Welcome to the California connection for April 1.
From The President
Due to medical reasons, there may be occasions during the period prior to convention when the office will be closed, and you may experience delays in the return of telephone messages or emails. However, rest assured that convention-related items, including pre-registration and other items will be handled in a timely manner
We thank you in advance for your patience in this matter.
One way in which you can save time for the office is to send your pre-registration information via email.
In order to submit your registration to the office by email, download or save to your computer the convention announcement from the website and cut and paste the appropriate registration information into an email. It will help to identify your registration if you use the subject line "convention registration" and send it to ccotb@ccbnet.org.
If you don't wish to include your credit card information, you may still call that into the office.
Hotel Orientation
The 2016 annual Conference and Convention program will not contain a written narrative description of the hotel layout. However, you can obtain a set of audio files in MP3 format that contains hotel orientation information.
You may obtain this information in several ways.
You can download it from the CCB website
by clicking here
You can obtain a CD ahead of time by calling Ed Branch at 800-221-6359 and it will be mailed to you if you let us know by Friday April 1.
Finally, you can obtain a CD, SD card, or thumb-drive of this information at the Conference and Convention Registration desk.
You can find links to read or download the 2016 convention announcement and program information, a link to read the 2016 candidate statements, links to listen to or download the Viejas Hotel and Casino audio description files and to read conference and convention preview material at http://www.ccbnet.org/conventions/upcomingConvene.htm
Conference and Convention preview:
What you should know about Title 24, Accessible Pedestrian Signals, and Cycle Tracks
You have been asking for presentations covering: What are my physical access rights in the built environment, how can I get an accessible pedestrian signal (APS) installed, as well as what are cycle tracks and how will they impact me as a pedestrian with a visual impairment.
Now you have the opportunity to have your questions answered during the April 8th 9:00 AM to 12 noon Joint Session of the Committee on Access and Transportation and the California Council of Citizens with Low Vision.
The presenters are: Syroun Z. Sanossian, CASp, Principal, SZS Consulting Group LLC, Cathrina Barros, HQ ADA Engineer, ADA Program, California Department of Transportation, and Martha Styer, Statewide Coordinator for Traffic Signals, Division of Traffic Operations, California Department of Transportation.
Also, there will be advocates who will share their experiences how they got APS installed in their local communities.
Don't pass up this opportunity to learn how you can affect changes in your community by knowing what your rights are as well as to the process of making changes.
Conference and Convention preview:
If I had a magic wand, what changes would I make to the CCB conference and conventions?
The California Council of the Blind for the last three years has been experimenting with its programming for its annual conference and conventions.
Time has come for us all to decide whether the organization's conference and conventions are fully addressing our needs, and if not, what we must do to make them more rewarding.
Please attend and participate Friday evening April 8th during the Second General Session when the CCB Conference and Convention Committee will be conducting the first of two forums to come up with recommendations for the structure and focus of future conference and conventions.
You need to prepare to answer the following questions:
- How can we make future Conferences and Conventions better?
- Do we merely need to make small changes in the convention program and the format of our conventions, or should we dramatically change our approach?
- What do you most enjoy about our conventions and what do you think we need to change?
- Do you see a need to expand or compress the length of conference and conventions, and why?
Now is your chance to make a real difference in one of our most important undertakings, the annual CCB Conference and Convention, so be prepared to give us your thoughts and suggestions.
Candidate statements
The spring California Council of the Blind 2016 Board candidate statements are now on the CCB website.
http://www.ccbnet.org/candidates_2016.htm
Get to know who is running and what their future plans are for CCB!
Proposed Resolutions and Constitutional Amendments
From Gabe Griffith
It is that time again to start thinking of those resolutions and constitution and bylaws (C&B) proposals. I am still serving as C&B chair and am back as resolutions chair.
For those proposed C&B amendments the deadline is April 1. Please note that this is the week before convention. This is so the committee can discuss them and prepare them for presentation to the members for a first reading on Friday night April 8.
