Call to Order/Introductions
The meeting was called to order by chairman Ron Brooks at 9:07 p.m. on June 5, 2018.
Members present: Ron Brooks, chair; Deb Lewis; Donna Brown; Susan Glass.
ACB employees and contractors present: Sharon Lovering; Larry Turnbull.
Ex officio members present: Katie Frederick, Public Relations.
Guests: Denise Colley.
Adoption of Agenda
Ron reviewed the agenda.
Motion: Susan moved and Donna seconded adoption of the agenda. Motion passed.
Approval of May 1 Minute
Motion: Donna moved and Susan seconded adoption of the May 1, 2018 minutes. Motion passed.
Open Forum
There were no comments.
Finalization of Details for 2018 BOP Writer’s Workshop
Ron summarized preparations for the workshop noting that the presenter backed out at the last minute leaving us with no program. After making numerous additional contacts, Ron invited Kelly Gasque to present on using social media to convey the message. Katie also volunteered to present from the perspective of a blind person who uses social media and will also talk about the different ways to customize the message for various media formats.
Motion: Deb moved and Donna seconded to accept the proposal for Kelly and Katie to present the workshop and that we make arrangements, if possible, to refund anyone who specifically requests this. Motion passed.
Ron will contact Nancy and Janet regarding the Writer’s Workshop program change and see if we can offer a refund if requested. Ron will then work with Kelly and Katie to develop the program description. He will then post the revised program description to Leadership and arrange for it to be posted to social media. Sharon will post about the program change in early editions of the convention paper.
Update on Planning for 2018 BOP Candidates Page, Forum and Town Hall Meeting
Candidate statements were due on May 25. Some expected candidates did not submit statements. Ron verified the understanding that candidates who did not declare by the deadline would not be invited to participate in the Candidates Forum on June 20, but could participate in the town hall meeting during convention. The candidates pages were given to the Louisville Web Group and Sharon will follow up to be sure they are posted by June 8. There was discussion on how to manage the Candidates Forum in Zoom. Deb will send the Zoom directions she wrote for her affiliate to Larry who will edit them with event details before sending them to Ron for distribution. Ron and Larry will determine a time for a practice session around June 18. The Town Hall meeting on the evening of July 4 will be similar to the old Candidates Forum but less structured.
Development of Agenda for July BOP Meeting
This meeting will be June 30 at convention. Ron will prepare and circulate a draft agenda based on the following topic suggestions:
- What is the BOP and what does it do?
- Explanation of coming changes for the ACB Braille Forum and E-Forum; solicit topic ideas for the E-Forum
- Outcome of the large print preference survey
- Promoting the Writers Workshop
- Cartridge implementation
- Changes in the candidates process
There was also discussion on making it feel less like a board meeting; “board rhymes with bored.”
Finalization of Topics and Assignments for August ACB E-Forum
Ron will write an article explaining the new E-Forum theme format and will write a shorter piece to circulate on the lists and in social media. Ron is working with Families to prepare an article. Susan reported that Teachers has two articles to submit and she agreed to also submit an article. Ron will get the obituary and an article about Barbara MacDonald, and Susan will get articles about Ken Metz; both recently passed away. Deb will follow up with Paul about an article from the Education Taskforce. Katie will talk with Students about an article. Sharon reminded us that there are about 100 words per page.
The September hard copy issue will include the BOP convention summary. Deb will author the article based on daily summaries prepared as follows: Ron: Saturday night; Susan: Sunday; Donna: Monday; Paul: Tuesday; Susan: Wednesday; Deb: Thursday. Summaries are due to Deb by July 15 and the article is due to Sharon on July 25.
The theme for the October E-Forum will be employment.
Report from the BOP Chairman: Ron Brooks
Ron revised the schedule of events regarding the candidates pages and the Candidates Forum to correct previous errors. He also spent significant time recruiting a new workshop presentation when the scheduled presenter backed out. And there were numerous pages to review for the new site which is scheduled to launch just before convention.
Editor’s Report: Sharon Lovering
May 2018: Issue type: hard copy; Page count: 64
Braille Distributed: 690; Returned: 4; Return Rate: 0.6%; Received: 686
LP Distributed: 2,598; Returned: 17; Return Rate: 0.7%; Received: 2,581
Cartridge Distributed: 911; Returned: 1 cassette from September 2017; Return Rate: 0; Received: 911
Electronic Distributed: 6,338; Returned: 6; Return Rate: 0.1%; Received: 6,332
June 2018 Issue type: electronic; Page count: 80
Electronic Distributed: 6,361
July 2018 Issue type: hard copy; Page count: 64
Braille to Be Distributed: 681
LP to Be Distributed: 2,580
Cartridge to Be Distributed: 886
I am currently working on the July issue, which includes a memorial article about Marlaina Lieberg, readers’ memories, an article about the activities of the strategic planning teams, an article about the Legacy Fund, plus the usual president’s message, Here and There, High Tech Swap Shop, and the membership article.
Convention preparation is in full swing. Both offices are working to pull together the materials that need to be shipped and packing them, since we’ll have to ship next week to be sure everything gets there in time. Last week I proofread both volumes of the convention program. The phone hasn’t stopped ringing with requests for convention information, as well as all the usual other informational requests. On Monday, I reworded the Freeman and Henley plaques; our original wording was too long to fit.
Other Reports
ACB Radio: Larry Turnbull
Listener counts for May 2018: Mainstream 2110; Cafe 324; Treasure Trove 2284; Interactive 1076; World News and Information 698
Live Event: 40 Florida Council of the Blind convention
Phone: 8548 calls
Web hits: 17,945
ACBRI on demand visits 5321
Downloads: MainMenu 422; Speaking Out for the Blind 23; ACB Braille and E Forum 732; ACB Reports 497; Legendary Insights 622
We picked up 10 subscribers for the ACB Braille Forum and E Forum podcast.
We picked up 18 subscribers for ACB Reports.
We picked up 45 subscribers to the Main Menu podcast.
We picked up 8 subscribers for Legendary Insights.
We had 1535 tuning hours reported by Stream Licensing for the month of May for ACBRadio Interactive.
We had 1535 tuning hours for the month of May for ACBRadio Café.
We had 182 calls to the ACB Braille/E Forum hotline for the month of May.
Public Relations: Katie
Primarily working on convention publicity and logistics.
Other Business and Announcements
There was no other business.
Next Meeting
The next meeting is an in-person meeting at the ACB conference and convention in St. Louis and is scheduled for June 30, 2018 at 10:30 a.m. central time.
Adjourn
Deb moved and Donna seconded adjournment. The meeting adjourned at 10:42 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
Deb Lewis, Secretary