The Minnesota Memo
Summer 2026
A quarterly publication of The American Council of the Blind of Minnesota. The views expressed in this newsletter are not necessarily the position of the American Council of the Blind of Minnesota. They are the views of the article’s author.
Product and service information is provided as a resource only, and not as an endorsement of a particular product or service.
EDITORIAL COMMITTEE
Nicky Schlender Editor
E-mail: kb0ouf@pcdesk.net
Jennifer Dubbin
E-mail: lyndidog@comcast.net
Michael Lauf: Web Administrator
E-mail: info@myeffectivesolutions.com
Phone numbers of note:
SSB main number:
(651)539-2300
ACBM:
(612) 223-5543 Leave Message
Apple support for people with disabilities
(877) 204-3930
Microsoft support for people with disabilities
(800) 936-5900
Comcast Support for Persons with Disabilities
(855) 270-0379
Instacart For Seniors and Persons With Disabilities
844-981-3433
Amazon’s Accessibility Customer Service
888-283-1678
Audible Support:
888-283-5051.
American Airlines Special Assistance
800-237-7976
AT&T
National Center for Citizens with Disabilities (NCCD)
866-241-6568
Delta Airlines Disability Services
1-404-209-3434
HP Accessibility Support
888-259-5707
Samsung Accessibility
972-761-7123
For general support in the U.S. contact Samsung at: 800-726-7864 by text or voice.
T-Mobile Accessibility
833-428-1785
United Airlines Accessibility Desk
800-228-2744
Verizon Wireless National Accessibility Center
888-262-1999
TSA Cares
(855) 787-2227
Contact them at least 48 hours prior to your flight.
Table of Contents:
Highlights from 2026 Convention
By Patty Slaby
Convention information from 2026
By Steve Robertson
ACB Workshops: By Jeff Mihelich
My Convention Experience By Abby Winters
2026 Convention By Bonnie Robertson
2027 ACBM Convention By Janet Dickelman
INDEPENDENT VISUALLY IMPAIRED ENTREPRENEURS ONLINE BUSINESS EXPO
By Ardis Bazyn
My Saint Louis Experience
By Nicky Schlender
My Reflections on my first ACB convention
By Kelly carver
ACB in St. Louis 2026
By Ken Rodgers
Birthdays
By Nicky Schlender
Officers and Board of Directors
ACBM Standing Committee Chairs
Highlights from 2026 Convention
By Patty Slaby
I attended a session titled “Small Beginnings and the History and Growth in St. Louis.” A woman from the museum of History of the city told us about the settlement of several Native Americans who started the city. They came in the 1700s and settled along the Mississippi River. As the city grew, they moved or were moved to other locations. They had several mounds which they left. These mounds are no longer present and a national park now sits there. As the
city grew they wanted a special landmark to designate their presence. Much later in the 1960s the Arch was built. Other nationalities came to St. Louis and settled. Many areas of the city still have these various groups. Not included in this session but on the City Tour we rode through some of the designated areas. People came because of the farmland, fur trading, and the forests. The river assisted in transporting their many products downriver to be exported.
She mentioned a few books that are available and she is writing her own book about the history of this major metropolitan area in the northeastern corner
of Missouri. There were several tribes that made their homes in this area.
Another event I chose to attend was the BRL/AABT breakfast. The morning began with a surprise. The two women from the Missouri School for the Blind had
submitted a zoom session but no one could find it. That meant we had to go to Plan B. It worked out because so many members were able to share some of
their experiences and also information about Louis Braille and its history. One person had traveled to France and shared some of what she gathered from her visit. The Missouri School was the first agency to use braille with their students. Other forms of tactile communication were used but they chose to begin using the braille code. This began in 1854. The presentation will be presented in its description as a zoom call. In addition, they allowed us to look at 4 very old braille devices. One was the Hall Brailler. All of them were very fascinating and I heard many positive comments. The use of braille has definitely evolved over the years so we still enjoyed ourselves and a breakfast was served following the program.
