Events for Guide Dog Users
Sunday, July 10 - Ponderosa A
1:30pm Seeing Eye Ice Cream Social
Tuesday, July 12 - So Pac C-D
7:00am Guide Dogs for the Blind Breakfast
GDB graduates welcome
1:30pm Seeing Eye Ice Cream Social
7:00am Guide Dogs for the Blind Breakfast
GDB graduates welcome
Lane Waters, Controller
Sheila Eudy, Administrator
Lynn Kresa, Receptionist
Lori Sarff, Administrator
Le Chi Tran, Accounting
5:00pm DKM First-timers Reception
Meet the DKM First-timers Award Recipients
12:15pm AAVL Luncheon - $27, $29
Music with Brenda and Dan Dillon; followed by the AAVL business meeting.
1:15pm You're Not Too Old for a Guide Dog.
1. The Benefits of Getting a Guide Dog - Jenine Stanley, Guide Dog Users, Inc., Columbus, OH
2. Durable Medical Equipment: a campaign to change Medicare - Eric Bridges, ACB Director of Advocacy and Governmental Affairs, Arlington, VA
4:15pm Vanda Pharmaceuticals Reception
Hear about Vanda's efforts to address sleep problems experienced by totally blind individuals.
5:45pm Self-Defense Training - $10, $10 - Bonanza B
Hands-on workshop from the Enabling Safety Project. Learn about their coaching certification program - a career opportunity.
5:45pm Self-Defense Training - $10, $10
Hands-on workshop from the Enabling Safety Project. Learn about their coaching certification program - a career opportunity.
Carla Ruschival, Chair, Louisville, KY
Janet Dickelman, Vice Chair, St. Paul, MN
Margarine Beaman, Austin, TX
Sally Benjamin, Tallahassee, FL
Michael Fulghum, Nashville, TN
Sharon Lovering, Arlington, VA
Rick Kuhlmey, Las Vegas, NV
Bruce Radtke, Bellingham, WA
Michael Smitherman, Jackson, MS
Lane Waters, Minneapolis, MN
Brenda Dillon, Officer Liaison, Hermitage, TN
2:45pm Employment Seminar - $4, $6
1. A New Look at Reasonable Accommodations through the ADA Lens - Suzanne Thomas, Affiliate, Pacific ADA Center, Oakland, CA. Co-sponsored with NABS & Blind Pride.
2. A View from a Workplace Pioneer; Moderator: Peter Altschul, Organization Development Specialist, Columbia, MO; Speaker: MJ Schmitt, former senior systems analyst, Rochester, NY. Co-sponsored with NABS.
3:00pm ACBGE Mixer - $12, $14
12:15pm ACBGE Luncheon - $25, $27
1:15pm Section 508: Dispatches from the Front
Patrick Sheehan, Section 508 Coordinator, Veterans Administration; and Sandra Sermons, Contract Specialist, General Services Administration, report on the state of Section 508 and make suggestions for next steps.
2:15pm Business meeting
Check the ACB general session and special-interest affiliate agendas for many other advocacy-related programs.
7:00am AFB Breakfast - $10, $15
What you need to know. AFB serves up updates on technology, employment, policy, and accessibility.
4:15pm ACB Legislative Seminar
What's going on in Washington? Get involved and help us push our vehicle donation legislation in Congress; work to change Medicare policies on durable medical equipment.
Mitch Pomerantz (Chair), Pasadena, CA
Melanie Brunson, Arlington, VA
Kim Charlson, Watertown, MA
Denise Colley, Lacey, WA
Brenda Dillon, Hermitage, TN
Rick Kuhlmey, Las Vegas, NV
Terri Lynne Pomeroy, Salt Lake City, UT
Carla Ruschival, Louisville, KY
2:00pm 411 from the IAC - $4, $6
1. The iPhone - Not your Mother's Phone
Is calling the iPhone a smart phone like calling a racing car a cigarette lighter? Brian Charlson, director of computer training services at the Carroll Center for the Blind, and other iPhone experts provide an overview and demonstrations of the latest apps. Share your own tricks, please.
2:45pm How to Work a Room - $6, $8
The art of networking in face-to-face time. Identifying barriers and providing tips for successful mingling at professional and social gatherings. A presentation and discussion with Linda Porelle, MSW, Social Worker, Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired, San Francisco, CA, and Sarita Holliday, Human Resources Specialist, Veterans Administration, Philadelphia, PA.
7:15pm Give Back Through Mentoring
Conducted by the American Foundation for the Blind.
Rick Kuhlmey, Co-Chair, Las Vegas, NV
Carol Ewing-Ragsdale, Co-Chair, Reno, NV
Janelle Grissom, Reno, NV
Kim Lattin, Reno, NV
Julia Ratti, Sparks, NV
Aaron Ross, Gardnerville, NV
Microsoft will conduct a usability study at the 2016 ACB Conference and Convention to evaluate and enhance the accessibility of their Office 365 products (Word, Outlook, SharePoint, OneDrive, Skype, OneNote etc.). Participate in this session to help Microsoft better understand your needs and refine these productivity experiences to work seamlessly with assistive technologies.
A very big thank-you to Microsoft for their Emerald sponsorship at the 2016 American Council of the Blind Conference and Convention.
When - Tuesday, July 5, 2:45 to 5:30 PM
Many, many thanks to our 2016 corporate sponsors. Their continued generous support of the American Council of the Blind and our conference and convention is sincerely appreciated.
Look for the 2016 corporate sponsors on www.acb.org, in the conference and convention program and newspaper, on ACB Radio, on the convention T-shirt, and throughout the week. Be sure to thank them personally for their generous support.
American Council of the Blind
55th Annual Conference and Convention
Theme: ACB: Land of 10,000 Dreams
6:30 PM: Entertainment: Bruce Cottrell, Burnsville, MN
7:00 PM: Call to Order: Kim Charlson, President, American Council of the Blind, Watertown, MA
Invocation: Father John Sheehan, Executive Director, Xavier Society for the Blind, New York, NY
Presentation of Colors: Color Guard for the University of Minnesota, Naval Reserve Officers Training Corp (NROTC), Minneapolis, MN
Eric Bridges, Executive Director
Anthony Stephens, Director of External Relations & Policy
Kelly Gasque, Executive Assistant
Sharon Lovering, Editor, ACB Braille Forum
Tom Tobin, Director of Development
Come to Reno, Nev., and celebrate gold at the 50th annual conference and convention of the American Council of the Blind.