by Stephen Speicher
Last year ACB looked back and celebrated its history. This year a group of ACB members asks you to join us in looking ahead and beginning to prepare for ACB’s future. We call the project “ACB Future Place,” and we invite your participation.
What will happen in ACB Future Place? Brainstorming and informal give-and-take about developing a future for ACB and how to get there; helping people interested in a topic affecting ACB’s future to find each other and start discussion groups; informal or facilitated discussions concerning proposed amendments or resolutions to see whether agreement can be reached before taking the idea to the appropriate committee; a suggestion box for those with ideas but no time for discussion; an ombudsman function allowing those with ideas to learn about existing ACB procedures for change and getting them in touch with the right committee or personnel. If you are interested in improving ACB but don’t have specific ideas, just drop by ACB Future Place to learn what others have proposed.
Extended discussions could be held in ACB Future Place across several days on topics such as developing a proactive, organization-wide advocacy strategy, or ways to implement sustainable, ongoing, low-cost leadership training and development.
The planning group is working on some other ideas as well, such as experimenting with ways for those unable to attend the convention to participate in the Future Place experience.
Several scheduled events are already under consideration. One of these would review the processes we currently have for bringing change to ACB, the goal being to increase the chances that ideas will get heard and will get addressed in appropriate ways. Another event under consideration is an open forum on the topic of ACB’s future, probably on Monday night from 8 to 10. Keynote speakers will be LeRoy Saunders, the inventor and architect of ACB’s first effort at long-range planning, and Carl Augusto, President and CEO of the American Foundation for the Blind, who will share his own special perspective on ACB and its future. We hope this forum will generate a number of good ideas which can be pursued throughout the rest of the week and beyond.
Where Will We Find the ACB Future Place?
Plans call for room 419 (called “Future Place South”) to be the center of Future Place activity. Come here to find out what’s going on in Future Place, to find others who are interested in shaping a future for ACB, or to meet up with others interested in discussing a particular Future Place topic. Another room (called “Future Place North”) will be used for scheduled discussions and other activities requiring more space or more quiet than Future Place South can offer. We hope to make both of these spaces special environments in which the atmosphere is designed for the challenging and important work of preparing for ACB’s future. To work toward this atmosphere, we ask participants to observe the following ground rules:
- No smoking. We want all to feel welcome; and some people need to avoid tobacco smoke.
- No alcohol. Courtesy and clear heads will be important in what are likely to be spirited discussions.
- No personal attacks. We ask that all who step across the threshold into ACB Future Place agree to leave personal grudges and conflicts outside.
- Official hats are to be checked at the door. We hope that all those with current elected, staff or appointed positions in ACB will participate fully in ACB Future Place, for the project needs their knowledge and their perspectives. But we ask that all participants come to ACB Future Place as nothing more, and certainly nothing less, than ACB members and friends.
- Speak for yourself or for an affiliate, if designated by the affiliate for that purpose; and allow others to speak for themselves.
- No campaigning. Candidates and their supporters are certainly welcome, but this will not be a forum in which to promote or oppose anyone for office.
How Will Activities in ACB Future Place Be Conducted?
Volunteer facilitators will keep discussions on track and help all participants observe Future Place ground rules. Other volunteers will make participants welcome, serve refreshments and explain activities. Organizers will manage the spaces in ways that allow participation by the greatest number of interested conventioneers.
Is ACB Future Place Politically Motivated?
Yes and no. It does not seek to promote the election or removal from office of any specific person or group of people. But it certainly does seek to give both voters and candidates more opportunities to make more thoughtful, informed decisions about how to get to the future they want for ACB. No one in the Future Place planning group currently holds elected office in ACB’s national structure; and none of us are seeking election this year. But many of us hold one or two appointed positions in ACB, and each of us is active in at least one affiliate.
How Will ACB Future Place Be Funded, and How Much Will It Cost?
The current cost estimate is between $9,000 and $10,000, mostly for hotel space. None of this money will come from the ACB budget. Instead, it will come from those who choose to support or sponsor the effort. The planning group has decided that any excess of funds raised over actual expenses will be donated to the Floyd Qualls Memorial Scholarship endowment fund. For information on how you can support ACB Future Place financially, look for upcoming announcements or contact any planning group member.
How Will ACB Future Place Be Staffed?
By volunteers; and yes, we are recruiting. If the idea takes off, ACB Future Place may be open long hours and need a good deal of volunteer staff support. We are, for example, looking for resource people and discussion facilitators who agree to follow Future Place ground rules while conducting Future Place activities.
We are excited about the potential of ACB Future Place to produce good results for ACB and its constituents. We hope the effort this year will begin a tradition of using some of that precious convention time for planning ACB’s future and preparing to go there.
We welcome your suggestions. As the project takes shape, look for more Future Place announcements and share them with your friends.
The ACB Future Place Planning Group consists of Marcia Dresser, Steve Dresser, Rebecca Hodson, Gayle Krause, Donna Smith and Steve Speicher.