BOARD OF PUBLICATIONS
Meeting Minutes
November 1, 2010
The ACB Board of Publications met via teleconference on Monday, November 1, at approximately 9:05pm (EDT). Members present were: Paul Edwards, Marcia Dresser, Judy Jackson, Jenine Stanley, Ken Stewart. Ex Oficio members present were: Berl Colley, Bob Hachey and Larry Turnbull; Absent: Ronald Milliman; ACB Staff/contractors present, and Sharon Lovering.
Agenda:
Jenine moved acceptance of the proposed agenda. The motion was seconded and approved.
Minutes:
Ken moved approval of the October minutes. The motion was seconded and approved.
DAISY Committee:
Berl reported that the committee has initiated the purchase of conversion software and plans to hold a training in January. Ann Parsons is working on converting back issues of the Braille Forum. Earlene Hughes is working on resolutions and hopes to have them finished by the end of the year. Berl is working on board minutes.
Oral History Project:
Berl reported that he did one interview in October.
ACB Radio:
Larry reported that ACB Radio aired 2 audio described movies, “David and Monica” and “Night of the Living Dead.” Paul suggested that during negotiations for broadcasting audio described movies, Larry and others ask that movies not being released to DVD be considered for audio description and airing on ACB radio.
Larry noted that he has interviewed and will be airing some new broadcasters on ACB radio Interactive, including Jamie Pauls. There will be no change in schedules with the change to daylight saving time. Larry continues work on the ACB server.
Social Networking:
Jenine reported that the Twitter page is up and running. The person being considered for the Facebook administrator position did not provide a resume so we continue to search for someone to fill that position. There are approximately 98 followers to the Twitter account. The Social Networking List is up and working.
Drupal Group:
The group did not meet in October but hopes to have pages ready for viewing in November.
Public Relations Committee:
Sharon reported that the committee discussed the marketing project it will undertake this year.
Editor’s Report:
Sharon noted that she has finished the december issue. She has been working with Paul and Melanie Brunson on contracts. She plans to purge the mailing list for the cassette edition of the Braille forum.
Sharon will investigate with Earlene why the most recent edition of the Braille forum available via RSS feed from the web site is July, 2010.
Larry continues to investigate how to add the Braille Forum to the ACB Radio Tuner as a listening option.
Inside Front cover:
Sharon reported that the content presented on The large print Forum inside cover has been pared down enough to permit the font size to be increased from 14-Point to 16-Point type.
Braille Forum Suggestions:
Ken suggested to add term limits and election dates to the list of board members in the Braille Forum in hopes of generating interest in running for office. Marcia suggested such information would be helpful as part of the article on the Candidates Forum as well. Paul asked Sharon to get this information from ACB Board Secretary Marlaina Leiberg.
It was suggested to change the location for donations from the Treasurer to the ACB Minneapolis Office in the January issue.
Internet Oversight Committee:
Bob reported that the committee discussed how to handle advertising. For now, excessive advertising will be handled with a note from the moderators, then further action on an individual basis. The committee will provide the BOP with language to add to the list rules for consideration at its December meeting.
Braille Forum Name Proposal:
The BOP heard a proposal from Tom Mitchell to change the name of “the Braille Forum” to “the ACB forum, Apublication of the American Council of the Blind.” Tom had originally proposed this as a resolution but withdrew it in favor of having the BOP hear his case for change.
Tom believes the name does not accurately reflect the scope of the magazine. Braille is not the major focus of the magazine, which makes the name Braille forum misleading in Tom’s view. He feels the name he has chosen, will help better market the organization to both corporate donors and new members.
After a well-considered discussion, it was suggested that Tom write a piece detailing his presentation to the BOP and circulate it on the various ACB lists for reaction and discussion. The BOP felt that members should have a chance to thoughtfully discuss the proposal rather than react to it during the emotion and immediacy of a convention.
Paul suggested that this issue be aired during the BOP meeting at the Mid-Year conference and asked tom to provide him with an outline of his remarks to the BOP.
Braille Forum Production Contracts:
Paul, Melanie and Sharon are working on production contracts for the Braille Forum. They have changed several stipulations of the contracts. Instead of bidding on a set number of copies, bids will have an average which may vary through the contract period.
Regarding cassettes they are trying to bid the contracts as separate for audio production and cassette duplication to see if this will yeild more bids. The bid for cassette production is for 3 years to assure that cassettes will be around for that long while we plan other ways to make the publication available.
Regarding the large print edition, contractors say they are able to incorporate all aspects of the resolution referring to the Braille Forum, aside from the inside cover mentioned earlier in these minutes.
Paul noted upon Ken’s reminder that he did discuss IRMA, the resolution that states a distinct method of identifying mailings should be included in the return address label. Though the current contractor has some limitations with this issue, it is possible that it may be changed to meet the resolution’s specifications in future bids.
Paul asked Jenine to investigate pricing for thumb drives in case a pilot project might be planned using them in place of cassettes.
Paul also asked Sharon to contact Earlene about adding a link for the current issue of ACB Reports from our web site.
After discussion it was felt that a survey regarding cassette use is not practical but discussions with people at various meetings regarding other formats could be helpful. It is important not to panic members about cassettes being discontinued however.
Paul asked Berl to take back to the DAISY Committee the question of what it would take to produce a DAISY audio version of the Braille Forum instead of a DAISY text version.
BOPEEP: Ken asked whether captions to photographs are present in all issues. Others assured him that yes, they are. Marcia reported some spacing errors in the braille edition.
Unfinished Business:
Pedestrian Handbook:
Paul said he had received all but the final chapter of the manuscript and would be meeting with Melanie to discuss how to proceed. The goal is to have at least one format ready by the Mid-Year Meetings.
New Business:
Regarding the BOP presentation at the Mid-Year Meeting, Marcia suggested that the BOP present as a team a discussion about how to handle the issue of cassettes. Paul will present this during the upcoming Acb board meeting.
Next Meeting:
The next meeting of the BOP will take place via teleconference on Monday, December 6 at 9:00pm, EST.
Adjourn:
Paul moved to adjourn the meeting at 11:45pm EDT. The motion was seconded and adopted.
Respectfully Submitted,
Jenine Stanley, Recording secretary