Sheraton Dallas Hotel, Dallas, TX
The meeting was called to order by Chair, Denise Colley at 10:36am CDT
Members present: Denise Colley, Ron Brooks (phone), Tom Mitchell (phone), Judy Wilkinson, and Doug Powell
Ex Officio members present: Bob Hachey (IOC)(phone),
Absent: Nolan Crabb (PR), Kim Charlson (President)
Editor: Sharon Lovering
Contractors: Annette Carter (Website)(phone)
Absent: Larry Turnbull (Internet and ACB Radio)
Guests: Paul Edwards, Berl Colley, Jeff Bishop, Keri Bishop, Steve Fiksdal
The agenda was approved as distributed.
The June 1 meeting minutes were approved as distributed.
Guest Comments:
Jeff Bishop sought a clarification of the procedures at the Candidate Forum. His question was whether a potential candidate for a potential vacancy on the Board of Directors or the Board of Publications could participate in the Forum. Currently, there is no language on that issue and it has not been allowed in the past. Paul Edwards suggested that the Editorial Policy Manual could be edited to allow for at least an introductory statement by people interested in being considered for a potential vacancy. The BOP will consider this change when it discusses changes to the Manual. It was also suggested that in the language, a deadline for notifying the Chair of the BOP of a person’s intention to run and speak be included. It was also suggested that the Chair of the Nominating Committee announce the speaking opportunity and the deadline for notification at the end of his/her report to the General Session.
ACB IPhone App
Denise called on Jeff Bishop to announce the creation of the ACB App (as announced to the Board of Directors at their meeting the day before). This app is being developed for the national organization through funding by the Arizona Council of the Blind. The app will give extensive access to ACB and Affiliate resources. It is due sometime this fall. Denise mentioned that we had discussed an app as a possibility at one of our meetings and so she was very pleased when it came up at the Directors meeting.
Judy asked if this had ramifications for the BOP in terms of oversight. Jeff wasn’t sure.
Ron asked if an Android version was anticipated. Jeff said there was nothing in the pipeline, and development costs for Android would be significant. Paul mentioned that if we did Android, we would probably have to do Windows as well.
Jeff mentioned that the initial development cost to the Arizona Council of the Blind was $500. He suggested to the Board of Directors that the same amount be budgeted each year to keep the app on the Apple Store, to update the app for compatibility with IOS updates, and expansion of the app functionality. Paul offered to make a donation to the ACB to fund those costs for the next three years.
Doug made a motion that the BOP suggest to the Board of Directors that oversight for the app be placed under the Web Task Force and that the Web Task Force report to the BOP include updates we need to know about. Ron seconded for discussion. There was discussion, and then Judy offered an amendment to make primary responsibility for oversight to the BOP similar to other outlet entities. Doug and Ron accepted the amendment as friendly and the motion as amended passed.
Ron took a moment of personal prerogative to commend the Arizona affiliate for their internal renewal, their closer relationship with the national, and growing the affiliate. He mentioned that Jeff has been a big part of this revitalization, and the new app is a demonstration of this.
Editor's Report - Sharon
Convention 2015
t’s been a very busy year! In December and January, I sent out the affiliate membership lists. I signed up a few new people for the online database; 29 affiliates requested Word, 9 wanted Excel, 6 wanted large print, and 31 used the AMMS system. Some affiliates used the AMMS system but wanted a Word or Excel list for comparison.
In February, the ACB national office staff was busily preparing for the midyear meetings.
I continue to work with the public relations and credentials committees, as well as the board of publications. This year I also had the pleasure of working with the awards committee and the DKM committee. Allen, Chelle and Chip were fabulous to work with. The BOP awards had quite a few candidates, too, and the votes on those were neck-and-neck right down to the wire!
Statistics
Numbers below are in the following order: 2015 numbers, followed by the 2014 numbers and percentage of increase or decrease in parentheses.