My third in-person session was a presentation of athletes. Zach McLean, one of the scholarship winners plays football on his university team. He has some usable vision and has developed techniques to be a part of the team. One of ACB’S staff members is a marathon runner. She has competed in a few marathons. She is a bundle of energy. Another athlete plays beep baseball. This is an international sport that many blind and low vision people enjoy. This panel was informative and there were excellent questions asked.
Besides that I learned a great deal from some of the tours. This is not part of what we are to share to get our funds but I just want to share.
The city tour was very fascinating and full of history, what is still keeping St. Louis vibrant. They hosted a World’s Fair and still have the brewery and some of the McDonald-Douglas Airplane Factory there. There are many, many origins of people. It is a Catholic area as well and has two cathedrals. Of course there are many additional faiths. It is a spiraling metro area and part of it crosses the border into Illinois over the Mississippi River.
Another very interesting tour was our trip to the Missouri School for the Blind. We were in small groups and we toured the whole school. Needless to say, these students have an opportunity for a great education. We went into a classroom and saw some of the math tools, went into a dorm room, and then to the athletic area. They have two gyms, a room compared to a complete exercise gym we pay to go to, a swimming pool, a bowling alley, and a huge outside area with a track, other track and field events, and a place to ride bikes and scooters of various types. We also went to the library and were shown many of the devices the students can access.
While enjoying some water they passed around various forms of 3-d models they make. We certainly got our exercise with all the stairs.
Another informative tour and history of the area was a huge Amish community in Illinois. We were able to touch a buggy even climbing in, pet one of the horses, go into a few houses, a school building and enjoyed a truly delicious Amish style dinner. The people were so friendly and explained things to us. One man was shoeing a horse but we only saw part of that.
There were many sessions that were held virtually. One of the most interesting to me was one sponsored by BRL/AABT. Neva Fairchild’s husband has developed a program that screen users can present to sighted individuals. It begins with a braille cell. You can show letters, numbers, punctuation, even words. It can be shown on large screens in classrooms or other larger cites as well as on a laptop screen. I have been told that the color contrast is excellent.
What a cool exciting method to show children who have a braille user in their classroom or to a senior center where someone may be experiencing vision loss. You can obtain the program from her and she only asks that you make a donation to the BRL of Texas Affiliate. Let me know if you might be interested.
Convention information from 2026
By Steve Robertson
This year I really enjoyed attending A C B’s National Convention. I’d like to talk with you briefly about some of the sessions I attended.
Let’s start with the Bits Presentation on Microsoft’s One Drive Cloud storage. This session was mostly a question and answer session. I will attempt to give some examples below:
There are several ways to subscribe to One Drive, but in my opinion, and the general opinions of the presenters, the best way by far is to get an annual subscription from Microsoft to Microsoft Office 365. Plans can range from individual to family and business subscriptions, so I suggest if your interested, have a look at the Microsoft Office webpage. Generally, with Office 365, you get access to Word, Xcel, outlook, and other Office apps or programs along with 1 terrabite of One Drive space. Prices vary depending on which plan you choose.
Someone asked why they had a subscription, but kept getting indications that there was insufficient space to save the documents, music files, etc. which they wanted to keep. The solution as I understand it, is to make sure that in your One Drive account settings all files are saved in the cloud. Then if you need to download a file, you may just locate it in One Drive and press enter. Basically, you don’t want One Drive to sync everything with your computer’s hard drive.
One more benefit of having a subscription is that you can share files and documents across platforms, with your Windows computer, iPhone, iPad, android tablet, etc. Also, it is easy with One Drive to share files and collaborate on working with files and documents with others.
I also attended a session with Meta. This one was also a question and answer session. Meta divided everyone in to 3 groups and each group had a time of discussion about issues they were having with the Meta Glasses and about how to help Meta prioritize what kinds of new features users wanted immediately.
I explained that when using my Meta Glasses with Aira, the glasses tended to disconnect and then they need to be re-connected. The person leading our group explained that both Meta and Aira are currently working to resolve this issue.
