(Editor’s Note: This thorough report will give you a good idea of the many informative and fun moments at our 2020 virtual spring convention, especially if you weren’t able to be there. We hope all of you will join us for our fall virtual convention.)

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the 2020 semiannual convention of the National Federation of the Blind of Minnesota was not held in person as all conventions in the past; rather, the more than 100 convention attendees stayed at home and gathered together virtually via the Zoom platform. Although everyone missed the in-person interaction, the convention was still filled with the same spirit and sense of purpose that attends all Federation gatherings. The technological workings went off without a hitch--with the exception of the internet at the president's home, which required him to conduct the convention in part from his back porch, as he did with aplomb.

After calling the convention to order, President Ryan Strunk called David Andrews to the virtual podium to offer welcoming remarks on behalf of the At Large Chapter which was the host chapter for this convention for the first time. The At Large chapter is about five years old and has been meeting virtually since its founding.

Next, President Strunk discussed zoom logistics, including the use of the mute function. If a person sought the floor, they were asked to unmute, say their name, and mute again until recognized. For votes, all should unmute just before the vote and then mute after voting.

The first pro-tip was offered by Dave Andrews regarding cooking food on a gas grill as a blind person. If using a lighter to light the gas, he recommends using a long fireplace lighter. He is very experienced and generally uses a timer to determine when to flip the food over. To know when food is done, he uses partly sound, partly smell, and also, without touching the grill itself, a quick light touch of the food to check the consistency. Practice is important, as well as paying attention. Charcoal can be used; make a pile of charcoal and add some lighter fluid, or using a chimney is another option.

Usually the semiannual convention does not include a national representative, but the virtual venue provided a unique opportunity for us to have one this time. President Strunk introduced Anil Lewis, all the way from Baltimore. Anil offered greetings from President Riccobono and also congratulated Dr. Marc Maurer on being the newest board member of Blindness: Learning in New Dimensions (BLIND), Inc. He emphasized that the work of our national organization is not just work being done in the city block in Baltimore but is from the proactive engagement and responsibility of the members all over the country. A major renovation of space in our national headquarters has just been completed, featuring beautiful common spaces, kitchen facilities, and wonderful sleeping rooms. Virtual membership open houses are being held monthly, to give people who do not know much about the NFB a chance to learn and ask questions, and be exposed to our philosophy of raised expectations. The pandemic has affected everything about our world; on the live presidential release last evening, President Riccobono listed Federationists who had been very directly affected, a few of whom have passed away. Anil expressed his sense of reassurance because of the way the Federation family has come together to reach out and help one another. The national convention will take place virtually July 14-18; ideas for making it a great virtual convention are most welcome. Legislation to protect the rights of blind parents continues to be a priority. On the legal front, we are looking for people who have tried to create web sites using the GoDaddy tool; our effort is to ensure that the tools for web site creation are accessible, so that the actual web sites coming out of those will also be accessible. We are also working to ensure that job search engines are accessible. We continue to collect data around the experiences of individuals with service animals using rideshare services, to ensure that those services do not discriminate. Ensuring access for blind students who now are being educated via virtual platforms is also a major focus right now. Members are encouraged to visit www.nfb.org/legal for details around the various legal issues on which we are working. We work in the legislative arena to ensure that legislation affecting blind people is not enacted without the voice of blind people, to avoid the kinds of custodial programs and policies that can result if misconceptions about blindness are the guide. The Accessible Technology Affordability Act, the Greater Access and Independence in Nonvisual Technology Act, and the Accessibility of Instructional Materials in Higher Education Act continue to be priorities. The NFB achieves legislative success like no other organization, not just because of our talented national staff but because the members are organized and engaged, contacting legislators in support of our legislation or opposition to legislation that would be harmful to blind people. NFB-Newsline® continues to grow and be an important source of information, with local and national newspapers as well as special interest publications. Anil discussed the various programs of the Blindness Initiatives department—programs focusing on braille for blind children, cane travel for young blind children. The free canes and slates programs, the independence market, the National Reading Media Assessment, science programming like STEM2U and NFB-EQ, career mentoring, the tenBroek research library, and more. Fund-raising programs include the Green Drop donation program, the car donation program, the Dream Makers Circle, the preauthorized contribution program and more. Anil says that when the Federation decides about spending money, the PAC test is applied—that is, would a person who makes donations to the Federation and is living on social security benefits approve of the spending? Anil gave details about all of our programs and in addition encouraged people to find them online for even more information about how to participate.

Next, the convention heard from Natasha Jerde, director of Minnesota State Services for the Blind. Her remarks are printed elsewhere in this issue of the Bulletin.

Corbb O'Connor presented the second "pro tip", about how to approach seeking remedy for inaccessible apps. He recommended starting by assuming good intent on the part of designers. Leaving negative reviews on the app stores may be less effective than contacting the developers directly; there is typically a button in the app on the app store. In the contact, consider stating it using the WED acronym: what did you want to do, what did you expect to happen, and what did happen.

