August 2017 Issue type: electronic
Print Page Count: 48
Braille Distributed: 0; Returned: 1; Return Rate: 0; Received: -1
LP Distributed: 0; Returned: 5; Return Rate: -5; Received: 0
Cassette Distributed: 0; Returned: 6; Return Rate: 0; Received: -6
Electronic Distributed: 5,296; Returned: 2; Return Rate: 0.0%; Received: 5,294
Total Accessed (Excludes Returns): 5,284
September 2017 Issue type: hard copy
Print Page Count: 48
Braille Distributed: 684; Returned: 7; Return Rate: 10%; Received: 677
LP Distributed: 2,656; Returned: 34; Return Rate: 1%; Received: 2,622
Cassette Distributed: 928; Returned: 67; Return Rate: 4.7%; Received: 861
CD Distributed: 132; Returned: 3; Return Rate: 1.5%; Received: 129
Electronic Distributed: 5,313; Received: 5,313
Total Accessed (Excludes Returns): 9,602
October 2017 Issue type: electronic
Print Page Count: 58
Electronic Distributed: 5,330; Returned: 4; Return Rate: 0.0%; Received: 5,326
Total Accessed (Excludes Returns): 5,326
November 2017 Issue type: hard copy
Print Page Count: 48
Braille Distributed: 675
LP Distributed: 2,618
Cassette Distributed: 910
Sharon worked on the 2016 annual report with Kelly, Nancy and Eric.
The 2017 convention CDs were shipped out on August 22nd. Eight people requested the full sets; two wanted only the banquet CD.
We have also been working on pulling together some historic files which need to be archived, and will be arranging for a delivery/pick-up of boxes from Victory Storage to store the archives and obtain the BANA boxes and several others to go through.
I just put the finishing touches on the December issue, and have sent the file to Perkins to be recorded (for the podcast version).
I continue to work on the national office photo/video inventory; I have finished writing descriptions of the 2001 photos, and have begun working on descriptions for the 2002 convention photos.
I have also been working with the large print subcommittee, and have put together some samples of the fonts that rated highest in the large print survey and compared them with the current font used in the Forum. The resolutions summary, which ran in the November issue, took 11 pages in Arial 18-point; in 20-point Verdana bold, it took 14 1/3 pages. Here and There in the November issue took 8 1/3 pages in 18-point Arial; in Verdana 18-point bold it took 9 pages plus 2 lines on page 10. Here and There in the upcoming December issue took 9 pages in 18-point Arial; in 20-point Arial bold, with 24-point headline and 22-point subheads, it took 12 1/3 pages. (All of the samples were done with one column; the articles appearing in the Forum were done as two columns.) I was surprised by how little space I got back by converting to a single column!
Other Reports
ACB Radio: Larry Turnbull
- The eclipse coverage had 800 listeners on ACB Radio Interactive, about 8500 on the phone, two FM simulcasts, and several Radio Reading Services.
- Fall conventions are coming up: Illinois; Michigan; Missouri, and NBP has asked ACB Radio to cover their gala again this year.
- There was discussion about ACB Radio streams on Amazon Echo and Google Home. None of the streams are working on Google Home. Larry agreed to follow up with Eric to contact someone at Google regarding this.
Email Lists Stats: Bob Hachey
August 2017 statistics
ACB-L: Subscribers: 315; Posts: 178
ACB-Chat: Subscribers: 139; Posts: 17
September 2017 Statistics
ACB-L: Members: 318; Posts: 96
ACB-Chat: Members: 140; Posts: 1
Social Media and PR: Katie Frederick
Google Accessibility Team Looking for Testers: 7,892 people reached; 65 likes and loves; 116 shares
ADP Audio Description Allows Blind to “See” the Total Eclipse First Release: 3,279 people reached; 37 likes, loves and wows; 70 shares
Second Release: 3,601 people reached; 45 likes, loves and wows; 75 shares
Montreal Surgeon Implants Bionic Eye in Blind Woman: 3,103 people reached; 45 likes, loves and wows; 44 shares
Twitter: 2,054 followers
Unique Broadcast of Solar Eclipse Will Allow blind to “See” the Eclipse: 2,560 impressions; 45 engagements
ACB Response to Concerns Regarding Palm Beach Charity Event: 2,009 impressions; 2,900 engagements
Experience the August 21st solar eclipse with audio description on ACB Radio: 1,310 impressions; 56 engagements
The PR committee has been collaborating with Membership on a variety of projects and outreach strategies.
Other Business and Announcements
There were no announcements.
Next Meeting:
The next scheduled meeting, scheduled for October 3, 2017 was cancelled. Therefore, the next meeting will be November 7, 2017 at 9:00 p.m. Eastern.
Adjourn
Donna moved and Paul seconded adjournment. The meeting adjourned at 11:00 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
Deb Lewis, Secretary