by Janet Dickelman
Breaking news! Convention dates have been changed to July 16th through July 23rd. Due to the recent announcement of the dates for the 2021 Olympics, we are moving a week forward to enable convention attendees to enjoy the Olympics! Primetime Olympics broadcasts will have audio description.
Our convention planning committee (made up of the program chair for each ACB special-interest affiliate and committee) recently held the first convention planning meeting. Several groups have already begun working on their sessions. The 2021 ACB conference and convention will host some very exciting programs. I will work closely with the committee to make sure sessions are spread out as much as possible in order to stream all sessions on ACB Radio. Please keep in mind this is a very preliminary list and is subject to change and of course there will be many additions.
Here are the tidbits of information I have thus far.
Environmental Access and Transportation Committees: Once again, EAC and Transportation will join forces. This year they will focus on pedestrian safety issues.
ACB Government Employees and American Association of Visually Impaired Attorneys: ACBGE and AAVIA will conduct a joint session on legal issues surrounding employment.
Braille Revival League: BRL plans a session about the NLS E-readers plus a session with several other affiliates on braille graphics.
ACB Women: ACBW will host the always energizing yoga with Leslie Spoone, and their session featuring two inspiring blind women will be renamed Sister Power Happy Hour.
Rehab Issues Task Force: This year, join in on a panel discussion featuring several state rehab commissioners; they will discuss pending legislation and let us know how we can support their important work.
International Relations Committee: IRC will host its ever-popular Voices from Around the World featuring our international guests. They also hope to join in with other affiliates to sponsor programming.
Friends-in-Art: FIA will host the Showcase of the Performing Arts on Friday evening, July 16th.
Opening general session will be on Sunday, July 18th at 7 p.m. Eastern time, with daily general sessions Monday through Thursday from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Eastern time, and on Friday the 23rd from 10:30 a.m. until 4 p.m. We will read the convention newspaper every morning and have the convention connect shows for 30 minutes just before and after general sessions.
The ACB auction will be on Tuesday the 20th, and the banquet will be held on Thursday the 22nd. The remainder of the week we will hold “An Evening with ACB,” featuring programming of interest to convention attendees. And on Friday evening, July 23rd, we will host an Olympics opening ceremony gathering; stay tuned for details.
We will once again have our virtual exhibit hall and our audio described tour channels.
Staying in Touch
The conference and convention announce list will be filled with information. To subscribe to the list, send a blank e-mail to [email protected].
If you received updates for the 2020 convention, you do not need to subscribe to the list.
Convention Contacts
2021 exhibit information: Michael Smitherman, (601) 331-7740, [email protected]
2021 advertising and sponsorships: Anthony Stephens, (202) 559-2045, [email protected]
For any other convention-related questions, please contact Janet Dickelman, convention chair, (651) 428-5059 or via e-mail, [email protected].