Next up was Jennifer Dunnam who presented the treasurer's report, including year-to-date income and expenses and statement of financial position. A motion to approve the treasurer's report was passed unanimously.

Jennifer Kennedy, executive Director of BLIND, Inc., spoke next about the latest happenings at BLIND. Yadiel Sotomayor began as the new home management instructor earlier this year. Since BLIND has had to begin remote instruction due to COVID-19, he and Jennifer Wenzel have been providing remote home management instruction to students in the form of a "cook-along." Some students are as far away as Missouri. Kaden Colton began as a braille and technology instructor; Kaden and Chelsey Duranleau are also providing this type of instruction via Zoom. The English Language Learners' program is being enhanced so that it is more geared toward ultimate employment for those learning English. The Board of Directors hired Daniel Ashman as the new employment specialist; among his duties will be to create the employment component for the ELL program. His first challenge, however, has been to develop a general class in careers that could be implemented online. With the nation on lockdown, BLIND, Inc. has been able to take advantage of access to many more people so that students can interview them about their jobs in a wide variety of fields. The construction work continues on the senior kitchen remodeling; additional funding has been needed to update structural elements and electrical work; a number of generous donors have answered the call. It is hoped that the work will be completed in time for a grand opening at the end of June. Victoria Vang has been working on a temporary basis as the office administrator; she has done an excellent job and was hired on a permanent basis this past week. The virtual instruction has grown and changed with time as everyone has learned about what works most effectively. Students in Texas, Missouri, New Jersey, and New York City have been receiving group and one-on-one instruction. About 50% of students remain in the student apartments. Jennifer acknowledged the creative and energetic work of staff members Matt Gip, Hunter Kuester, and Cody Beardslee. Jennifer Wenzel makes sure that students have groceries. Rachel Kuntz has now started a position as resource development coordinator and is the main person behind the recent Give-At-Home fundraising campaign. Carl Jacobsen, a board member who recently did not stand for election, was acknowledged for his vital role in building connections to benefit students wanting to come to BLIND, Inc. from New York. BLIND Inc. has received a loan through the Covid relief Paycheck Protection Program. Jennifer thanked the affiliate for all of the love and support during this extraordinary time when so much creativity has been required.

Jan Bailey, president of our Rochester chapter, has 160 thousand recipes on her computer, taking up 3.7 gigabytes and divided into 80 categories. The "cakes" category includes twelve thousand recipes. Jan visited one of the BLIND, Inc. cooking classes and shared techniques and recipes. She will distribute one of her categories of recipes for each of the winners of door prizes. To choose the door prizes, a random number was generated by an app, and the winning person chosen from a list that had been placed in registration order; for example, the number 6 meant that the sixth person who registered was the winner.

A task force of Jennifer Dunnam, Jennifer Wenzel, Briley O'Connor, and Steve Jacobson prepared a proposal for amendments to the NFB of Minnesota Bylaws, which was sent to members well in advance of the convention. The primary purpose of these amendments is to align the start and end dates of our membership year (currently June 1-May 31) with those of other states and our national organization (January 1-December 31) this helps to coordinate efforts at membership onboarding and retention. Additional membership-related amendments removed membership classifications which have not been in practice for a long time, and also aligned the processes for joining and renewing memberships with current practice. Jennifer Dunnam walked the convention attendees through the six places where the changes were needed. A motion to adopt the amendments to the bylaws passed unanimously. Subsequently, to assist with the transition to the new membership year, the following motion was made and adopted:

1. That membership dues paid to the National Federation of the Blind of Minnesota between March 1, 2020 and December 31, 2020 be applied to the membership year ending December 31, 2021.

2. That membership dues that were paid in advance for coverage of the year ending June 2021 be applied to the membership year ending December 2021.

Elections were then held for the delegate and alternate delegate from this affiliate to the 2020 national convention. Ryan Strunk was elected delegate, and Steve Jacobson was elected alternate delegate.

The next pro tip, from Ryan Strunk, dealt with gaming options; RS-Games, Quentin C.'s Playroom, and Blind Adrenaline are three online interactive gaming services.

President Strunk next delivered an inspiring report, which is printed elsewhere in this issue of the Minnesota Bulletin.

The final item on the agenda was the pledges to the tenBroek Fund. The tenBroek fund owns and maintains the building that contains the offices of our national organization. As is traditional, a motion was made that all contributions to the tenBroek fund received between the semiannual convention and December 1 be matched from the affiliate treasury. The motion was adopted. Contributions should be made in the form of a check, written to the tenBroek fund and sent to the NFB of Minnesota; these contributions cannot be accepted online since they do not go through the NFB of Minnesota's account. Checks received by July will be sent to the national office, and any additional checks will be sent in December. The total pledged was $3,820, so if all pledges are received, the total contributed will be $7,640.

Jennifer Wenzel called for individuals to sign up to record sentences for our 100-years history audio project, to celebrate 100 of the ways this affiliate has made a difference over its history.

Kathy McGillivray called for people to contribute articles for the Minnesota Bulletin, after which the convention was adjourned.