The May issue went out to:
3,290 large print readers (3,860, decrease of 14.77 percent)
1,340 cassette readers (1,740, decrease of 22.99 percent)
785 braille readers (875, decrease of 10.28 percent)
162 CD readers (181, decrease of 10.5 percent)
and 3,057 e-mail readers (3,575, decrease of 14.5 percent, largely due to a purge of invalid e-mail addresses in the March-April time period)
Grand total: 8,634 (10,231, decrease of 15.61 percent)
The July issue is going out to:
3,340 large print readers (4,010, decrease of 16.71 percent),
1,325 cassette readers (1,720, decrease of 22.97 percent),
780 braille readers (860, decrease of 9.3 percent),
159 CD readers (172, decrease of 7.56 percent),
and 3,079 e-mail readers (3,596, decrease of 14.38 percent).
Grand total: 8,683 (10,358, decrease of 16.17 percent)
Since January 1, I have received:
14 pieces for Affiliate News,
0 pieces for Committee News,
83 pieces for Here and There,
13 pieces for High Tech Swap Shop,
6 pieces for Passings,
4 poems,
1 acknowledgement (which ran twice),
0 letters to the editor, and
80 separate articles.
* as of June 29, 2015
In May I received back in the mail:
21 large print copies,
7 braille copies,
and 25 miscellaneous copies of “The ACB Braille Forum.”
As of June 26th, I have received 27 large print copies, 2 braille copies, 7 miscellaneous copies, 14 cassette copies, and 122 of the convention information trifold brochures.
Deadlines for the Rest of the Year
September (convention wrap-up): July 27th
October (electronic): August 26th
November (to include DKM tributes and salutes to his 100th birthday): September 25th
December (electronic): October 26th
Tables of Contents
April 2015
President’s Message: What Can Marrakesh Do to Help Make Books Accessible for Everyone?, by Kim Charlson
ACB Legislative Imperatives for 2015, by Melanie Brunson
The Bright Stars Align over Dallas, by Janet Dickelman
FIA Reflects on Turning 30 and Looks Forward to the Future, by Dwayne Estes
Walk with the Stars at the ACB Brenda Dillon Memorial Walk, by Donna Brown
Seeking Helpers for the 2015 Information Desk, by Vicky Prahin
Come One, Come All to the Lone Star Loot Auction!
Product Evaluations and Guides: A Review of the Odin VI: An Accessible Feature Phone from Odin Mobile, by Bill Holton
Passings
Affiliate News
Here and There, edited by Sharon Strzalkowski
High Tech Swap Shop
Blind Bind, by John Lee Clark
May 2015
Acknowledgement
President’s Message: Riding the Rails, by Kim Charlson
ACB Sues Four D.C. Cab Companies for Discrimination Against People Who Use Guide Dogs, by Melanie Brunson
Convention Week Sneak Preview, by Janet Dickelman
Show Your Love for ACB and Get the Chance to Win up to $5,000!
Got an Amendment for the ACB Constitution and Bylaws? A Few Reminders, by John Huffman
Join the Stampede at the ACB Brenda Dillon Memorial Walk, by Donna Brown
An Update on Giving Societies, by Tom Tobin
ACB Monthly Monetary Support Program (MMS) Funds Many Useful Services, by George Holliday
Seeing Can Be Deceiving, by Ken Stewart
Affiliate News
Passings
Here and There, edited by Sharon Strzalkowski
High Tech Swap Shop
UEB, by Nancy Scott
June 2015
Attention All ACB Leaders and Members!, by Kim Charlson
President’s Message: WIOA: Laws, Regulations and Why They Should Matter to You, by Kim Charlson
Audio Description News Flash!, by Melanie Brunson
ACB Honors Its 2014 Annual Giving Society Donors, by Tom Tobin
Register Early to Get the Extras in Dallas!, by Janet Dickelman
Information Desk Reminders, by Vicky Prahin
A Mini Mall Stampede, by Carla Ruschival
Audio Description Project Seeks Active Participation from ACB Members in Dallas, by Susan Glass
FIA Showcase: Something Old, Something New, by Peter Altschul
Convention Sneak Peek: Passport to Knowledge
Extra, Extra! Convention Newspaper Now Seeking Volunteers
Affiliate News
Membership Focus Call Discusses Essential Elements for an Affiliate Web Site, compiled by Ardis Bazyn
Here and There, edited by Sharon Strzalkowski
High Tech Swap Shop
July 2015
President’s Message: Go Team: ACB and Baseball, by Kim Charlson
FCC Issues Rules to Improve Access to Emergency Information, by Melanie Brunson
Staying Connected in Dallas, by Janet Dickelman
Free Indoor Wayfinding at ACB 2015: What You Need to Know Ahead of Time
Crossroads 2015: The Highway to Success, by Carla Ruschival
Facebook Accessibility for Users with Visual Impairments: What Facebook Wants You to Know, by Bill Holton
Miles to Go Before We Rest, by Larry Johnson
Walking a Mile in Heels Leads to Community Involvement, by Lenny McHugh
Timed to Perfection, by Ryan Lucas
Affiliate News
Passings
Here and There, edited by Sharon Strzalkowski
High Tech Swap Shop
Sharon added that Mid-Year wouldn’t have happened as well if it hadn’t been for her mother. With the snow, etc., the usual logistics were impossible, and her mother drove Sharon and the essential materials to their proper places no matter what.
