Category: Let's talk
So, somebody always starts one of these topics every year, and as I've seen people post on twitter and such things about starting to look for plane tickets, figured it was time. So, Who's going this year? I'm planning on it, but haven't worked out all the details yet. And, is there any interest in any sort of zone meetup? I know a few times in the past people have tossed about the idea. So. Here's your place to talk about all things convention this year. Also, if you're interested in attending, and it's your first time, feel free to ask questions here or drop me a pm.
As in years past, I will make this a sticky topic so that it will be at the top of the let's talk board, until after convention ends.
Yup, I will be there.
I'll be there. Already got my room / plane tickets. Staying an extra day to go to Harry Potter World. Woo!
Can't make it this year because of money constraints. I'll probably be at the one next year in Dallas.
I'm with Michael. I don't think I'll be able to make it for the same reason, though if I can figure it out, I'd love to go. I'm still mad I missed Detroit. We've been in the same cities the last ten years, that it'd be nice to go to a new one. However, I know that if I can't go this year, we're in Orlando for 13, 15, and possibly even 17, so I'll get my chance yet.
I'll be there. I'll be the one next to the pool with an umbrella drink, watching all the tourists from any point north of the florida border as they melt in the extreme heat and humidity. I don't think people fully realize what 98 degrees of heat and 95 percent humidity really feel like.
Oh well, more entertainment for me.
definitely will be there! wouldn't miss it.
Hahahaha, Cody, I only realize a little. Spent some time in Tampa back in 2002. I'm sure I'd be in for it if I came down for Convention, though. Grin.
It's almost in my back yard even though I'm not going because of taking summer classes. Someday I might go to one just to see what they're like.
I'm not going, but wanted to extend the fact I've been before. so, if anyone has questions, feel free to contact me.
I echo Fighter. I've been to eight of them, so if anyone has questions about them, and what they are like, feel free to contact me as well.
I have been to 2 of them and am hoping I can go to the orlando one, I might reserve the room and if the plain tickets don't go down then just cancel it. It's awful expensive going from California to Florida. And as for hot and humid, oh yes, I've seen plenty of it believe me... I'm lucky here cuz of the ocean breeze but in places I used to live, oh yes, humidity was off the chain.
(raises glass) here here to the harry potter world comment, it should be quite a productive convention, with the prototype of the virginia tech on display and the promise of technology that has surpassed anything else from years past, it promises to be the best convention yet... oh, and no offense to dallas/ detroit, but where would you rather be? i'll give you a few seconds to ponder that question... yes, of course orlando.. disneyworld, universal studios, and sea world.. it will be a blast
I'm going! I got my tickets and my room's all paid for! Hope to see you all there! Yay #nfb2011!
I'll be going with the NFB center i'm returning to since i am a student there.
Sadly, we're not staying a day after for the Harry Potter theme park, unless I can convince someone otherwise ...
I'll be going as well, this is going to be my third convention. I'm not going on any of the tours as I can't take off anymore time then my paid vacation allows for me to.
Yes if anyone wants to meet up, we should set up a zone meeting of some sort if time and place can be arranged.
I think I'm going and OMG Time Traveling Bunny can I go to Harry Potter with you? I really want to go. LOL
I will not be there. Send my appologies, and tell them I wasn't independent enough to get their independently, and I was worried that I wouldn't be allowed to hide my blindness by folding my cane.
Thanks in advance.
here we go with the misconceptions again...shrugs.
i can't go to convention this year due to my booked summer schedule, but hopefully next year i will. :)
and senior, lol. i was kind of tempted to make that comment here just for reactions. :P
Well for misconceptions they're sure confirmed by a disturbing number of people. And I'm still not sold on this blind car business whatever people say.
anyone got a room that they no longer want so that I don't have to go to the overflow hotel? Lol.
so I'll be going to convention after all and will be there from the 2nd to the 10th. However I was only able to make my reservation from the 2nd to the 9th, and that's at the overflow hotel nonetheless. I'm hoping to see if either someone wouldn't mind Jorge and I as roommates for just one day being the night of the 9th so we can go on a tour, or if the off chance someone has a hotel room at the hotel where the convention is held and can't have the room for the convention days, including the night of the 9th. I would need to know the latter soon though so that I can cancel this room and get my deposit back.