An example of a request for a feature would be that many of us wanted better color recognition. Also, it was suggested that Meta create a light of some type that could be positioned near the camera of the glasses to improve recognition in a poorly lighted area.
Lastly, I attended the session with Amazon. We heard about how Amazon is a world leader in accessibility. Their products and services are available globally. They first talked about Amazon prime audio description and how their library of titles is constantly increasing. They then played some samples. In the second half of the presentation Peter Corn talked about the latest versions Amazon offers for their fire Sticks and Fire tv’s. Peter talked about some of the new features. The one that stood out for me was that the new fire Tv and the Fire Stick have the ability to amplify or bring out the dialog in movies and tv shows. Specifically, there are 3 levels of intensity that amplify dialog for people with hearing challenges. The Amazon Fire Tv and Fire Sticks now also work with many models of hearing aids. It’s possible to have the sound come through some hearing aids as well as play through the speakers so others in the room can hear also.
ACB Workshops:
By Jeff Mihelich
The first workshop I attended was for AIRA-AI. The room was standing-room only, with people even standing in the hallway to listen. The major announcement was that AIRA will continue offering free minutes periodically throughout the year.
A panel of AIRA users discussed their experiences with AI tools. Most participants reported using ChatGPT, and one person mentioned using Grok for coding.
AIRA’s new AI tool, developed in partnership with Google, is now operational and is called Project Astra. They provided demonstrations of how people are using the service, though none of the examples particularly stood out to me.
Apple Voiceover Session
This was an invitation-only session with a small group of six participants. The focus was on Voiceover issues users are experiencing. Several questions were dismissed because they were identified as Siri-related bugs rather than Voiceover issues.
I shared a bug I frequently encounter when dictating. Siri will transcribe correctly, but when Voiceover reads the text back, it changes the wording. For example, when I dictate my husband’s name, “Merrick,” Siri displays it correctly, but Voiceover reads it as “America.” Everyone found that amusing, but Apple staff reiterated that because the issue originates with Siri, they could not address it. I felt that was somewhat of a cop-out.
I also raised concerns about the latest Apple TV operating system running very slowly when using Voiceover. Since they did not have an Apple TV available, they advised me to report it as a bug so they can attempt to reproduce the issue.
Apple emphasized the importance of using the Apple Accessibility Support phone number so they can document customer issues and work with users to reproduce problems and develop solutions.
I had a breakfast meeting with Sharla Glass from Invision America. We talked about the prescription reading device they offer. This was made into Minnesota law in 2025. Part of the problem is the law was put into effect without stating the procedure one needs to go through to get the talking medication device. This is being hammered out through the pharmacy association. She and I are working out a time slot so she can attend our winter conference virtually and give us more detailed information.
My Convention Experience
By Abby Winters
At the ACB convention, I attended three sessions. The first session was general session on Saturday evening. At the session, there were many life memberships given out. Also at the general session, Scott Thornhill talked about how ACB meets members where they are in life. I
also attended Earl Harrison’s talk about the Braille Sence 7. I would like this display because it has auto-scroll and you can choose between a Querty keyboard or a braille keyboard. The last session I attended was how to do crafts when you have low vision. The presenter mentioned that everything in her room is white. She also uses high contrast materials. She only works on one project at a time. There was also a panel on blind sports. My favorite sport was blind Hockey. The puck is larger than a regulation NHL puck and is made of metal. I got a chance to try it out in the exhibit hall. I also had the opportunity to be an official ACB volunteer. I look forward to volunteering next year as well.
2026 convention
By Bonnie Robertson
I attended a session which was about Energy Medicine. This session was presented by Debbie Hazelton. She started out telling a story in which she had burned her hands with some scalding milk. She went to a doctor and they plunged her hands in to ice water, and they put salve and bandages on her hands. She was falling asleep that night and as she was dozing off, she heard a voice in her head telling her to exhale the pain out through her fingertips. The next morning her hands were mostly healed.
She demonstrated some body movements which can help in healing the human body.
