Solidarity 2009, Statewide Planning Committee Meeting Minutes.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Participants: Tom Fogarty, Frank Anderson, Bob Bottarini, Reginia Huffman, David Williams, Rob Alexander, Carl Laule, Mary Hiland, Roger Flint, Matt Baldwin, Sue Willis, Conference Manager, Mary Smithson, Assistant Conference Manager.
Call to Order and Introductions: Tom Fogarty called the meeting to order at 1:05 pm. Members introduced themselves.
Secretary report: Approval of Minutes (minutes disseminated by e-mail): Motion to accept February minutes as written was made by Frank and seconded by Regenia. Minutes were approved as voted on.
Financial reports (disseminated by e-mail): Bob Bottarini said that the reports were the same as last month, except he received a $175.00 check from the Governor=s Council for an exhibit booth. Balance sheet as of 3/20/08 gives a total balance of $71,234.30. An invoice was sent to RSC for February, and a check was written for the Conference Manager. There are no accounts payable. Frank made a motion, seconded by Roger, to approve the reports. Motion passed.HYATT request to move conference to April 14 - 16, 2009: New contract has been signed. Sue and Tom have copies. The Hyatt lowered the sleeping room rate to $119.00 for single, double, triple or quad.
Timeline (disseminated by e-mail) Sue said it is a work in progress and will be changed as needed. Planning committee members asked that the Save the Date Card be sent in September and Registration Booklets be sent in January. Sue will make those changes.
Conference Manager questions: Discuss the overall conference plan, including desired outcomes and ideas for a theme. The members first discussed how and why Solidarity got started. In the 80s, some people at Wheelchair Games talked about having something with people from different disability groups doing advocacy. But no one was pulling them together to have a cohesive voice at the Statehouse. Thus, the name Solidarity was chosen. A group called Disabled Advocates for Ohio wanted to get funding and RSC wanted to meet educational requirements of RSA. Frank Gattas, who worked at RSC, went around the state to get folks organized. Also, the Ohio Developmental Disabilities Council wanted to pull together people with cognitive disabilities and people with other types of disabilities. It didn=t happen then, but in recent years, about 50% of attendees have been from County Boards of MRDD, and most have a cognitive disability. Committee members began discussing what they want during Solidarity >09: continue to be cross-disability, have a voice with legislators, and be visible at the Statehouse. We need to push advocacy with agencies and state government. Get everyone together and speak as one voice. Also, focus on employment. All concurred that the conference should include legislative preparation session and visits to legislators; David said that he is going to organize this part. David has obtained a commitment from the Governor to speak at the conferenceCpreferably at a breakfast. This could be right before the legislative visits on Wednesday. Last year, 125 went to the Statehouse; need to get more to go in 2009. Drivers made several trips to the Statehouse. Suggestion to have armbands or t-shirts that people wear, and get a permit to go down High Street to show cross-disability and gain media attention. All agreed that there should be some alternate programming for people who don=t go. Other ideas for >09 were to: a) to prepare a 20 year report on progress in disability services, andb) to have a small pamphlet or handout with the information.Outreach to Get More Planning Committee MembersMary Hiland shared a message from blind community that there has not been enough to attract people who are blind to the conference. They would like to see the conference target some issues that would be of interestCsuch as transportation, accessibility, cell phone technology, etc.Also, we need to reach out to someone who represents the deaf community, perhaps Marsha Nippert-Moore.Sue asked everyone to contact someone personally and invite them to join and attend the April meeting.David has contacted Tom Fish about the Ohio SIBS Network, a group which has about 400 siblings of people with disabilities. Another suggestion was to reach out to parents of blind children. Question was raised: Would targeting siblings and/or parents necessitate adding additional tracks of workshops?There are never enough worker bees to get done what we need to do. Sue asked that we set up 3 different work groups, starting with the next meeting: PR (marketing, visuals, etc.), programming (setting agenda, legislative visits, etc.), and fundraising group.Continued discussion about the time lineA member noted that it doesn=t include a time to send out an RFP for presenters. Comments: when that was done, some individuals got upset because we went through the process and they were not selected; some people who submitted ideas didn=t do a good presentation. Past planning committees switched to a method whereby the committee selected the topics and then reached out to people who could do a good job on speaking to the topic.Carl noted that pushing off the logo until we talked about the theme was okay, but it would be good to have the image in place before we approach sponsors, which is on the timeline for April.Keynote/Plenary Session Speakers (chart of potential speakers and fees sent by e-mail)David said that the Governor has agreed to give a major address at breakfast, at least 45 minutes; not just a welcome. Regenia and Tom would like to have Matt Roloff as a keynoter. He has name recognition and the price is good. He is new and refreshing and would pull a new population and possibly media attention. The committee brainstormed other potential speakers:- Bob Woodruff, the reporter who acquired a TBI in Iraq. Regenia will get the contact information.- Marlee Matlin would bring in the deaf community. She was at Solidarity a few years ago and was well received.- Rosemary Rosetti had sent information about herself to Tom. In the past the committee has felt that her fee is too high for living in the area, and that her story is no different from most planning committee members.- Jim Dickson or Andy Imparato from AAPD would come for expenses only. Jim has spoken before; his primary message would be about voting. Andy would bring overall information about what is going on in the country. Andy is ideal speaker for cross-disability coalition.- John Lancaster, President of the National Coalition of Independent Living Centers would draw in more people from IL Centers. He has a great presentation on disability around the world.- Marilyn Golden had a lot to do with writing ADA and worked at the Department of Justice. She is an excellent speaker.
Announcement: July 26th is the 18th Anniversary of ADA. The Ohio Disability Vote Coalition and national sponsors are holding a disability forum with presidential candidates at Vets Memorial in Columbus. More information will be forthcoming.
Adjournment: Tom adjourned the meeting at 2:53 pm.
Next planning meeting: April 18th at 11:00. Meeting will be held at the Franklin County Board of MRDD if it is available. Pizza lunch will be provided.