Thanks and hope to see many people there.
Jess
It looks like I might be visiting for the weekend, although I'll have just come back from a vacation, so I can't be there for the whole thing. Hopefully there will be interesting things happening on the weekend. if not, it'll be fun socializing with everybody. I've never been to anything like this before.
which weekend, the first weekend? Or the weekend of the 8th when it ends and everyone tries to go to the parks, lol.
The last weekend, unfortunately. Lol.
that's like the best weekend, rofl. At least in my oppinion, that's theme park weekend rofl.
Yep. I'm goin. I got ma shit booked already. Meeting up with some of u guys could prove interesting. :) First time goin for me btw.
this will be my 3rd convention.
I won't be attending..
I can't make it this year due to less exciting commitments. It's a drag because I've been to Orlando before on vacation. It's a cool place. You guys going to the parks will have a good time!
the sucky part about the parks is the nfb affiliates said they won't be doing the tours accept for kenedy space center because they couldn't get enough interest. So those of us who want to go to the parks will have to go on our own. I'm trying to get a group together so we can get group rates since they're a little cheaper for those who want to go to universal an are for sure going.
Who else is going to the parks with us Jess? I can try to set up an event or group thing on FB for it or something.
I won't be going because I don't want to spend money on a bunch of crap or like some of you spend tax payers money on an overrated vacation for blind people.
Wow. Judgemental much?
Yeah relly. Granted I won't be going for financial reasons and also because I'm not interested in the NFB, but still.
wow, totally judgemental definitely. Maria, did you buy your tickets already for universal or not yet?
No not yet.
I won't be going either. But it sounds nice. Have fun.
I'd mainly want to go to see that car they're working on, and it'd also be interesting to meet some of y'all from here. But I can't go either for financial reasons.
I'll be there, mainly because all of us from LCB are coming.
I'm not going to NFB, but I will say this. If you're going to Florida and you can figure a way to get there, Bush Gardens is the most undermarketed and yet amazing place for you to go visit. There is a wildwater with it also, not sure if it's on the same complex or not, but even just walking around in Bush Gardens the atmosphere and scenery there with no sight at all is still amazing. Unless you've a phobia of birds, you may like the Laurokete aviary where you can hold up a cup of nectar and birds will land on you / feed from the cup. Take off your jewelry first.
Birds, like most people, are attracted to shiny things.
yeah I heard bush gardens is pretty neat too. I might fly into and out of tampa since it's a bit cheaper so I might take a trip to bush gardens if we have the money and the time.
I wasn't planning on going to the parks, but if you guys are getting a group together in hopes of getting cheaper rates, I'm all for it. I can't provide my guarantees yet, but depending how much cheaper the rates are for groups, I should be able to give a definite answer soon. Keep in mind I won't be there for the whole convention. I plan to get there on the last Friday.
I hope you have lots of fun with our tax payer money while you're at the parks and I'm working.
You think most of us are getting there for free? we don't have to pay our own way there? the only people whose fare is included are those already at training centers, which you may benefit from, since it may teach you how to act like a civil human being. if you don't like it, don't get involved.
I think this person is saying that social security money is how most blind people are getting there. That's not the case for me and for that matter for a lot of people I know, we actually do work. They are right that social security money is tax payer's money, but what gives you the right as a tax payer to judge everyone like that. Obviously you have a very narrow mind of people and that's sad.
Gusy, I'd ignore Miss Tybee, as all she has to spew is nonproductive venom. As the rest of us know, the working blind who attend the convention are using their own vacation time and resources to do so.
And, I find that the more I hear of Convention, the more I wish I could go to it. Not been since 2007. and it's finally somewhere else than freaking Dallas!