Rub your hands together to create energy.
Place your palms together, then gradually pull them apart as if you are holding a small ball in your hands. You might feel a tingling in your hands or it might feel as if you have a small ball in your hands. Move your hands apart and it might feel as if the ball is getting bigger. Rub your hands together again and move your hands close to your face without touching it and see if you can feel heat or warmth or any kind of sensation around your face. Then, move your hands, still cupped, down to different parts of your body to see if you feel anything. Brush your hands off to clear the energy. That method is for healing.
Here is another movement for relaxation. Put your hands, cupped, by your face, then move them away and back again. Move your hands to your shoulders and away and back again. Continue this movement down your body all the way to your feet.
I attended a session about Fall Prevention. The presenter started out with ten statements to answer true or false about falling.
They appeared as follows:
1. I have fallen last year.
2. I use, or have been advised to use, a cane or a walker to get around my home safely.
3. Sometimes I feel unsteady when I’m walking. I need to steady myself by holding on to furniture.
4. I worry about falling.
5. I need to push with my hands to stand up from a chair.
6. I have trouble stepping up from a curb.
7. I often have to rush to the toilet.
8. I have lost some feeling in my feet.
9. I take medicine that makes me feel light headed or tired.
10. I often feel bad or depressed.
When answering these questions, two points for the first 2 questions and 1 point for the rest of them. If you score 3 points, you are at risk for falling.
I attended the session which was about the history of Braille. It was presented by the Braille Revival League. In the late 1700’s scholars in France thought that blind persons should be able to read. Blind children were first taught to read raised print letters. Later, a system called New York Point was developed which was based on 4 dots. Louis Braille developed the system which we now know as Braille. This system is based on 6 dots. Louis Braille lost his vision in 1 eye when he was 3 years old. He was playing with an awl in his Father’s shop and he poked himself in the eye. He lost his other eye when he was 7 years old due to an infection. Also, at age 7, his Mother taught him to read raised print letters. At age 15, he developed the 6 dot braille system. He also developed braille music.
The Braille Revival League had 3 old braille writers on display which we could look at after the presentation. One was and old hall braille writer, another one was similar to it and the third one had paper tape in it. This one was used to write shorthand.
2027 ACBM Convention
By Janet Dickelman
ACB Minnesota is holding our hybrid state convention in January 2027.
All times listed are central time.
We will host a virtual auction on Sunday, January 17 at 7:00 PM. Lots of homemade goodies, technology and jewelry!
Everyone who registers for the convention will automatically be registered for the auction. To receive a zoom link for the auction only please contact Patty Slaby (715) 497-9849 or email her at pattyslaby135@gmail.com
Our virtual exhibit hall will be held on Thursday, January 21 at 7:00 PM, via zoom. Listen to what our exhibitors have to offer and ask questions if time permits.
The convention will open both in-person and virtually on Friday January
22 and run through 11:00 AM on Sunday January 24th.
Our convention home will be the Country Inn and Suites, 6003 Hudson Rd, in Woodbury MN.
In-person registration is $75.00 and includes Friday evening dinner, Saturday lunch and our evening banquet. Complimentary breakfast is available for registered hotel guests. Room rates at Country Inn and Suites are $91.00 per night plus tax. A hold of $100.00 will be placed on your credit or debit card to cover any incidentals. To make reservations at the hotel call (651) 739-7300 and use group code American Council of the Blind of Minnesota.
If you plan to join us via zoom registration is $25.00; you will receive all convention zoom links and whether you are registered in-person or virtually you will be eligible for our fabulous door prizes!
Our Friday programming is still being worked on. There will be a fun afternoonin event beginning at 3:00 PM.
After dinner Sam Jasmine will regale us with stories of some of her guests on her KFAI radio show Disabled and Proud.
After that Earle Harrison will entertain us with vocals and guitar with standard favorites and some of his own songs.
On Saturday we have the following programming:
All sessions will be in-person and via zoom:
Updates from Minnesota State Academy for the Blind,
State Services for the Blind, NLS and the latest on Metro Mobility.
