AADB E-News
January 2006
In This First Issue
Welcome to AADB E-News!
We hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday season and are now well-rested for the new year of 2006.
We'd like to kick off the new year by introducing a new monthly newsletter, AADB E-News. The E-News is another way AADB will keep members and the public informed about what is happening within AADB and the national deaf-blind community. This shorter publication will be sent via email to everyone in our database with email access. Members of AADB who do not have email will get this publication via large print, regular print, Braille, and CD/Disk.
We will try out this new publication for the first six months of this year. The E-News will be published in the months of January, March, May, and June. Each month members will get something from AADB - AADB E-News or The Deaf-Blind American. After June, we will evaluate whether the E-News helps AADB's outreach efforts, so please give us feedback on what you think about this E-News!
New AADB Website
We are reaching out to our members and supporters in other ways too. Our new website is now up and running. It is visually pleasing, full of new information, and accessible to Braille and screen readers. Go to http://www.aadb.org to visit this exciting website.
New! AADB Listserv
We have just started a new listserv for AADB members for the purpose of exchanging ideas and information about AADB and the national deaf-blind community. Randall Pope is the moderator for this new listserv. Members who wish to subscribe should send an email to aadb-L-subscribe-request@tr.wou.edu.
Two New Additions
We are excited that we now have two new people working for us under contract, starting in January 2006. Randall Pope is responsible for maintaining and updating the AADB website, and for moderating the AADB listserv. Mr. Pope has served as our AADB webmaster for several years as a volunteer.
Judy Groner is our other contractor. She is responsible for our graphic design, layout for our publications, photography, and other graphic and art work. She also has been doing artwork on a volunteer basis for AADB for several years.
Welcome, Judy and Randy!
Conference News
The 2006 AADB National Conference, "AADB on the Move: No Deaf-Blind Left Behind", is rapidly approaching! Only five more months to go before we begin an exciting conference on June 17-23, 2006, at Towson University in Baltimore, MD.
- Registration - Our Registration Chair, Randall Pope, is busy putting the final touches to the conference registration packets. They will be available sometime this month and will be sent out to members via email, Braille and large print. They will also be posted on AADB's website.
- Calling for Workshop Proposals! We are looking for workshops on a variety of current hot topics in the national deaf-blind community, including but not limited to, Emergency Preparedness, SSP issues, Technology, Aging, and more! Deadline for workshop proposals is February 15, 2006. Call for papers information Is available on our website, www.aadb.org. You can email workshop proposals via attachment or send a disk to Elizabeth Spiers at espiers@aadb.org.
- Call for Activities. If you would like to have a special group meeting, a discussion group, a get-together with others who share common interests, a support group, or any other activities at the conference, you would need to write a brief proposal on the purpose, how many people you anticipate, and who would facilitate the groups. We need to get these proposals by March 1, 2006 in order to secure space and put them in our program schedule. Email proposals to Elizabeth Spiers espiers@aadb.org, or mail a disk to the AADB office.
- Awards Nominations. Know of someone active
in the deaf-blind community deserving of an award? AADB
wants to recognize
these outstanding
individuals! Tom Sprinkle
is Chair of our Awards Nominations committee
for the 2006 AADB conference. He is looking for names
of people
who
have made
a significant contribution
to the
deaf-blind community. People can be nominated
for the awards below:
- Laura Bridgman Memorial Award - given to an individual for outstanding achievement in meeting the challenge of deaf-blindness.
- John J. Murphy Memorial Award - presented to an individual for effective advocacy and promotion of the interests of deaf-blind Americans.
- Peter Salmon Memorial Award - presented to an individual for dedicated and outstanding service to deaf-blind Americans.
- AADB Special Services Award - presented to an individual for devoted and outstanding service to AADB and its special interests and goals.
- People can make a nomination by contacting Tom Sprinkle at sprinkle@tmail.com (pager), via email attachment to sprinkletm@aol.com, by calling 510-797-3213 TTY, or faxing information to 510-739-6431. Deadline to submit nominations is March 31, 2006.
- Calling All Exhibitors! We are looking for a variety of businesses, nonprofits, and deaf-blind crafters to display their products at our conference. Check our website on exhibit information. Contact Debby Lieberman, Exhibits Chair, for more information at AADB-exhibits@mindspring.com.
Thank you for reading our first E-News. Let us know what you think! Email us at AADB-Info@aadb.org
Contact AADB!
We are always anxious to hear from you! AADB is a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization and depends on the generosity of donors to keep its services and programs running. We accept donations in memory of a loved one, in honor of someone’s special occasion, and for specific AADB services. All donations are tax-deductible. Please consider making a donation today. Thank you for your support! For more information, please contact us at:
American Association of the Deaf-Blind
8630 Fenton Street, Suite 121
Silver Spring, MD 20910
301-495-4402 TTY/VP
301-495-4403 Voice
301-495-4404 Fax
Email: aadb-info@aadb.org
Website: http://www.aadb.org
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