Minutes
President Doudna called the
meeting to order at
Everyone shared in a moment of silence to honor those who
passed away during 2009 and to seek higher guidance during the meeting.
Two items were added to the agenda: 1. Discussion of
the 800 number and 2. A fundraising idea.
Minutes from the June 7 and June 25
meetings were filed as presented.
The 2009 Convention Treasurer’s report was filed as
presented. The Treasurer’s Report was read, but it will
be filed after corrections are made. Treasurer Bailey said OCB came out
ahead around $2,500 on the Convention this year. The Tulsa Council of the
Blind donated $1,500 to OCB to help cover the annual ACB dues of $3,000.
The meeting adjourned at
2009 Convention Chairman Golightly
asked for constructive feedback as far as what we did right and how the
Convention could be improved. One suggestion President Doudna heard is that maybe we had too much actual
convention programming this year and also that maybe someone should be tasked
with program event time-keeping.
Jean Jones reviewed the three resolutions passed in
convention this year which are: the need for specialized services through
the division of Visual Services, preserving the delivery of assistive
technology within Visual Services; and OCB’s support
of the Statewide Agenda on Blindness. Jean Jones and Joe Fallin will draft a letter to
The next few items on the agenda concerned reviewing
President Doudna’s committees for the upcoming year.
The President indicated he plans to sit in on these committee meetings and said
we need to look beyond the Board and to the membership at large for
participation on each committee.
President Doudna broached the
subject of the Judy Pool Hansen Transportation Fund Committee. Elaine Doudna has already donated $500 to this fund. The
President instructed the Treasurer to investigate where this money could be
invested for maximum return. The Committee is charged with reporting back
to the Board on how much should be in the fund before it can be utilized, how
the funds will be distributed for the purposes of transportation to the
convention, etc. Committee members are Elaine Doudna,
Jesse Martinez,
Vicky Golightly and anyone else who is interested in
serving.
Relative to the Membership and Outreach Committee, President
Doudna reviewed where most OCB’s
membership is concentrated, which is where are chapters
are active. He says he knows of at least six groups of visually impaired
people who meet throughout
Jesse Martinez, Pat Kelly and other interested persons will
investigate fundraising opportunities and serve on the Fundraising Committee.
Jesse Martinez presented the idea of selling
cookbooks. He passed out three samples from Morris Press, books with a
soft cover, a hard cover or a lose three-ring binder. The smallest order
we can make is 100 books with 150 recipes at the following prices per book:
soft cover at $4.40, the hard cover at $6.60; and the three-ring binder at
$8.25. Everyone agreed that books should be available in at least
16-point type, Braille and maybe in audio format. Mr. Martinez will check
with Morris Press and other entities to see what the cost would be to produce
books in large print. Those present also agreed there should be a central
point where recipes would be collected, specific categories defined, recipes
solicited from multiple organizations and from a wide variety of people and
recipes should reflect varying cooking skill levels. A report about this
venture will be forthcoming at the next meeting.
President Doudna said it is vital
the Board and membership decide on specific tangible projects and programs we
wish to fund. Vicky Golightly suggested the
Board and membership have a day-long meeting to develop OCB’s
goals and strategies. Should we concentrate on advocacy, transportation,
raising funds to put assistive technology into the hands of blind or visually
impaired Oklahomans, etc.? At this meeting the results of the Statewide
Agenda on Blindness could be reviewed. This meeting will be held at the
Oklahoma Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped on
President Doudna wants to form a
Governmental Affairs Committee. Jean Jones and Joe Fallin
need assistance on this Committee.
There were several suggestions on how to proceed to recruit,
retain and grow our membership. Suggestions included:
· Reviewing
the membership list by a few people to discover who knows who;
· Calling
everyone on the list to tell them about OCB and asking them what areas they
would wish to participate; and
· Sending
out a short survey either in the newsletter or in a separate mailing seeking
responses to questions such as would they like to be an active OCB member, what
are their passions, updating all contact information, etc.
Julie Bailey and Jesse Martinez will co-chair the 2010 OCB
Convention. They contacted the Tulsa Convention and Visitors Bureau, which
distributed bid requests to
· The
· The Hilton
Southern Hills offered a sleeping room rate of $89.00 per night for up to four
people. OCB would need to have at least $3,000.00 in food functions at
the Hilton. Depending on our sleeping rooms and the food functions, the
meeting rooms might rent for about $200.00 per room.
Larry Coffey said good lighting where nighttime activities
are located is a MUST. A Convention report will be forthcoming at the
next meeting.
President Doudna and Jean Jones
reported a Transportation Task Force has begun work and is planning to meet
with Beverly Graham
(formerly with United We Ride)
to look into transportation advocacy strategy and how all transportation
funding mechanisms work and in some cases come together. It is vital that
transportation advocates are trained to grasp local, state and federal transit programs
and also the complex funding mechanisms for these programs. Members of
the Committee are Beverly Graham, Jean Jones, Elaine Doudna,
Vicky Golightly and any other interested persons.
Transportation was one of the top three issues of concern on
the Statewide Agenda on Blindness.
President Doudna said he supports
the idea of a Newsletter Committee. Committee members are Elaine Doudna, Jeri Cooper, Vicky Golightly,
Jeanne Meyer and anyone else interested in participating. The President
said Board members should be thinking about articles they wish to write for
inclusion in the newsletter and we should have a contest to name the
newsletter.
The President asked Joe Fallin to
work on developing advocacy training, possibly with the assistance of the
chapters. Jean Jones said depending on the issues which OCB wishes to
address, perhaps inviting organizations such as the National Federation of the Blind
of Oklahoma, the Oklahoma Rehabilitation Council, the Oklahoma Association for
Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired and others
might be a good idea. Jean Jones, Joe Fallin
and President Doudna will discuss the direction of
the Advocacy and Training Committee during December.
After chapter reports, President Doudna
stated he is concerned chapter members may not look to OCB for guidance but
instead tend to function on a local chapter level. Joe Fallin said workshops and social events are important to
give OCB members a view into the purposes and goals of OCB.
Jeanne Meyer will review OCB’s 800
number documentation in order to fully utilize the telephone line and President
Doudna will investigate other communication options.
The
Treasurer’s Report will include a separate line item for Sustaining
Sponsorship money
A question was asked about what should be done with the
Oklahoma Alliance of Blind Students (OABS) money. This will be discussed
at the next meeting, though the Board agreed OCB must develop a plan to attract
students to OCB.
Jeanne Meyer reported there will be no summer school at the
The meeting adjourned at
Respectfully Submitted,
Lynn (Vicky) Golightly, Secretary
Attendance List
Jay Doudna (Board Member)
Tommy Robertson (Board Member)
Julie Bailey (Board Member)
Vicky Golightly (Board Member)
Jesse Martinez (Board Member)
Joe Fallin (Board Member)
Allison Fallin
Jean Jones
Linda Graber
Jeanne Meyer (Board Member)
Carolyn Patocka
Larry Coffey (Board Member)