Next years convention is in Nashville
By Christina
Clift
Some of the
topics discussed over the three-day weekend included: exciting advances in
technology, updates on legislation that will improve the educational
opportunities for all blind students, how to stay fit and healthy, and updates
from organizations such as Tennessee Vocational Rehabilitation, The Tennessee
Library for the Blind, and the NFB national office. Convention attendees also
had the opportunity to drop by the hospitality suite, explore the exhibit hall,
and participate in several raffles.
At exactly
9:00 AM on Saturday morning the gavel sounded which opened the 2017 convention
of the National Federation of the Blind of Tennessee. The welcoming ceremony highlighted the rich
history that Memphis offers in the areas of music and basketball, as well as greetings
from the Tennessee legislature by Senator Reginald Tate.
Throughout
the entire day the theme of “Federation Heart, Grit and Grind” was
continued. It not only reflected
Memphis’s love for the Grizzlys, but also the spirit of our organization.
Perhaps one
of the most anticipated topics of the morning was the live demonstration of
Aira. This technology provides visual
interpreting through the use of a device hooked onto a pair of glasses. It can provide blind individuals with travel
instructions to reach a destination, describe patterns on a rug, give menu
suggestions at a local restaurant that you might like, recognize faces, and
help you find an empty seat in a crowded room.
You access a
live Aira representative through an app downloaded to your phone and through a
terminal she can see what you are looking at by asking you to scan your
environment. Although it is still in the
testing phase, Aira created quite a stir in convention attendees. Vocational Rehabilitation will be getting
lots of requests as soon as it becomes available to the general public. You can find more information about Aira by
visiting their website at https://aira.io.
OrCam also
provides a device that hooks onto your glasses which will read print that it
sees. James Boehm said, “I can sit in
the back of my class at Vanderbilt and Orcam will read what my professor has on
the screen. It’s provided me with a way to instantly access things I would
normally have to wait for someone to read or send by e-mail.”
NFB
Tennessee closed the first day of general session out by electing three new
individuals to our state board of directors.
They included Greg Self from Knoxville, Shannon Hanson from Knoxville,
and Joh Harris from Murfreesboro. These
three individuals will be a great addition to the state board.
On the last
day of convention reports were given from each Tennessee affiliate chapter and
division. It’s was an opportunity to get
a peek at what other chapters were doing for outreach, community education
projects, fundraising, and membership. After hearing the reports it’s safe to
say that our chapters are strong, active, and growing throughout the year.
It was a
time to also reflect on the lives of the members who died and didn’t make it to
convention. The Federation is like a
family and we miss those who are no longer with us, cheer on those who are in
poor health, stand up for those who need help, and welcome new members with
hope, love, and enthusiasm. We also
selected our location for next year’s convention which will be Nashville. We
hope to see you there.
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