Welcome to NFB Ohio.org

From the President’s Desk
by Barbara Pierce

This late summer edition of the newsletter always contains lots of
information about our annual convention, which this year is November 3 through 6. I
hope you will make a special effort to join us because we are trying something a
bit different this year. As you read Mary Pool’s article about convention
arrangements, you will see that many of the peripheral activities are what we have
come to expect: seminars, committee meetings, technology displays, and hospitality.

But to give you some insight into this one-time-only departure from our usual
program of state and library officials and outside experts of various kinds, I must
tell you a bit about the weekend conference I attended in mid August. It was held
at the National Center for the Blind and was billed as an advanced leadership
seminar. I was present as one of a handful of mentors, but I think I derived as
much from the day-and-a-half of presentations and workshops as any of the twentynine
participants. We all found that getting to know other committed Federationists
and working together to sharpen our skills and define our goals revitalized our
energy and our commitment to what the organization stands for. All of us committed
ourselves to step out in new ways in the coming months to share with others what we
learned that weekend and try to breathe new life into our affiliates and chapters.

I decided to try to shape our convention agenda so as to remind ourselves of
what the NFB stands for and what we are trying to accomplish in Ohio across the
organization. We will not be hearing this fall from outside officials. Instead you
will have a chance to learn firsthand about a number of the initiatives of the
Jernigan Institute, including the Kurzweil National Federation of the Blind Reader—
the portable one that reads on the go. We will think together in various ways about
what we stand for and how to spread our understanding of blindness everywhere from
the halls of Congress to the local bus.

I am not going to tell you any more; you will have to come and experience the
convention for yourself. Don’t worry, though. People who are attending their first
convention will not feel out of place. This is not going to be an event for only
the initiated. If the program unfolds as I hope it will, people will come away with
a new and more complete understanding of what we are trying to accomplish. And I
trust that all of us will be more energized and more effective in changing the
lives and prospects of blind Ohioans. I hope to see you at the convention in
Cuyahoga Falls.

Buckeye Bulletin Fall 2005 (Download the entire newsletter pdf version)