Judy suggested we send her a letter of thanks.
Communication Center
Sharon is working over the weekend with two of the three embossers. It has to wait until Monday to see if the sensor problems can be fixed.
Also, there are no text-to-speech programs available for the computers, and Sharon doesn’t have email access in the Press Room.
She’s hoping for a braille paper delivery to replenish stock that is getting very low.
Committee Reports
PR Committee, Nolan Crabb/Tom Mitchell
No report.
Oral History/Leadership, Berl Colley
No report.
ACB Radio, Larry Turnbull, submitted via email 7/21
Here are the listener counts for the month of June:
Server:
ACB Radio Mainstream 735
ACB Radio Cafe 275
ACB Radio Treasure Trove 1895
ACB Radio Interactive 528
ACB Radio World News and Information 290
ACB Radio Live Event 0
Phone:
We had 3799 calls for the month of June.
AudioNow did not give percentages on what callers chose to listen to during the call this month.
They are changing their interface so I don’t know if those stats will come back.
Web hits:
We had 2650 web hits for the month of June.
Downloads:
MainMenu Archives 1730
Speaking Out for the Blind 105
We picked up 0 subscribers for the ACB Braille Forum and E Forum podcast.
We picked up 3 subscribers for ACB Reports.
We had 4887 tuning hours reported by Stream Licensing for the month of June.
We had 270 calls to the ACB Braille/E Forum hotline for the month of June.
Lists, Bob Hachey
No report.
Social Media, Carla Ruschival
No report.
Unfinished Business
Expanded E-Forum Priorities
First, it was mentioned that we should keep the size in the 56-page range since recording costs and email delivery size might become issues if we get too much larger.
Ron suggested that we use the electronic issues to run articles that reference other external information as links.
Tom suggested that we might need to give committees and task forces an example of the kind of article they could submit telling members what they are up to, and he suggested the BOP start this off. Ron suggested that this would be very easy to do from the minutes of our meetings. Doug suggested that we haven’t specifically solicited to the special interest affiliates, committees, and task forces, and that we might need to do this several times to make sure that they start thinking of participating.
Doug suggested that a low priority be put on convention information since there is a lot in the hard copy issues.
Judy suggested printing articles from the Liggett winning newsletter. Use information from the cover letter and Sharon’s summaries to point out what makes an award winning newsletter, and perhaps an excerpted article.
October issue initiatives:
What BOP is doing, with solicitation to entities for similar articles from them. Ron
Technology article from Paul or his designee.
Liggett winner, Denise
Denise mentioned that we will be adding other types of experimental material in the future as we get a feel for what’s working, and what resources are available.
New Business
We had no time to start work on the Policy Manual, so we will visit that at our next meeting.
Items to remember to address:
Length of articles in the Convention newspaper
Clarify how long a person or affiliate needs to wait to be eligible for BOP awards.
The meeting was adjourned at 12:05pm CDT.
Respectfully submitted,
Doug Powell, Secretary