I'm actualy looking forward to it, beeing its the first national NFB convention I'll have ever gone to, should be interesting.
it's supposed to be back in dallas again next year, :p. I don't see anything special about dallas at all, but whatever, lol.
oh don't worry island guy.. we will
It's back in Dallas because of the rates. If you consider the kinds of hotels we stay in and the rates we get for it, they are dirt cheap. that's for a lot of reasons, but one of them is that national contracts with them for us to be there multiple years. Our convention brings in a shitload of business for those hotels. So, they've contracted with Dallas for a lot of years, just as they now have with Orlando. We will be back there in 2013, 15, and I believe 2017 as well.
And, LOL, Shayne. Smile.
Hopefully we'll be in Orlando for 2013. I'll definitely be coming that year if it's the case!
if they don't fix the issue with hotels in orlando transportation wise they might consider changing it. All of the hotel is booked already for the convention and the overflow is almost booked up as well but as of this point there is no scheduled transportation between the hotels which is not good because it's about 2 miles distance. Not the typical distance someone would walk.
The good thing is jess, orlando has excellent public transportation, probably the best in florida. Trust me, it won't be much of a problem to get from one hotel to the next.
It was announced at our state convention 2 weeks ago that there's a shuttle between the main hotel and overflow that will run every 30 minutes.
oh ok they fixed that then, thank god. Cody, I heard all of Florda was horrble when it came to public transportation but we'll see.
Not really, only miami is absolutely horrible, but then, its miami, its a synonym for horrible. Tampa and jacksonville have ok bus systems, and several cabs, but orlando has the lynx. Its a really really good bus system.
i am going so can not wait. This is my second convention. I love the president addresses. Jason and i will be there
General session put me to sleep. It's not like I can stand up an pace to help me stay awake. What can I do so I don't fall asleep during all those speeches? Ugh ...
Pass notes with friends, if you're sitting around them.
I'm glad I have better things to do with my life.
So are we. it'll keep you out of our hair.
Apparently though, your all consuming life gives you just enough time to make a post which actually gives absolutely nothing to the conversation. Now if you could write stupid posts like that for a week, you could host your own convention.
What does NFB stand for anyway? The National Farting in Bed convention?
Wow, if it were NFBC, that might have actually been slightly closer to funny. It would have actually been plausable, but how you put it, it was both implausable and stupid, good job. Maybe now you can make the FDA into the federal dumbass associateion of american associations. I mean hell, you can't count the three letters in NFB, why stop there?
Man, I can't wait to go to the National Farting in Bed Convention. i mean, at least we'll be farting in our own beds and not in other people's business.
Now, to the topic at hand, please?
Passing notes sounds like fun. lol Hell, tweeting the entire time using DM's so noone can actually see the entire conversation is even better. :D
To the poster who's been so goddamn negative about all this, it's not as if I have any choice in the matter. For your information, I'm a student at one of the three training centers, and damn proud of it, so I'm required to go to general session.
You could always run the cord of your headphons up your sleeve and just listen to music. I used to do that in high school all the time. Or hell, just sleep.
I'd like to fart in someone else's bed.
Based on the negativity and piss poor attitude you've put on display here, I'd say you better get used to farting alone in your own bed.
I'll be around this year, and it looks like alot of other people I know will be as well who haven't said here.
That being said, I don't see why TybeeIslandGirl
insists on trolling the topic, it almost makes me wonder what insecurities she has that apairently are relieved by posting tripe that no one on this bord really cares about. For sure not the most productive or mature way to use ones time, but hey, free speach.
I think this girl is sighted, doesn't know much about blind people and our daily lives/struggles and is just here 'cuz she thought this site would get her some much-wanted attention, so I suggest we all leave her to act her IQ age, which is about 2. Lol. Honey you need a life, a toy and some manners.
The bible says to be kind to dumb anamals, so I do try...
For god sake you can't even spell, its animals.
Well, since you brought up spelling, it's "it's", a contraction for "it is". "Its" is a posessive pronoun. Pot, kettle, black... Please continue to show us your extreme superiority.
