Paul Shane
Greeting Friends and Supporters:
I want to talk to you today about "Conventions, Canes and Celebrations."
If I am to be honest, I was a "tad" nervous about attending the 2017 conference and convention for the first time and had no idea what to expect. What I found surpassed my greatest expectations. The enthusiasm was electric and contagious. Positive and passionate people could be found everywhere and I was very excited to meet people face-to-face for the first time.
By all accounts, the 2017 convention was a great success! Sure, we had some technology issues, random 14th floor fire alarms, and other challenges, but overall things went well and people had a great time.
I want to take a minute to give special thanks to all my "breakfast buddies," who stopped me from eating alone and shared their honest feedback, opinions and hopes for the CCB. I truly appreciated your companionship and contributions.
Here are some comments from a few Sacramento volunteers who, at my request, helped out at convention:
"I am not sure how you constantly rope me into these things, and I was not all that excited about coming at first. Once I arrived, that all changed. I found my experience at the convention to be truly humbling and life changing, and would not have traded it for anything!"
"I have been struggling without much of a purpose since graduating college. That changed in April of 2017 after being 'voluntold' by my old boss to support the 2017 convention. I now have a renewed sense of purpose, and plan to pursue a Master's degree in social work beginning in the fall."
"I was terrified to come. I had never been around a blind person in my whole life and didn't know anything about them. To say that I felt trepidation would have been an understatement. Then I began to meet people from all over California who were truly amazing! Not "Blind People," just people. I met so many amazing people who openly shared their contributions and experiences with me. To some, I was a third of their age, but it did not stop them from calling me a friend. I had a wonderful (if not exhausting) experience at the 2017 convention and would love to be invited back. Maybe I should listen to Paul more, then again, maybe not."
As we move into the second half of 2017, we will be planning and implementing the first "Canes Across California" annual fundraising campaign. The acronym CANES stands for Collaboration Through Advocacy, Networking, Engagement and Service. CANES will be a social media driven fundraising campaign that kicks off on August 1, 2017 and culminates on White Cane Day weekend in October of 2018. The purpose of this event is to raise awareness for the CCB, raise activity levels, and raise resources for the important work that we do.
The CCB corporate office will coordinate the overall logistics of the event, and each chapter or individual will be responsible for their own activities and accomplishments. Funds raised will be shared through a joint revenue agreement between the CCB corporate office and individual chapters.
The format of the event will be a virtual activity fun walk, run, dog-a-thon, or any other creative active alternative that an individual or chapter decides to do. A significant amount of time and energy will be dedicated to encouraging people from outside of the membership to support the event, and documenting our activities through various media.
The beauty of this event is in its individualism. For example, if you are not physically able, you can register as a virtual supporter. An entire chapter may decide to do a campaign-long event, or to just do one event at some point in the fundraising campaign. You may decide to do your virtual run on a treadmill at the gym or at home and wherever you do it, you can track your mileage. CCB members may also encourage their local Lions Clubs and/or other community organizations to do something active to support the event.
It is equally important to capture our activities and supporters and share them with the world through our various media platforms. This will create the buzz which leads to greater awareness, relationships and funds for the CCB. It will also bring our chapters closer together and begin to build the broad-based community support that is essential to our longevity.
The CEO call in June will be about CANES and will gather feedback from you, answer questions, provide guidance and support, and help chapters to create their own CANES events. Be sure to read the California Connection for the time and date of this call.
As the CANES campaign concludes, we will turn all our attention to Celebrations Week 2018. Celebrations week occurs from March 19-25, 2018. Included in Celebrations Week will be the 2018 conference and convention, which runs from Thursday, March 22 through Sunday, March 25, and will be held at the Sacramento Marriott, Rancho Cordova. Many other exciting things are planned for Celebrations week as well, including a tactile and sensory art show and sale, substantial community outreach and education, an employment panel, Capitol Day, a guided walk along the American River, and a Dining in the Dark Fundraising event.
Dining in the Dark will be the signature fund raiser for the CCB in 2018, and its success is essential to our survival. Dining in the Dark takes place during our annual convention, and will be held at the Marriott, as a separate fundraising activity. To attend, you must purchase a separate ticket. Ticket prices will be commensurate with similar events and will be set with the purpose of bringing in the necessary funds to support the operational costs of the CCB. There will be no free or reduced-rate tickets to Dining in the Dark. We expect this to be a sold-out event, so please plan to buy your tables and tickets early if you are interested in attending.
The event will feature a cocktail party and silent auction; live entertainment and dancing; a multiple course dinner in the dark in conjunction with a presentation on the CCB, and a bidding in the dark live auction complete with an affinity and reverse auction.
The chapter and/or individual who raise the most money to support the Dining in the Dark event will receive one complimentary double occupancy hotel room for the length of the convention (Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights) and meal tickets to all scheduled convention events for two people, two tickets to the Dining in the Dark event, and recognition in the program and by the emcee at the event, all free of charge. The specifics and minimum benchmarks for this incentive will be set by the Dining in the Dark Work group, and broadcast widely across the membership once the criteria have been set in stone.
I am looking forward to all of your support in the exciting and hectic days ahead. I can never thank you enough for all that you do to support the CCB. We appreciate and value your ongoing efforts.
With Every Good Wish,
Paul Shane, CEO
