Thomas Mitchell for ACB Board of Publications

Thomas (Tom) Mitchell
1450 Highland Cove Lane 313
Salt Lake City, UT 84106
(801) 272-0874
E-mail [email protected]

1.  I first came to the ACB in 1978 at the convention held in Salt Lake City, but was not particularly inclined to join.  It took a lunch and a frank discussion of the condition of the blind and issues surrounding it with Grant Mack that convinced me to join.  Since then I have served in the UCB on its Board of Directors as Secretary, Vice President, and upon the death of Grant Mack President.  I have also served twice on ACB's Resolutions committee, and a term on the BOP.  I have also served as editor of the Utah Courier, a past publication of the UCB, its producer of the taped edition, and as narrator of the UCB Flier.  In addition, from 2007-2010, I was for three years a Braille proofreader for the Utah Schools for the Deaf and the Blind and in that capacity attended BANA conferences in Dallas TX and Boston MA, and have tried to keep abreast of changing conditions in the Braille code.  I am married to the former Donni Lewis, and with a previous wife am the father of two children, both grown, and am a guide dog user, though he is not with me here.
 
4.  From 1980 to 1993 I was employed as a public affairs technician of the U.S.  Bureau of Reclamation.  My responsibilities included writing press releases, magazine articles, audio scripts, and revising video scripts for video presentations, as well as narrating some of them.  I was also in charge of a hotline whose purpose was to inform boaters and fishermen of river conditions throughout the region which included a large part of the Intermountain West.  As mentioned earlier, during this period, I was involved with publishing material for the UCB.  While serving my previous term on the BOP I volunteered with Jay Doudna to write but how-to book on how to record a newsletter for ACB affiliates.  I have also served as editor for LUA's publication, though I believe that its name have changed since then and I've forgotten what we called it.  I have also worked in ACB's press room, at the time, assisting for the hotline and other duties as needed.
 
5.  Frankly, the focus of this question is too narrow, so I wish to expand its scope while trying to answer it.  Certainly ACB's web page must reflect what it organization is and does, and I believe it currently does that, but if it can be made more useful, and if improvement is possible, then that should be done, providing that usability for screen readers is not compromised or sacrificed.  As far as social networking is concerned, I am not a social networker, and I think that no matter what the BOP does here, possible misleading statements about ACB may occur by well-meaning members which can be corrected by individual members.  So right now, I'm honestly not sure that the BOP should be involved in that area, as it merely reflects the interests of some users.  But here is something I believe the BOP have not pursued very well in the past.  We need to be sure that editors of affiliate newsletters really know that the BOP is a resource they can use for assistance.  I think that the BOP gives lip service to that, but doesn't really follow up on it.  BOP should have a current list of all affiliate newsletters and who edits them.  It should, from time to time, let each know what BOP is doing, and how that could help local editors, and, if important issues come up from time to time, keep editors inform.  We should also be sure in each release or advertisement that goes to the general public that ACB's name is featured prominently so that the American Council of the Blind can be more readily identified as a separate and distinct organization of itself, and not part of any other organization.