First, I would like to thank you all for allowing me to be your Alternate Delegate to this year's CCB Conference and Convention held at the Double Tree Hotel in Fresno California. I very much enjoyed working with Diane, our Primary Delegate, and Alice, our President.
Thursday June 6.
As I live in Fresno I did not stay at the hotel. I arrived early on both Thursday and Friday at 7 am. My wife gave my guide dog Leif and I a lift to the hotel on her way to work. Thursday we sat in the main lobby, enjoying a cup of coffee and listening to the sound of the waterfall decoration close to the dining area.
At about 9 AM we made our way to the Convention registration area. Leif introduced himself to Pam's dog Franklin as we waited in line. I chatted to a few people in line around me, giving some tips on the best Indian Restaurant in town and things like that.
Diane was just ahead of me in line, so we met up immediately after registration so I could share my numbers with her regarding the voting preferences which I had received. Thanks to everyone who wrote to express their preferences on voting. Diane took into account your preferences and cast a vote in proportion to your wishes when appropriate. We chatted about what areas we were most interested in and set out a plan so that we could attend as many different events as possible, bearing in mind that we felt it important to attend the GSGDHI meetings on Saturday, June 8.
On Thursday afternoon I attended the Technology meeting. The theme was accessible gaming. Most people seemed to like driving games, though some preferred card and board game conversions. Also popular were Multi User Dungeons, or MUDS for short. These are similar to the old text dungeon problem solving text games of the first home computers back in the 1980's. Do you remember those? I do. Even used to try and created them myself using a dungeon builder. Some of the companies discussed were:
Blindfold Games: A designer of some good Voice over compatible games.
RS Games design interactive multi-player games. Some variations of Scrabble, Some card games.
A popular multiplayer game was "Crofting Kingdom". The aim of the game is to build a farm using some initial resources, buying items that improve your small plot, selling produce and buying more improvements. A popular resource for gamers who use the Apple Operating System is Applevis.com. This website allows Apple users to look for Voice Over compatible software and apps. It is also useful for finding everyday use apps not just entertainment software.
Thursday Evening Board Meeting and Dinner.
In the evening I attended the board meeting and dinner. At the board meeting the Board was introduced, and the treasurers short report and proposed budget was discussed. The Board had proposed to begin drawing on the corpus funds of the Newell Perry Endowment Fund. The corpus fund is the initial endowment given to CCB in the 1950's. So far, all proceeds from investments have been withdrawn in recent years. The Board decided to only take from the corpus fund a limited amount for the next fiscal year if the budget can be followed member income and reduced expenses together with sub-letting CCB office property in Sacramento should allow the balancing of the accounts.
Friday 7th June, 2019.
In the morning I attended part of the transportation discussion and then went on to the Library Users meeting. At the transportation meeting I was particularly looking forward to hearing more about Autonomous Vehicles. The first hour covered this topic, and our speaker was from Cruise Automations Inc. Cruise Automations Inc. is a joint venture between Honda Motors and GM. Several months ago GM decided that autonomous vehicle technology departments should be placed in a separate entity from the main GM company. It then created Cruise Automation with the Japanese motor car manufacturer, Honda. Cruise has four vehicles that it is working on at the moment. Each has a different purpose in exploring the technology required to build autonomous or self-driving vehicles. The company is not looking towards individual ownership of the vehicles, they see the future as being in mass fleet sales to companies like Uber and Lyft or delivery systems for the likes of amazon and McDonalds or Burger King. Every year 40,000 Americans die on our roads and interstates. 94% of all these accidents is caused by human error. The aim of autonomous vehicle research is to reduce these figures. Many of those present were not happy about computers being able to control vehicles safely, given the recent record of computerized flight systems in Boeing aircrafts.
Personally I am interested in the idea of autonomous vehicles. So I asked that the representative of Cruise take back the idea of making the interior of the vehicle easily convertible to allow us to transport our dogs safely on the floor of the cabin, rather than having fixed seating which may lead to dangerous travelling conditions for anyone with a guide dog or assistance dog. He expressed interest in the suggestion and said he would take back the idea to the design team.
Following the transportation program, I ,went on to the Library Users of California (Clua) meeting. First there was the business meeting and elections: Bonnie Rennie was re-elected for a second term as President. There was some general talk about ways that we listen to audio books. Special Note: If you have a tape reader from your NLS library, you should contact them to upgrade your reader. The tape recordings are being phased out, and soon books on tape will no longer be available. Many members of CLUA now use smart speakers like the Echo (Alexa) from amazon or Google Home to read their books. Many are also happy to use the BARD system to borrow books by download from the internet.
There was a lively discussion as members chatted about favorite authors and book recommendations. I would advise anyone interested in books to take a look at CLUA. Membership is $20 per year, July 1 until June 30. They have an active recommendations list and lots of ideas for some good reads.
Friday afternoon General Session 1
The first General Session was supposed to have a talk by the representative from Cruise Automation Inc. but he was unavailable due to being called away.
