by Paul Edwards
At the post-convention board meeting, the intent is usually to deal only with those items that cannot wait till later or that were not completed during the board meeting held on the first Saturday of the convention.
One activity that always occurs during this meeting is resolutions prioritization. The resolutions that are adopted by ACB are prioritized by the board with the advice of the chair of the resolutions committee. Prior to the board meeting, the staff and the resolutions committee chair met and came up with a list of priorities which were adopted with only minor debate.
The board also had a chance to discuss how the convention had gone with the chair of the convention committee. In general, the consensus was that the convention had gone well. There was some discussion as to whether there are just too many activities being scheduled at the convention. Carla Ruschival, chair of the convention committee, reported that her group will look for ways to get a more accurate count of those who are actually here. Many people who work in booths do not get counted and some of those people who attend our convention just do not register.
Michael Garrett provided the board with a report on the current state of the ACBES (American Council of the Blind Enterprises and Services) board which he chairs. In spite of the difficult economy, Garrett said, the stores are holding their own. The best months for sales are at the end of the year, so it is still not certain that ACBES will meet its commitment of $225,000 to the ACB budget. However, he is hopeful.
Brenda Dillon provided the board with information on the raffle, the auction and the walkathon. We sold over $12,000 in raffle tickets; and both the auction and the walkathon were successful. The auction earned $16,000, and it is expected that the walkathon will bring in over $20,000.
Over the past couple of years there has been considerable discussion about leadership training. Some regions have worked to hold training and there has been discussion of holding a youth leadership training session as well. The president appointed a committee to look at this issue and make recommendations. It is chaired by Berl Colley and includes Marsha Farrow, Mike Godino and Ray Campbell.
Officers made brief reports on the committees for which they are liaisons, and all of the various efforts these committees are working on appear to be going smoothly. The environmental access committee is working on a pedestrian safety handbook which is nearly completed. The medical services task force is working on two articles for "The Braille Forum" and working with the American Cancer Society to see that more of their materials are made available in accessible formats. After these reports, the meeting was adjourned.