Members present: chair Paul Edwards, Nolan Crabb, Marcia Dresser, Judy Jackson, Ken Stewart; ex officio members Berl Colley, Bob Hachey; ACB staff/contractors Annette Carter, Sharon Lovering, Larry Turnbull. Absent: Ron Milliman. Several guests also participated on the call.
Chair Paul Edwards convened the teleconference at 9:05 PM EDT. Ken moved and Marcia seconded adoption of the agenda; the motion carried. Nolan moved and Ken seconded that the minutes of the February 24, 2012 (midyear) meeting be approved as distributed. The motion was adopted. Annette is putting the BOP meeting minutes on the ACB Web site as soon as they are approved.
ACB Radio
Three new broadcasters have been added on Interactive: Dan Kaiser Mondays from 5-8 PM Eastern; Chuck Brady Saturdays from 1-3 PM Eastern; and Ann Sylvia Thursdays from 9-11 PM Eastern. Larry appointed Jeff Bishop program director of Interactive so that he can concentrate on running Mainstream, building the new ACB Radio Web site, and putting together a new automation system for ACB Radio. He hopes to have the Web site and the automation system in place before the 2012 convention. Listener counts have been holding steady during the past month--35 for Interactive; Café 30 with a peak of 35; Treasure Trove 95-100; and Mainstream 30 with a peak of 50 during Main Menu. California and Nebraska will be streaming their conventions in April, and Florida will be streaming their convention at the end of May. Larry will be traveling to Thailand to oversee the streaming of the World Blind Union meeting in November.
Editor's Report
The CD edition of the April Forum will go out late because Sharon needs to order more CDs. Sharon is busily working on the ACB affiliate lists and the May issue of the Forum. Format counts have not changed.
Telephone Systems
Paul was interviewed on Conversation Station, and there were about 25 people in the virtual room. In answer to his question, he learned that most of these folks do not have computers. Participants had questions about very basic advocacy issues. It seems that there are many people out there we are not reaching. The BOP will explore phone systems such as Conversation Station and Philmore to see if they are viable options for outreach.
Leadership Institute
This will take place July 6, the day before the start of the 2012 convention. Presenters will include Paul Edwards, Mitch Pomerantz, Jeff Thom, Doug Powell, Jenine Stanley, and Berl Colley. The Leadership Institute will be recorded, and Jenine will edit it for later broadcast on ACB Radio; ACB may also make it available for purchase on CD from the ACB Store. A number of people are still waiting to receive their Oral History CDs from last year. Paul suggested that more CDs should be duplicated and made available for sale this year at the convention.
The DAISY committee is being reconstituted. President Pomerantz would like the names of folks who would be interested in participating.
ACB Web Site
The Web Site Task Force set priorities for rebuilding the Web site. Annette is hoping to make several changes simultaneously. Right now, they must concentrate on the ACB Store and the convention pages. Annette will put the back issues of the Forum up as soon as possible. The newly revised copyright statement needs to be put up. Nolan expressed profound appreciation and gratitude to Annette and Larry for their tireless work on the site.
Internet Oversight Committee
Some unfortunate content of a personal nature recently appeared on the ACB-L list. As a result, the IOC will draft language to the effect that it is expected that people will exercise discretion when posting to the list and refrain from sharing information of a personal nature. This language will appear at the bottom of each message. The BOP will review this next month.
Ad Hoc Digital Distribution Committee
Ken and Marcia contacted Choice Magazine Listening, the Perkins Braille and Talking Book Library, and the NFB, who have undertaken digital distribution. There is a great deal of initial expense, and considerable staff time to accomplish sorting through the returned cartridges and sending out the next issue. The new 512 mb cartridge, which has sufficient space to easily accommodate The Braille Forum, costs under $3, which would be much more practical. Paul is in touch with several entities who may be prepared to contract with ACB to handle the returns and the distribution. The BOP will continue to investigate this.
Candidates Page
Paul and Nolan will write up the information for the candidates' page and get it to Sharon by April 26 to go into the June Forum. This information will also be distributed on all of the ACB lists.
The meeting was adjourned at approximately 11:30 PM EDT.
The next meeting of the Board of Publications will take place via teleconference on Monday, May 7 at 9:00 PM EDT.
Respectfully submitted,
Marcia N. Dresser, Secretary