The board called on those present to give a thank you to the hotel staff and management for their work helping create a good atmosphere for the convention. Many of us found the staff very helpful. One member of staff, Paul from the security section at the hotel was given a special thank you at the final session on Sunday.
Shannon Muhall - the Fresno ADA coordinator spoke about her work and thanked the CCB for choosing Fresno as the site of this year's convention.
Michael Dune, an attorney in the field of disability rights for 28 years, spoke about the issues surrounding accessibility to self-service checkout kiosks such as those found in McDonalds. Action is being taken to have McDonalds and other fast food restaurants comply with the ADA regulations in this area. At the moment, these kiosks are not all accessible for blind users. He also addressed the issue of scooters and bicycles that are now being made available in major cities for short distance hire. The main issue has to do with the fact that they are parked on sidewalks and causing obstructions. Also, many vendors are operating without licenses and his firm is working with cities to enforce laws that would address this issue. They are also looking into issues regarding liability if a scooter or bike is left on the sidewalk and a blind person falls over it.
There was also a moving tribute to former president Cathie Skivers
Friday evening, I attended the "Birthday Dinner" for CCB and enjoyed a good meal and reminiscences from people about what CCB has meant to them through the years.
After dinner, the second general session was ,held. The elections were held after six names were put forward. Five of those were elected by acclamation with the sixth being contested. A nomination was put forward from the floor and an election was held with the nomination committee nominee elected after a close vote. Congratulations to those GSGDHI members being elected to the CCB board.
Saturday, June 8th
The first session I attended was the GSGDHI business meeting. The meeting minutes passed and the treasurer's report was accepted and have already been published on the GSGDHI list. Elections were held and Alice Turner was elected president by acclamation. Vivian Younger was elected as Secretary and Diane Deutch was elected to the board, both by acclamation. A special thank you was extended to Pam Metz for her service.
The Advocacy committee reported that SB260 was due to pass.
The guide dog lounge telephone meetings have proven very successful.
Fundraising efforts continue with a 50/50 raffle at the convention
The new logo of Forward together was officially accepted
After a short break, we moved into the rest of the program. We had room introductions with our guest of honor Doctor Waterhouse of the Waterhouse veterinary clinic. She spoke on various issues that come up regarding our guide dogs such as movement in young adult dogs, dog allergies, and lumps and bumps. She stressed the need to brush your dogs' teeth daily and recommends a full yearly examination as she sees a lot of dogs with teeth problems.
Dr. Waterhouse also discussed pain treatments such as cold laser and acupuncture to help with injury and arthritis pain issues.
A lively discussion came up about dog food as Dr. Waterhouse sees a lot of "boutique" and specialty foods where the labels they have on the packaging do not necessarily reflect what is actually in the food. Alice Turner suggested that this could be a potential area of advocacy in the future to push for "truth in labeling" laws for dog food.
Dr. Waterhouse also answered many questions asked by audience members regarding issues surrounding guide dogs.
We then adjourned to lunch and enjoyed round table discussions about self-advocacy and mentorship.
General Session - 3rd session
A report was given regarding the Department of Rehabilitation. There is a large monetary gap in money allocated and services rendered. The state seems to be operating under the idea that, in this relatively good time in our economy, more funds must be kept back to prepare for when budget cuts are imposed when the economic downturn occurs. It was suggested that more education be provided to youth to help them prepare for work. Also, it was agreed that we needed to address the issue of "low expectations" for the blind and low vision community and that greater preparation for work be encouraged at all levels. Finally, it was agreed that we look forward, and not dwell on past failures in this area.
A lengthy discussion occurred during the board session regarding a call for members of the board to donate funds to CCB as part of their service. The main reason given for this was that many grant applications and those that give grants are looking for whether board members have "skin in the game". Board members suggested that even a donation of $1 would be considered acceptable as the amount was not important but that they could truthfully state on application that they contributed financially. The concern on the floor was that those who could pay the most would get seats on the board. There were three vocal votes and on the third vote the amendment to the bylaws was passed and now the rule will say that board will give of their time, their skill and their treasure.
Following the session, we enjoyed the food and fellowship at the CCB banquet and two scholarships were awarded.
Sunday June 9th: Fourth, and Final, Session
This session was devoted to committee resolutions and bylaws. Resolutions and recommendations regarding autonomous vehicles, asking Trader Joe's to use standard bar codes, making playgrounds and parks accessible, encouraging people to complete the upcoming Census and a sincere thank you to all the volunteers passed by acclamation.
The treasurer, Lisa Thomas, gave her report with the final total standing at $460,000 in the bank, cash and investments. There was a discussion about the dwindling funds in the Newell Perry trust and the trustees issued a warning that the trust is now in danger of being liquidated. This will mean that the CCB will no longer be able to rely on income from the fund. The board elected to not take all of the remaining funds in the trust but to limit their withdrawal to $37,000 in the fiscal year 2019/2020.
The 2019 CCB Convention was declared closed.
