Call to Order/Introductions
The June meeting was called to order by Chairman Ron Brooks at 9:02 PM on June 4, 2019.
Members present: Ron Brooks, chair; Deb Lewis; Penny Reeder; Paul Edwards; Susan Glass.
ACB employees and contractors present: Sharon Lovering.
Ex officio members present: Kim Charlson, ACB president; David Trott, ACB treasurer; Bob Hachey, email list manager.
Guests: Mary Haroyan.
Adoption of Agenda:
This protocol was skipped, however, the agenda proceeded as proposed.
Approval of May 7 Minutes:
Motion: Paul moved and Penny seconded adoption of the May 7, 2019 Minutes. Motion passed.
Open Forum:
Mary stated that she has really enjoyed the themed issues of the ACB Braille Forum and E-Forum and that it’s nice to see contributors who otherwise probably would not have been included.
Ron said that we need to create a timeline for the theme content so that the BOP is soliciting content in a more organized and timely fashion.
Final Arrangements for the ACB Candidates Forum
Larry was not on the call to confirm logistics. It will be June 19 at 9 p.m. Eastern. There are four candidates who have submitted pages. There is one position for which no candidate has submitted a page. The pages are online but has not been announced. Ron will do so as soon as he connects with Larry to confirm the participation instructions. Penny and Deb noted that some aspects of the Holiday Auction instructions might be good to incorporate into our instructions. Ron will facilitate the forum and Deb will stand by to assist in any way.
Final Convention Planning Logistics
BOP Meeting: This will be on Saturday the 6th at 10:30 a.m. Deb and Paul will bring compatible speakers to ensure that Ron can participate and that we can record the meeting for the Minutes. Ron will develop the agenda based on last year’s process and will publish it in advance.
Award presentations: Deb will present the Vernon Henley Media Award on Sunday at 10:05 a.m. Susan will present the Ned E. Freeman Excellence in Writing Award and the Hollis Liggett Braille Free Press Award on Tuesday at 11:10 a.m.
The Writers Workshop will be held on Wednesday at 1:15 PM. Deb, Susan and Katie will present, and Paul will come to assist. There is a plan for prerecording the demos. Deb will post the description to the Leadership list and ask Janet to post it to the Convention list.
Town Hall Meeting: Paul and Penny will facilitate this on Wednesday evening at 7:15. This is an open forum, there may be several candidates running from the floor.
Convention summary assignments: Friday Board meeting, Deb; Saturday, Susan; Sunday, Ron; Monday, Penny; Tuesday, Paul; Wednesday, Susan; Thursday, Deb. All summaries need to be to Deb by the 22nd. Deb will make sure BOP members have access to the program recordings as soon as possible.
Communications Center: Sharon did not receive many responses to her request for help. Some does always appear, but people are requested to help when possible.
Chairman’s Report: Ron Brooks
Ron reported that he is primarily wrapping up activities as BOP Chair. He submitted a summary reflection article on his time with the BOP for the July ACB Braille Forum.
Editor’s Report: Sharon Lovering
May 2019 Issue type: Hard copy; Page count: 80
Braille distributed: 699; returned: 7; received: 692; Return rate: 1%
Cartridge distributed: 690;
Large print distributed: 2,500; returned: 29; received: 2,471; Return rate: 1.2%
Electronic distributed: 6,717; returned: 5; received: 6,712; Return rate: 0.1%
June 2019 Issue type: electronic; Page count: 96
Electronic distributed: 6,752 (+0.52% over last month)
July 2019 Issue type: Hard copy; Page count: 80
Braille to be distributed: 691
Cartridge to be distributed: TBA
Large print to be distributed: 2,488
Electronic distributed: 6,715;
I am working on putting out the July issue, and aiming to have it out the door by Wednesday, Thursday at the latest. I have finished Carol McCarl’s memorial piece and dedication page, found a good photo to go with it, and laid out the dedication page, photo and all.
I sent out the latest Dots and Dashes Friday, as well as recorded and sent out the newest Washington Connection. Once I finish the Forum, I will tackle updating the ACB Job Connection. I also updated the convention information on our phone system – and will be updating it again next week with the tours that have sold out since this morning.
Last week, my other big project was unpacking the boxes and organizing the files into the new file cabinets in the conference room. I did it all in a day, and labeled the file drawers according to their contents. I also unpacked all the other boxes in the conference room and organized their contents into the bookcases outside the conference room. Two shelves hold all the cassette versions of “People of Vision;” another shelf holds the printed copies. Then I broke down all the boxes and lids for recycling.
I’ve unpacked the Forums from their boxes and organized them into shelves in my office; however, I’ve run out of room for the braille. I will be working on organizing my files once I get the Forum out the door and the Job Connection done. My new file cabinets are letter-sized – and all my old files are in legal-sized folders.
Other Reports
ACB Radio: Larry Turnbull
Larry was not present. Deb said that the ACB Radio Management team has not met recently.
ACB Email Lists: Bob Hachey
Leadership Subscribers May: 274; Messages: 168
ACB-L Members: 342; Posts: 116
ACB-Chat Members: 158; Posts: 186
Social Media Stats
Not available.
Public Relations: Katie Frederick
Katie was not present.
Update on Themed Issues of the ACB Braille Forum and E-Forum
August will be Dog Days and is due June 25. Ron will send a notice. September is transportation, and Ron is taking the lead as his first post-BOP activity and as chair of ACB Transportation.
Other Business and Announcements
Kim thanked Ron for his service on the BOP, noting that he stepped up when needed to become chair. All agreed that Ron has done a phenomenal job of organizing and structuring the work of the BOP. Kim noted that the BOP has never been this productive in her memory. Ron said that the BOP has been productive because we complement each other’s strengths. It has always been a team effort rather than any one person.
Kim discussed how Ron’s term end could result in an election for a BOP seat. Therefore, the new BOP chair appointment is one of the first tasks for the new ACB president.
Next Meeting:
The next meeting will be held at the ACB conference and convention in Rochester, N.Y. It is scheduled for July 6, 2019 at 10:30 a.m. Eastern time.
Adjourn
Deb moved and Susan seconded adjournment. The meeting adjourned at 9:58 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
Deb Lewis, Secretary