Oh yeah, and it's also "For God's sake". Someone hates the apostrophe as much as she hates blind people.
OK, sorry gang. I'm done with the attention starved troll. please get on with the NFB stuff.
I love black coffee and black people are sexy and no I don't hate blind people at all, I just like to play around.
I will be there, and this is my first one. Although I do not know as yet what the end result will be, my main focus is to network, see what the NFB is all about, and find new people to get hammered with.
I found it interesting that, when I called to book the room, they had avails from the 4th through the 8th, but nothing for the 2nd and 3rd. Who is booking for the first two nights, but not the rest? Maybe people are going to theme parks first,then leaving, or conventions are over-lapping?
With the above said, anyone interested in having two roomies for just the nights of the 2nd and the 3rd? No big deal; I'm just disinterested in overflowing for the first two nights, then coming to the main hotel for the rest. Send private message if interested. I am booked for the entire time, so not a big deal if this can't happen.
Voicedude, I'm glad you get to go! I hope you enjoy yourself! When did you make the hotel reservation? If it's been pretty recent, that's why you're having the issues you are with it. I think the reason the dates are screwy like that is that so many people are trying to get in. But perhaps due to some cancelling some or all of their trips, which does happen, and then others picking up what nights they can in each hotel to have the full stay, like you have. Frustrating, but attendance is going to be particularly high this year, I'm hearing. Do you have other friends who will be there? that makes any convention more fun, but if it's your first, it also makes it way easier. If you need any tips about Convention, send me a PM.
SisterDawn,
I grabbed the room in early February. Even then, the first two nights I needed were not available. I might PM you to get your perspective on convention. Everyone has their opinion, story, and reasons for going.
Voicedude, that's interesting. I didn't book until April and was able to get in the main hotel from the 2nd to the 10th. I must have gotten lucky and jumped in after some cancellations. Someone told me they've started a waiting list for passing out rooms due to cancellations. Maybe this is something to ask about. Good luck. Still, glad you're going and I think you'll have a great time. This will be my 3rd if you have questions.
this will be my third as well. i went to atlanta in 07 and detroit in 09. I'm looking forward to going to this one. this by far will probably be the coolest. When I called today they said all the rooms were full up in the main hotel still until the 8th. I also heard the second hotel if not already is very close to filling up as well. I'm staying the 2nd to 11th, so yeah it will be a nice vacation from work.
Homo trollus maximus to a certain prolific prior poster making it hard on you guys.
To the one wants to know what to do in a boring meeting or speech, games on your PDA are your friend. If you have iOS, I would probably avoid Papa Sangre in a general open area as there are parts of it you're likely to get a horrified scared look on your face / jump a little bit / make the rest around you wonder what part of the monotony scared you: then again, you may find that kinda fun. Anyway a game like King's Corner or anything written for the PAC Mate / Braille Note / whatever else notetaker they have will do fine also.
Too bad they have to put you guys up where it's so damned hot and humid though: If they did one in the Pacific Northwest you may find the weather pleasant. In the Florida heat / humidity, keep a bottle of water hanging around: humid doesn't mean you won't dehydrate. I once walked half a mile to McDonald's in Florida: and half a mile is only 8 blocks before you start saying you wouldn't walk a half mile, and I will say walking that far in summer in Florida will leave an otherwise healthy in-shape individual sapped out, so take you the golf carts or whatever the hotels offer.
well I'm from Texas and it gets pretty hot there too lol so I'm pretty used to unbearable heat. As far as the pacific northwest that isn't totally true. While I'm not in the pacific northwest per say I'm in northern california and I find the san francisco bay area weather to be absolutely horrible lol.
And why do you suppose Portland and Seattle have so many micro breweries? Lol
Jess, I've been to texas, and I was raised in oklahoma, where it was not uncommon for it to be over 100 degrees in the sumemr. I can promise you, you'll want to go back there after feeling florida in July. It is not a dry heat, it is a wet heat, it is like being in a sonna that you can't escape from. If you walk outside, every stitch of your clothing sticks to your skin, you sweat immediately, it saps your energy like your some kind of victim in a wizard movie.