Other sessions are still being planned.
After our presentations our exhibitors will say a few words and then in-person attendees can visit with our in-person exhibitors.
Saturday evening join us for our banquet featuring ACB’s newest employee Attorney Brian Kempfer.
On Sunday our convention will culminate with our membership meeting.
Convention registration: To register for the convention go to
www.acbminnesota.org
INDEPENDENT VISUALLY IMPAIRED ENTREPRENEURS ONLINE BUSINESS EXPO
By Ardis Bazyn,
November 14, 2026
IVIE is offering a great opportunity to blind or visually impaired business owners/entrepreneurs. When you join in our Online Business Expo shopping experience,
you can tell the audience about your business, describe your products and services, pass on contact information, and allow participants to ask questions.
For IVIE members, the fee for presenting for fifteen minutes is $10, for a half hour is $20, or for an hour is $30. Not an IVIE member? Then, the fee for
presenting is an additional $15 — $25 for fifteen minutes, $35 for a half hour session, or $45 for an hour session. Nonmembers have the option of having $15 of the payment used to pay IVIE dues for 2027.
All those participating in the call, whether presenting or not, will use the same Zoom information to connect. The date and time is November 14, 2026, from 11:30 am to 6 pm Eastern.
The deadline for purchasing a time slot to give a presentation is October 31, 2026. To purchase a time slot or ask questions, send an email to
info@ivie-acb.org with your request to exhibit. You will be sent an online business expo registration form which will include a link for payment and additional information.
If you wish to attend the IVIE Online Business Expo and listen to this unique shopping experience, there is no cost. However, if you are not on the IVIE email list or the ACB-conversation email list or leadership list, please send an email to register so we can send you the Zoom call details. Send the request to info@ivie-acb.org.
My Saint Louis experience.
By Nicky Schlender
This year’s convention was very educational. During the virtual portion, new board members were elected before the in-person convention began, that has never happened in ACB history. The only in-person election that was needed was for the Board of Publications. My delegate duty was very easy this year.
On Saturday evening at the general session, I loved Scott Thornhill’s comment about ACB accepting people where they are in life during his Executive director’s
report. I also enjoyed hearing from all the new Life members, many of whom are couples who have been in the organization for many years.
On Sunday, I had a scheduled session to do a demo walk with Glide, the robotic guide. It was awesome, I can’twait to get mine in 2027.
On Monday, after the Board of Publications member was voted in, we had a Sports panel comprised of Caitlyn Lee, who is a blind runner, Liz Botner, who is a goalie on her local Blind hockey team, and one of the ACB scholarship winners who plays college football. It is so awesome that the younger generations are being allowed to participate in sports that I was held back from as a young person. I also had a chance to hit a hockey puck that is used in the blind
hockey league. It is a large piece of dented metal, I believe stainless steel with Ball bearings in it that make the noise so that anybody regardless of their visual impairment can play on an equal playing field.
On Monday afternoon, I participated in a session about the history of Saint Louis. Emily Jacobs from the Missouri Historic Society spoke to us about the early history of Saint Louis.
The town of Saint Louis was founded in 1764 by French fur traders. Emily read a list of the Native American tribes who traveled through Missouri, As she was reading the names, I realized that some of the states of the union were named after Native American tribes, for example, the Iowa and the Delaware. I always wondered where state names came from.
On Tuesday afternoon, I went on the Missouri school for the blind tour. The school was founded in 1851. Braille was used for the first time in the United States at the school. The school mainly serves middle school and high school students. The school is free for the students to attend. I say this because, in Minnesota, the school district in which the student resides has to pay for the blind student to attend the school in Faribault. For the past several years, the students at the Missouri school have been able to study a specific theme all year which culminates in a trip to experience the theme in person.
Some highlights for me were the two-lane bowling alley where the students learn how to bowl in Phy-ed class and the 3D models that were made for a lot of science education. I finally know what the Corona virus looks like thanks to a 3D model. It was very interesting to feel the material that goes into the 3D printer that produces the models. The material feels like a large spool of thick plasticized thread-like material. It is so great that there is so much emphasis on the use of braille at the school.