The resolutions deadline will be noon on Friday April 8.
You can submit either resolutions or C&B proposed amendments to me or any member of the relevant committee.
My contact information for these purposes is gabrielgriffith@gmail.com or (925) 768-8195.
I will have access to phone or email constantly in the weeks leading up to convention and during convention so please don't be late. Late submissions will not be accepted.
The committees thank you in advance for your cooperation and consideration.
GDUC Program Information
The April CCB conference is fast approaching and The Guide Dog Users of California (GDUC) Program committee wants to share a description of the great programs awaiting all guide dog handlers attending the conference.
Saturday, April 9, 10:15 am to 11:45 am
Title: Accessibility...How to Deal with the Uninformed Business Owner
Join us to learn about the ADA laws pertaining to access for service dogs in public places in this interactive workshop presented by Deborah Sands, Owner/Founder, DJS Consultant Services. Debbie will speak about access issues and our rights.
Special focus will be placed on problems we all face due to "fake service dogs".
The participants will have the opportunity to practice how to handle access issues using case studies based on our own experiences.
Please Note and Reply:
What we would like to have from you:
In order to make the program as relevant as possible to your needs, please send to Alice McGrath at amcgrath@vistacenter.org, your experiences with denied access for you and your guide dog.
What was the situation and how did you handle it?
You may also send examples of issues you have faced due to "fake" service dogs.
Deborah Sands Bio
DJS Consultant Services Simi Valley, CA 93065
Debbie has spent over 20 years in the service animal business starting with 16 years as Director of Public Relations & Development for Guide Dogs of America.
From her years extensively traveling across the country, as a guest speaker, Debbie continually witnessed the business missteps when interacting with someone with a service dog and felt it was time to develop an educational training program for businesses.
Her company, DJS Consultant Services, founded in 2011, specializes in service animal access education.
Her ideal clients are restaurants, museums, entertainment venues, libraries, hotels, etc. Debbie covers technical issues from the tasks service dogs are trained to do to the proper etiquette of welcoming someone who has a service dog.
GDUC Lunch Program at Noon on Saturday, April 9
Come and join your fellow guide dog handlers for a fun and informative luncheon.
We will have reports from the guide dog schools and also a speaker from Canine Companions.
Our speaker is a graduate of Canine Companions and he will be bringing his service dog.
We will learn about the training and matching of service dogs and how the dogs assist the handlers.
From the CCB Hearing and Vision Loss Committee Auditory Anatomy
Please note the new phone conference number and ID code below.
Tom Brennan will review the anatomy of the ear. Then continue on to What does your audiogram mean? Auditory tests and specifically what they are and what they measure.
Join CCB's Hearing and Vision Impaired Committee as we explore this and more!
This is the sixth of a series of monthly open interactive resource conferences to help you deal with your hearing loss.
Date: Sunday, April 17; time: 5 PM pacific/ 8 PM Eastern; Phone: 832-551-5900 id: 368611.
We encourage you to sign up for our email list where we will be posting resources we have talked about and where you can share your resources and experiences with us.
Go to ccbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/hvi-l_ccbnet.org.
In addition, you can get links to previous audio recordings by emailing mlkeithley@comcast.net
Twitter Or FaceBook Research
Mr. Diego Graglia, the Silicon Valley online correspondent for Univision Noticias, is doing a story on how Twitter and Facebook are launching new features that allow blind users to know what's in a photo.
He is looking for a Spanish-speaking person who is blind who uses Twitter or Facebook in order to explain the impact, potential, and shortcomings of this technology.
If you or someone you know meets these criteria, Mr. Graglia may be contacted via email at dgraglia@UNIVISION.NET
ACB Roommate Request
Frank Welte is looking for a male, nonsmoker to share a hotel room at the 2016 ACB Conference and Convention in Minneapolis.
If interested, send Email to Frank.A.Welte@gmail.com, or call (510) 541-1442.
Thank you for reading, Have a nice day