I did my guide dog training in July, and trust me, it was terrible. Orlando is the hottest part of the state, it will be miserable. That's why they have four pools.
Lol Austin was pretty bad as well. In fact I think they say it's one of the most humid, lol. I'm used to the whole sticky thing, you get out of the shower, you're sticky. You try to put on your clothes, they're wet and you're even more sticky. Not all parts of texas are dry heat. As a matter of fact I don't like dry heat it messes up my skin, lol. At any rate I don't doubt it will be scorching, and I don't doubt it will be super hot but where I'm from humidity is off the chain so I know a little bit of what that feels like, lol.
Yay, circumstances have changed for me, and I'll be able to go to Convention after all! *Does happy dance* Maybe I'll meet some of you there.
ooh yay! That's awesome. did you reserve your room? cuz they're going super fast.
Why do you all insist on complaining about every little damn thing you can find to complain about! Be thankful you can go to something fun and have the luxury of taking the week off for those that work.
As far as I can tell, the only thing anyone has complained about on this board is you, Tybee.
Jessica, to answer your question. I got into a room with three other girls, who were looking for a fourth to help lower the cost of the room for all of them. The original girl reserved it months ago, so it's in the main hotel. Lucky stroke for me, and no mistake about it. I've not been to a convention in four years, and I'm really excited!
TybeeIslandGirl:
I raised the heat / humidity issue as one of safety. Most people on here are young, and probably to some extent assume themselves invincible: didn't we all? And I personally never knew heatstroke till going to Florida. That is not a complaint, it was merely on account of being misinformed and underrating what information I did have.
Consequently, to spare a few people grief when they ought otherwise be having a good time, I brought up the topic of heat / humidity / exhaustion, even at short distances like a few blocks.
I don't know what guard unit you are referring to in your profile, but as a fellow Guardian I should say you and I share the same responsibilities when it comes to the safety of other people. The safety of convention participants in Florida was the reason I barged into this conversation even though I'm not with the NFB nor will I happen to be there. If, as your profile states, you are part of a Guard unit, no matter which Guard we are talking about, I should think you would have recognized this up front, and not misconstrued that conversation as complaints.
It was me merely taking a bit of personal responsibility here for people I've come to know over the last couple of years being on here.
Understood, thank you for your service fellow military member.
Hey guys, I'll be there as well! While I'm new to the Zone, I am not new to the NFB! This will be my second national convention, and I'm so looking forward to it! By the way, for those of you that are at LCB I'll be joining you in June.
What are the dates? I have something that goes to July 1st but then I'm free. Could I make it?
You'd be cutting it close, but you could make it, if you could find a room.
both hotels are sold out I'm told but they apparently opened up a third. I don't know for how long though.
Holy Jesus, it's going to be pretty scary this year.
Normally, I'm clostrophobic, but this ... I'm already hyperventilating just thinking about it. I'll get through it somehow.
imagine being in those elevators to get to the banquet. Might wanna just take the stairs :p
Synthesizer, the technical dates are July 3-8. Most people I know are arriving the 2nd and leaving the 9th. Cody is right: you could do it, if you could find a room. Most likely you'd have to find people who already have a room and are willing to have another roommate.
Reyami, I hear you. I've been at some pretty packed Conventions, but this one sounds like it's going to be of epic proportions. I've been to eight Conventions thus far, but haven't gone since 2007. I get a bit nervous/claustrophobic thinking about this one, too. I'd love to know how many they've got pre-registered already, and that says nothing of the ones who will register on-site. I hope they compare this years attendance numbers to the ones they're likely to have next year in Dallas, and see the difference. Maybe it'll teach them to try harder to move this thing around more. I know why they don't, but their numbers are suffering for it.
I actually don't know why they don't move it around. I know it has something to do with some of the cities being more expensive and what not. But surely they can get good rates at anywhere besides Dallas? For example, Orlando is typically one of the most expensive cities to be at or to live in the United states. so why couldn't they have it in a place like say chicago, or San Francisco, or New york?