On Wednesday, I attended a session put on by Vispero regarding the future of Jaws and AI. Ryan Jones from Vispero led the session. In the October update for Jaws there will be the ability to have AI help with describing and filling out forms on web pages. He demonstrated how to use layered commands to achieve this. He showed how AI could help fill in form fields on the Allegiant airlines website which apparently is a very busy and difficult website to manipulate as a blind or low vision user. The hot key is still under development so he couldn’t let us know what that is as of yet.
On Thursday morning, I had the pleasure of having breakfast with the 2026 Inspire graduates and guides who were in person. I was able to meet my guide Ardis Bazyn in person after speaking with her via phone for the past 9 months. It was also an honor to sit next to Kennith Semien SR. He is a very positive person to get to know. I would recommend to anyone who may be thinking about being a Mentee or a guide to check it out. It was a very rewarding experience.
My Reflections on my first ACB convention
By Kelly Carver
Here are a few reflections from my recent time at the ACB conference in St. Louis from July 26-31.
Meta Glasses session
I stepped into the large conference room expecting a packed audience with a presenter at the front. Instead, my cane tapped a seat near one of three small group discussions happening simultaneously in different corners of the room, so I sat down. I arrived on time but clearly not as early as others. That seat was within confusing earshot of all three conversations so Ishifted to a seat closer to one presenter and then settled in for what became an educational and illuminating time. With a Q & A format and several knowledgeable Meta Glasses wearers, the latest information, concerns of wearers and the future
expectations for Meta Glasses flowed freely. I heard both stories of amazement and frustration but a consistent praise that another accessibility tool was now in the tool bag and getting better all the time. I do not yet own a pair, but much of what I learned in that room has informed me of what the
benefits and limitations are of their functionality. It also proved to be an excellent primer for my later demo of Meta Glasses in the Exhibitor’s Hall later that day.
Blind Floor Hockey:
This was an activity I was sure not to miss. Not because I’m a hockey player. I’m a swimmer and prefer my water unfrozen. I’m a tentative ice skater with memories of some past falls still haunting me. But I did love playing floor and street hockey decades ago when in elementary school. And now that my Retinitis Pigmentosa has progressed to the point of light perception only, I wondered how this experience would compare. Would I still have that same
supple wrist shot or backhand flick shot of my youth? So when 7:30pm rolled around on that Tuesday night, I grabbed my cane and worked my way toward the elevator from the hotel lobby tavern and up to the top floor of the 18 story Hyatt hotel. After a befuddling maze of hallways to navigate, and some last moment assistance, I found myself in a large room with some 25 others excitedly calling out as players battled it out on the carpeted rink. I was handed
a metal container which rattled loudly as i shook it. It was a puck for blind ice hockey, complete with dents from being slapped around a rink. I handed it back, was given a stick and shown out into the action. Whose team? Didn’t know. Suddenly a ball with an inner metallic jingle rolled toward me. “Hit it, Kelly!” I did as told and heard a “Nice try”. Ok, so the goal was that direction. My sighted teammate kept feeding me the ball, and though the carpet
muffled some of its noise, I swung, taking a shot. “Goal!”. That felt good. The odds were against me as one of the few blind players working to fend off a handful of sighted teens intent on winning. Each time the ball was passed, one of them would be there to strip the ball away. Finally, as I fended one off, I flicked a wrist shot toward where I thought the goal might be and heard “Goal!” for the second time. That second goal felt even better. I
can’t say that at 63 I’d be too eager to strap on a pair of skates and get out on the ice. But I do hope to get another chance to somehow feel that satisfaction of scoring goals again. As a bonus, I was guided out to a rarely unlocked rooftop terrace by one of the participants. Later, the night was capped off as Ken Rodgers and I were photographed on that same terrace by a kind hotel bartender who was unaware it even existed. The backdrop was of the St. Louis
Arch in the background with a full moon framed just under the high point of the arch. Spectacular.
