Bay State Council of the Blind

2024 Spring Conference and Convention Agenda Grousbeck Center, Perkins School for the Blind, Watertown, MA

Morning Session

• Welcome From Our Host, Perkins School for the Blind
• Opening Remarks

  David Kingsbury, President, BSCB
• Overview of Massachusetts Commission for the Blind Activities

  John Oliveira , Commissioner, MCB
• Participant Introductions
• State Government Initiatives to Improve Accessibility

  Ashley Bloom, Chief Information Technology Accessibility Officer, Executive Office of Technology Services and Security
• Updates from Two of Our Committees

  Ambassador Program: Pam Loch, Membership Committee chair
  Healthcare Resources web page: Nona Haroyan and Jerry Berrier, Advocacy Committee co-chairs
• First Reading of Proposed BSCB Code of Conduct Policy

  Brian Charlson and Jennifer Harnish
• lection of BSCB Officers

  Brian Charlson (to explain voting procedures)
  Mary Haroyan( to announce slate of nominees recommended by the Nominations Committee)
  Sharon Strzalkowski to chair election of President
  David Kingsbury to chair election of other officers

Afternoon Session

• Announcement of Election Results

  David Kingsbury
  Short comments by newly elected Officers
• Debate and Adoption of Proposed Code of Conduct Policy

  Brian Charlson
• Experience as a Book Author

  Andrew Leland, author of “The Country of the Blind,” interviewed by Kim Charlson
• Announcement of BSCB Awards

  Awards Committee: Kim Charlson (chair), Pam Loch, and Jerry Berrier
• Tips for Getting a Handle on Your Personal Finances

  Moe Carpenter, Penny Forward
• News from the Tech World

  Jeff Bishop, ACB Blind Information Technology Specialists affiliate President: Overview of BITS training activities and other member benefits
  David Kingsbury, Demo of the new JAWS PictureSmart with Generative AI feature for describing digital images
• Overview of Recent Perkins Library Activities

  Kim Charlson

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