Well, first, what I've been told, then my own opinion. What I've been told by some of the leadership is that there are a couple factors. Yes, one is the hotel rates. If you think about it, we're staying in some damn nice hotels, for dirt cheap rates. However, we can get that because we also patronize the hotel restaurants more than a lot of Conventions would, and so on. But, the other reason we can get the rates we do is because we make contracts with whatever hotel to come back for a certain number of years. That way the hotel knows they'll get a return for the break in room rates they cut us.
The other thing is finding a hotel, or set of them, that is large enough to hold us. Not just in the sleeping room sense, but also that is large enough to accommodate our general sessions, banquet, and so on. When you put all those factors together, I'm told it severely limits the cities we can go to, the room rates we can get, and how much we can move it around.
I see all that to a point. It makes logical sense. But I don't think it has to be quite as bad as it is. For example, I don't see why in the world we had to contract to have like six conventions in Dallas, for example? (I say six because we've been there three times already, and are slated to be there in 2012, 14, and 16.) I think they go overboard with the contracts, and I also think there are other cities with hotels big enough to hold us, if national simply took the time to look for them. I've also heard many Federationists say they'd be willing to pay slightly more in room rates if it meant being able to move the Convention to other cities. I agree with that, too. That's just my personal opinion, but I'm obviously not in on the planning of this kind of thing. I wouldn't want to be. *Shudder*
Okay, I might not be with the NFB center after all. It's still up in the air right now.
To sum up a complicated situation, my VR ounselor has to talk to some medical professionals to see if it's okay for me to go back. I've just signed the paperwork allowing him to do this because the appointment was last week. Now, the agonizing wait begins. I'm not sure what to do. Do I just sit on my ass and wait, or ... Someone help, please?
Sorry, got a bit off-topic for a secon. i mean, either way, I'll be there. I mean, do I book the flight now? I've got this gut feeling i should book it sooner rather than later in case things don't go through and i'm not back in minneapolis by July. I'm currently in Wisconsin. I'm pretty sure my counselor just got the signed paperwork via snail mail today,..
To clarify. If you look at the sheer number of people we pack in at a general session meeting, most hotels simply don't have a meeting space capacity to hold us. And we're overflowing into 3 hotels this time. The hotel we're using this time is absolutely huge. (I'd suggest reading some of the info on the layout etc.) If you're going, prepare to walk a fair amount.
Yeah, looks like this years's convention is going to be huge, it's going to be my third convention, I'm looking forward to all the workshops exhibits etc. I'm not sure how easy it would be to set up a zone meet up as tons of people are at convention, and I'm sure it will be crazy to find people, so we'd have to plan something ahead of time if are schedules allow for such things.
the use of a facebook event is in order lol. I'm doing that for the theme parks for anyone who is staying a couple days after the convention. Trying to see who all wants to go to universal studios. Perhaps some kind of meetup can be posted as an event on facebook?
Wow. Three hotels? How awesome! I'll be there from the 1st to the 8th so won't be able to make the banquet but am already pre-registered. I'm soooo excited. First time going so I am looking forward to learning about what the NFB is all about! I'm so nervous but excited at the same time! Yay to first-timers like me!!!
yay first timers. You'll have fun, especially since it's in orlando, lol.
Best part about the banquet is that they draw for a door prize of major cash at the end. Of course chances of winning are slim, but hey, I'll take mine. Worst part of banquet is the food. Believe me, you're not missing much at all by missing banquet.
So I found the agenda and read through it and am wicked excited about all the events! Does anyone know how one can sign up for test driving the new car? Did I miss it already? I hope the pools open early cause I wanna wake up early to swim everyday! I! Am! Pumped!
Can someone make the agenda into a text document and send it to me? My computer doesn't want to read doc for some reason. Thanks
I want to test drive the car too! I think that would be a lot of fun!
Can someone make the agenda into a text document and send it to me? My computer doesn't want to read doc for some reason. Thanks
I want to test drive the car too! I think that would be a lot of fun!
