December 6, 2016 Board of Publications Meeting Minutes

Call to Order/Introductions

Adoption of Agenda:

Approval of November 1 Minutes:

Public Comment:

Reports:

BOP Chair: Ron Brooks

• Ron commended all who worked on the ACB Radio Auction.
•  Prepared a summary of the November 17 and 21 Board budget calls. Article will go into the February Forum.
•  Have confirmed CCLVI participants in Large Print Reader Preference Survey Task Force. They are Donna Pomerantz of CA and Zelda Gebhart of ND. The group will meet via conference call to discuss next steps on the survey. Based on Deb’s preliminary research, there may be ways to simplify consensus building without a survey or with a limited scope survey.

Editor: Sharon Lovering

• The January Braille Forum issue is at the presses; Sharon is waiting for the blueline proof before sending it to Perkins. Doug asked how many changes generally occur based on the blueline version? Sharon said that usually changes were minimal spelling and grammar issues. Doug suggested that it might not be necessary to wait for the blueline review before sending copy to the narrator. Sharon said that narration is the hardest format to correct if there is an error and waiting for the blueline version only adds two days to the process. It was generally agreed that this practice should continue for now while we evaluate the new contractors.
• Sharon continues to receive new members, requests for deletions, information about people who have passed away—she got two death notices while making the January labels, format changes, address changes, and the occasional “please update my name to …” request.
• Sharon is also looking ahead to the 2017 affiliate updating and certification process. She reminds affiliates that if you have a new membership coordinator, please let her know as soon as possible. Also let her know whether your affiliate will use the online database, and if so, give her the membership coordinator’s e-mail address.  Sharon plans to start sending out the certification letter and schedule to affiliates around December 12th.
• Sharon will be on vacation for the holidays beginning December 23rd-returning on January 3rd. She will schedule the BOP January call and send out the notice before leaving.
• The ACB office is considering use of the email list in Donor Perfect for distribution of the Braille Forum. Sharon is concerned that his might be perceived as spam by the recipients, some may not want the Braille Forum, and it’s difficult to track for deceased individuals or bad addresses. There was discussion regarding how this might work with an unsubscribe link etc., and there was acknowledgement that database reductions could be efficient. Denise said this was a topic at the fall Board meeting and was being considered for consolidation of databases but also to encourage email distribution of the Braille Forum. It was agreed that Eric should be invited to a future meeting for discussion to determine if this is a staff issue to resolve or would have some policy implications for the BOP to consider.

November 2016 Returns

December 2016: Issue type: electronic; Print Page Count: 64

January 2017 Issue type: hard copy; Print Page Count: 48

ACB Radio: Larry Turnbull

ACB Email List Moderator: Bob Hachey

Social Media: Carla Ruschival

You Tube Totals:

Facebook: Total 2,724

Twitter: 1,658 Followers

Public Relations: Katie Frederick

Goal 1: Carla and Ron

• A new version of ACB Link is being developed and is in beta now.

KPI Update

Ideas for format and Content of ACB Convention Program

• There are major issues with the size and structure of the large print program and registration form in particular.
• The electronic documents need structure that can be navigated. Headings, separate documents for topics etc.
• There was also discussion of how the newspaper could support the program more closely. Carla talked about the role of the audio newspaper in the past to assist those with limited reading ability for large print, Braille or technology. As the population ages, people may be less able to read or manipulate long documents and alternative media will become important. The newspaper could be put on NFB Newsline.
• There were positive comments about the schedule on ACBLink, using NFB Newsline and the calendar events Jeff Bishop does each year for the IPhone as examples of alternatives.
• Doug suggested a June article for the Braille Forum on preparing to use the convention documents which would explain the ways to use the materials in advance for convention planning. There was acknowledgement that many attendees do not have the skills to use any of these media tools.
• Susan proposed the idea of a convention mentor who could assist with getting the best medium for the materials into the hands of the attendee.
• Consideration of a TOC for each volume of Braille was discussed.

Topics for the Presidents Meeting

• Ron will create a bulleted list of topics based on the work plan. Status of converting the braille Forum to cartridges is hot topic.
• All of the different tools for accessing the Braille Forum
• Awards
• Candidates’ Forum and candidate pages
• Purpose and role of the BOP

Topics for Editors Workshop

Work Plan Update

Other Business:

Next Meeting:

Adjourn