Apple Products session:
I love my iPhone 16e. It’s the most important tool I have to connect with our world through news apps, podcasts, audio books, texting, email and the internet.
With a pair of EarPods in, it’s a great way to listen to music. Oh right, and it’s a phone. And I get all of that out of it without seeing the screen through its built-in screen reader called VoiceOver. So, when I learned about an ACB session focused on answering questions about VoiceOver usage, I signed up immediately. I had some questions, and these three Apple experts leading the discussion knew the answers. Bringing a question didn’t mean hearing
an answer and to then go try it at home. We were encouraged to get our phones out, and follow along in real time, then and there. They did an excellent
job of making us feel comfortable rather than intimidated, fielding issues from the simple to the complex. I could have sat there all day, picking their brains and honing my VoiceOver skills further. I know I wasn’t alone, and could feel the disappointment wash over the room when it was time to end.
These experiences are only a sample of the highlights for what was an unforgettable week of learning, laughter and connection. I look forward to my next ACB convention.
ACB in St. Louis 2026
By Ken Rodgers
This year’s ACB Conference and Convention held in St. Louis was another pleasant surprise. While the entire format structure of presenting our conferences and conventions is evolving it certainly seems as if standardization is beginning to take shape. The amount of mind-blowing effort to figure out an equitable manner to present convention business in a way that includes all members and not just the ones attending in person is perhaps a lesson that came out of the Covid experience. It feels like ACB is moving in the right direction to provide convention business to both the virtual attendees and the attendees in person. Change is hard, no question about it. And, let’s face it, many ACB members are older and are not so eager to embrace technology that is needed to feel totally comfortable as programming moves more in this direction, but we can all learn. This new process of attending either by virtual means or in person will settle at a comfortable pace for everyone eventually. As long as there continues to be support and gentle guidance we will all end up all on the same page. Patience is the key.
For the in person experience I want to share that I had the unique opportunity to “see” the conference from a new and different perspective; through sharing the experience with a new ACBM member Kelly Carver. Traveling and attending with him provided me a perspective different from my own. I had many moments of remembering those early days I experienced myself way back when I first attended an annual convention. Ah, such good memories and good times (smile)! But what happened to me this time in St. Louis was something like feeling myself getting a little short fused when I could get on the wrong elevator or manage to get to a meeting room on floor two when I was really looking for a meeting room on floor 4, experiencing what otherwise would be a frustrating moment turned into moments where we both just had to laugh. Of course, we would eventually get to where we needed to be but instead of being frustrated about it, we just had to laugh about it.
One of the sessions that I really appreciated was the one sponsored by Meta. At first, it seemed to be a bit chaotic as the session was in a very large room with smaller round tables and there seemed to be individual conversations going on at each table. Eventually there was organization and instructions were provided that settled everyone and tamed the chaotic vibe. At each table there was a Meta representative who conducted a discussion at each table. Their task was to collect feedback from ACB users and provide questions to start the feedback sessions. They collected positive feedback but also wanted negative feedback. They took in stride as ACB members were not shy in sharing their experiences. It was shared with us that the feedback was going back to the Meta team to try to iron out the bad and replace it with the positive. There was also a time in which the representative shared with us some things to look forward to with upcoming updates they were working on. Bottom line that I took away was they were listening and eager to learn our experiences so they could continue to make the Meta experience a valuable one for us all. Contact information was provided to ensure we had means to continue to provide our feedback after convention and it was also announced here that they were about to announce a special program that would provide every blind veteran with a pair of Meta Glasses free of charge. Leaving that session gave me a solid feeling that services using the Meta glasses will only get better over time and the key to this thought is the fact that Meta is taking an active listening posture to listen to users to continuously improve its service.