I got it now and sorry for the double post. I got a weird error before.
Here you go:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1222907/2011_Agenda_FINAL.txt
Hi all first time conventioneers,
a good thing to attend is the Rookie Roundup. you can meet other first timers and get your questions answered.
On another subject, if your curious about blindness skills training, please e-mail me or look me up at convention.
I work for Blind Industries and Services of Maryland as the Braille reading/writing instructor and would be glad to answer any questions you might have as well as introduce you to the other staff and students.
my personal e-mail is:
jakon22@gmail.com
feel free to call my room at convention and we'll meet for breakfast or something, too.
Have a great day and look forward to talking to you in Orlando.
James Konechne
Here's a tip for first-timers regarding the agenda. Make your own, "personal agenda," as it were. Look through the big one, and note the events of interest to you, and their times. Write those down, or record them, whatever media you see fit. that way, you don't have to keep looking at the big agenda to remind yourself of what events take place and when. Before they made the agendas public pre-Convention, that used to be one of the first things I'd do once I had the Braille copy in my hands. I'd go to my room, go through it, and map out what I was interested in for the week. Otherwise you'll constantly be leafing through the whole thing, which is a pain in the butt. Having your own list of your interests and their times and places doesn't mean you'll make it to all of them, but it will simplify your experience.
I'm going to emphatically echo what Alicia has just said here. In fact, a couple days ago, I just went through the entire agenda and wrote down the times and room locations for all the events I want to be at. (Though on a few ocasions there are some overlaps that I'm going to have to resolve once I'm there.) But once you look at the full agenda you'll realize that there are just way too many events going on all at once to keep track of it all, and you will be overwhelmed if you don't do this.
I didn't do this my first year, and I missed several meetings/events I would have very much liked to have been at.
Yeah, its a good idea. I just now did that too.
I totally have to agree on the banquet food. I haven't found it much appealing either. Lol glad it wasn't just me who thought that. Dr. Maur's speeches are pretty good too though if you like hearing speeches. And yeah, the door prize is usually a pretty nice one even if you have like a one in 3000 chance of getting it.
I'm going to be there.
Um ... I didn't preregister. oops ...
Any hints on the quickest way to get that done while I'm there? The site says online preregistration is still open, but the deadline has passed. Odd ...
There's no real quick way to register. I'd say just go as early as you can when it opens, so hopefully the lines aren't as bad.
i would still preregister if the thing is still open. You probably will still get the preregistration rate.
I won't be able to make it this year, however I went to the state convention and it was really interesting and fun! I bet the national would be like awesome times better! Lol..:)
Glad you had fun at your state convention. Maybe national could be in your future next year? My advice would be to reserve a room when they first become available. Then you have one, and if you end up not being able to go, you can cancel it. Better to have a room and cancel than to be scrambling to find one. Believe me, I've learned that lesson the hard way. LOL.
I'm pleased to say that I am now definitely going to NFB this year. I just booked my flight and found someone to share a room with today. I'm not sure how well we're matched as room mates, as he is very socially conservative, and I am decidedly not. But I'm sure it will be a good time. I'd like to meet up with anyone I've gotten to know on here who will be there. Contact me on here or by what ever other means you have if such would be of interest to you.
Hope to see you all there!
I think I'm cutting it a bit closer than I did last year, but like I did last year, I have put together a zip file of various useful files for attendees of convention. These include the restaurant menus, exhibitor info, agenda, hotel layout article, and info on nearby attractions and restaurants. Pretty much all of this info can be found on the NFB website, but not all in one place, and I figure it could save someone else the trouble of downloading and compiling it all that I did.
I put all this info on my phone so that I can access it wherever I need it. Other good options are PDA's such as braillenotes / braille sense's, or book readers like the stream.
Hope others find this useful.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1222907/2011%20Convention.zip
anyone going to the parks either before or after convention? If going after, I'm looking to go to islands of adventure, so if anyone's interested, the more the merrier.