Ray Campbell for ACB Secretary

Ray Campbell, Candidate for ACB Secretary
460 Raintree Ct., Unit 3K
Glen Ellyn, IL  60137
Phone: 630-258-0516
Email: [email protected]

 

1. What office are you seeking, and what are your qualifications?
    
   I'm seeking the position of Secretary of the American Council of the Blind (ACB).  I am organized, competent and reliable.  I have been a member of the ACB Board of Directors for 7 years, and on two occasions, have been asked to fill in and take minutes in the absence of the Secretary.  Both times, very few corrections or changes were requested in the minutes I had taken, and those which were I made quickly, proving that I am willing to accept feedback on the job I have done.  I served four years as the Secretary of the American Council of the Blind of Metropolitan Chicago, preparing meeting minutes for monthly chapter meetings and writing chapter correspondence.
    
   I've served as Treasurer of the Illinois Council of the Blind (ICB) since 2011.  While Treasurer and Secretary are two very different positions, both require a high degree of organization, accuracy of records and adherence to deadlines.  Prior to my service as Treasurer, I served four years as ICB President.  I served as Secretary of the Illinois Blind Services Planning Council, the planning council for our Bureau of Blind Services.  During my employment, I have routinely been asked to prepare notes, letters and reports, because of my strong writing skills and attention to detail.
    
   I served for eight years on the ACB Constitution and Bylaws Committee, six years as its chair.  In the Chair position, I took input from committee members, convention attendees and other ACB Members and incorporated it into proposed amendments which I was then required to read from the convention floor.  I have also served in the past as ICB Resolutions Committee Chair.
2. What would you do to strengthen the relationship between the ACB national leadership and state and special-interest affiliates?
    
   ACB needs strong relationships with our state and special interest affiliates.  If I am elected Secretary, three things I would do to strengthen them are:

   A.        Establish a relationship with the Secretaries in each of our state and special interest affiliates.  This could be done in a couple of ways, via an affiliate Secretaries email list and conference calls.  With the number of affiliates we have, email is probably the easiest thing, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try having conference calls as well.  This would provide the opportunity for the affiliate secretaries and I to share information and ideas with each other.  For example, I am blessed to have strong adaptive technology skills.  I could provide training and information to secretaries about technology and other techniques they can use to help them do their work, and learn from them as well things they are doing which could help me. 

   B.        Continue attending affiliate conventions to meet with, talk to and learn from the grass roots membership.  I've been fortunate to attend several state affiliate conventions since I've served on the ACB Board, both as an invited guest and on four occasions, at my own expense.  When attending conventions, I've made a conscious effort to talk with as many attendees as I can.

   C.        One thing our current President, Mitch Pomerantz, has done in the past few years is hold Office Hours to talk with members.  I'll work to see this continue, but have each officer take one turn per year hosting office hours.

3. In light of the current national economic crisis, how can long-term financial stability be achieved for ACB?
    
   ACB has taken meaningful steps in recent years to improve our finances.  The ACB Advisory Board should help us access additional sources of funding when it is fully up and running.  We've been successful with programs like Monthly Monetary Support, the ACB Walk, ACB Auction and Braille Forum Raffle.
    
   All too often, we ask our membership to support this or that fundraising effort.  While this helps members have a greater ownership stake in ACB's success, we're also asking a demographic group with a high unemployment rate to help us out, over and over.  We need to find other ways to access dollars outside of ACB's membership.  Three ideas are:

   A.        Teaming up with an organization, such as the Professional Golf
   Association (PGA).  Perhaps a PGA or other tournament could be held somewhere in the country, with proceeds going to ACB.  We could hold an ACB tournament in different locations, splitting proceeds between ACB and our affiliates.  This could also be a way to market ACB, make more people aware of what we are doing and who we are.

   B.        Hooking up with a national restaurant or store chain and having them designate one day a year across the United States as ACB Day.  ACB would get a small percentage of all sales at restaurants or stores in that chain on that day.

   C.        Working closely with our affiliates, both to encourage them to raise funds and share with ACB.  We're starting to see some of this with trivia nights and other activities, more needs to be encouraged.

4. List three issues you plan to work on should you be elected and how you plan to effect change in those three areas.
    
   Three issues I'd like to work on are:

   A.        Continuing to expand ACB's presence on social media.  We have a good presence on Twitter, www.twitter.com/acbnational. We're working to establish a presence on FaceBook.  I want to identify other social media sites where ACB should be and help get us there.  Growing our presence on Social Media does many things.  Two are: help ACB attract younger members as that's where they are, and increase opportunities for communication between ACB leaders and members.

   B.        Work for continued improvements in technology access, including training, for people who are blind.  Technology is a great equalizer for people who are blind, providing us increased access to goods, services, information and entertainment.  While we need to continue what we are doing, we also need to make sure people who are blind can access the technology. I'd like to work to help ACB establish a technology grant or loan fund which people who are blind could access to purchase technology and the training to use it.  While some things such as the iPhone are available at relatively low cost, others such as refreshable Braille displays remain out of reach for many.  Furthermore, having technology does no good if you don't have the training to properly use it.  My vision for an ACB Technology grant or Loan fund would be a resource that is available to those with limited other means of procuring technology.

   C.        Finally, I'd like to see members who cannot attend our conference and convention able to participate in the business of ACB.  I'd like to work with the ACB Voting Issues Task Force to see in what ways we can make it possible for those who cannot attend to participate, and help draft the constitutional changes that will be necessary to implement them.

I invite those interested in my campaign to follow it on Twitter, twitter.com/ray4secretary.

This web page was last updated June 4, 2013.