Another session I attended is the one sponsored by Apple. This was a much smaller group of participants which they offered many sessions over a couple of days. I would classify this session as a “problem solving” session. By that I mean that we all must have certain things that we do on our iPhones that glitch out or just don’t work well. I know for me I just assumed it was an operator error and just lived with it. At this session, facilitated by several Apple experts, took each problem that was brought up by participants and provided directions on how to fix that problem. It was fascinating to me that when someone brought up an issue they were having many people in the room identified the same experience. Most of the time it was due to a particular setting that needed to be tweaked. The experts would walk everyone through the steps to correct the issue and everyone was able to fix the problem together. These experts were really experts! They knew the iPhone and all the up to the minute setting changes. The facilitators were from a small independent company that offers their services as a resource to Apple users. These guys were truly experts and solved all the problems that were brought up. I left there feeling really great that some of the issues I had been having were now corrected. It seems that each time Apple provides us with a new version they slip additional things in the settings section. And, unless one dives into the notes on each update, one would never realize there were new functions that have been provided. This was a practical and valuable session that I was happy I selected to participate in.
The third presentation I attended was a question/answer session led by Microsoft. It covered several Microsoft products but the one I was most interested in was Notebook LM. This is a fairly new AI product that allows users to upload a file, web link or other documents and the AI will take it and do one of two things:
1. It will summarize the entire report or document pulling out all the vital and important facts. It is a great way to consume a large report into a smaller summary.
2. One can also choose to listen to a “podcast style” conversation between two people, typically a male and a female, that interview each other in a conversation highlighting all the important facts from the report or document. It is a fascinating way to consume the information simply by listening to a conversation style between two AI people.
My overview of the entire conference was capped by the keynote speaker at the ACB Banquet. She was captivating and performed some of her music. A great ending to another fine convention!
Birthdays
By Nicky Schlender
We have quite a few birthdays since there are only two issues of the memo being published. Happy birthday to everyone.
Eric Holterman January 6
Rick Jacobson January 9
Ken Rodgers January 18
Al Kitagawa January 25
Essa Egge February 2
Richard Laurion Febuary 13
Stephanie Merideth February 23
Eileen Vasquez April 7
Elaine Vining April 7
Abby Winters April 19
Marian Solomons May 3
Arabella Jones May 22
Niki Mattson May 23
Jeff Peterson May 28
Mike Vining May 28
Colleen Kitagawa June 2
Jennifer Dubbin June 22
Ben Durand June 23
Therese Dahlberg June 24
Officers and Board of Directors
President: Ken Rodgers Minneapolis MN First term ending 2027 (612) 817-4760
kenrodgers@comcast.net
Vice President: Jeff Mihelich Crystal, MN second term ending 2028 (612) 381-7163
Secretary: Nicky Schlender, Minnetonka, MN
Second term ending 2027 (612) 618-4335
E-mail: kb0ouf@pcdesk.net
Treasurer: Patty Slaby, Arcadia, WI Fourth term ending 2028 (715) 497-9849
Email: Pattyslaby135@gmail.com
Board of Directors
Jennifer Dubbin, Saint Paul, MN second term ending 2027 (651) 334-8895
E-mail: lyndidog@comcast.net
Ben Durand, Mounds View, MN
Second term ending 2028 | (763) 784-8796
Penny Duval, St. Louis Park, MN First term ending 2027
Chris Bell, Bloomington, MN, First term ending 2028
(612) 859-4938
christophergbell@icloud.com
Steve Robertson,
Minneapolis, MN, first term ending 2028
(612) 758-0297
stevetrobertson4@gmail.com
ACBM Standing Committee Chairs
To reach any of our standing committees, see chair info below.
Membership: Mike Vining
(612) 408-7652
E-mail mevining@peoplepc.com
Budget and Fundraising: Patty Slaby
(608) 323-3614
Email Pattyslaby135@gmail.com
Advocacy: Ken Rodgers
(612) 817-4760
kenrodgers@comcast.net
Editorial Committee: Nicky Schlender
(612) 618-4335
E-mail kb0ouf@pcdesk.net
Social Committee: Colleen Kitagawa
(612) 964-2005
Email: kitagawa@mysero.net