2009 AADB Presidential Debate
Dan Arabie (LA) – Timothy ‘Hulk’ Jackson (SD)
Versus
Jill Gaus (MI) – Mike Reese (MI)

Question #1:

When elected, what will be your 3 top priorities for AADB?

Jill-Mike:

a. Conferences - we will send out a survey on conference details to find out what specifically the AADB members are looking for in a conference. Also, we will set up a conference committee.

b. Increase funding for conferences, SSP program, communications, advocacy and technology.

c. SSP program - Assist with setting up a committee that will focus on our goal of seeing SSP services become a recognized profession with specialized training to support better services for the DeafBlind consumers.
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Dan-Hulk:

The most recent AADB member survey tells us what Deaf-Blind Americans want the most. Our bio sketches reflect our top three priorities, which we intend to focus on when we are in office.

1. Advocating on behalf of all Deaf-Blind Americans for a National SSP Program.

2. Working toward re-establishing dependable AADB national conferences.

3. Giving support and finding resources to provide DB Americans with accessible technology.

Question #2:

Two questions are very closely related. You may answer one at a time or combine both of the questions at the same time.

2a. Who and where would you seek funding for the AADB Conferences?

2b. If an AADB conference costs approximately $200,000 how would you, as president and vice president get the funding so AADB can have a conference every two years?

Dan-Hulk:

We are planning to form a new Ways & Means Committee to study and monitor AADB's budget to make sure that funds are being used properly and for the purpose it was intended. If we see any waste or unnecessary spending, we will need to decide on top priorities that will allow us to focus more on achieving our three top goals. As for the question, from WHO and WHERE would we seek funding for AADB conferences.

Dan-Hulk:

First, the host city should be willing to come up with part of the funds, such as a minimal $25,000 already suggested by AADB.

Secondly, we will study the current budget to see where we may be able to draw funds.

Third, we will seek donors who can afford to gift us with large sums of money that can be written off on their tax returns.

Jill - Mike:

First, we need to turn the conference over to the members so, we would like to set up a subcommittee of the Conference committee that will focus solely on the fundraising for each conference. We will also be more assertive by asking more members to become involved with the fundraising effort for the conference. It is everyone's conference; we all can join forces to ensure that we have a conference every two years.

One of the tasks that we will do is contact other national organizations and see if collaborating conferences is feasible. We will also approach hotels to see if discounts are available for a large group coming together for a conference. We will be contacting various organizations such as: statewide organizations, Lions Club, Kiwanis, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, HLA-A, NAD, HKNC, to name a few.

Right now, the Fundraising Committee is working on what is called the 25th AADB Campaign. This year is AADB's 25th year as a 501c3, nonprofit organization. The goal is for each board member to bring in three donors per month. For the month of February, each board member is to bring in three donors at $25/month each, then for March, each board member is to bring in three more at $50/month each, and so forth, the monthly donation amount increasing every month up to $150/month. We will soon be opening up this effort to the AADB members to help educate and bring in more DB to help with this effort. We are currently working on a new brochure and donor form for us to hand out.

Also, we will be working on acquiring sponsors by charging them for booth space and advertising space for the conference. In addition, we will set up a donor/sponsor list, which will be recognized in the program booklet and/or AADB conference website. We could ask interested Vendors to donate items for a Silent Auction and put a minimum value for the donation which would allow for a discount in advertising space.

In addition, we will include a bidding process, starting with the conferences for 2013 and 2015, so that we will allow a specific state DB organization 4 to 6 years of fundraising to pool with AADB's conference funds.

Question #3:

Goals - Since we won't have a conference soon, how will you contact AADB members to find out what they want and what their goals are for AADB?

Jill and Mike:

We value 100% accessibility, so the following will be utilized to encourage more members to submit their input regarding their concerns and suggestions:
1) email, 2) web, 3) mail (Large Print and Braille), 4) DB American magazine, and 5) VP/TTY (with CFs as needed).

Dan–Hulk:

We, Dan and Hulk, have an idea of what the members want at this time through the last AADB survey of the membership. We will strive to make these goals happen and we will always keep the membership informed via the many methods of communicating.

The number of ways to contact AADB members are: e-mails, TTYs, videophones, Hawk's DB Relay, AADB Today e-news, faxes, online DB groups, Postal Service mail – both large print and braille, express delivery, word of mouth, and DB social events.

We firmly believe in an Open Door policy and we will make every effort to listen to members' concerns. We make a pledge to you that we will be open and honest with you and we will also make ourselves accountable to you for whatever actions we take on behalf of AADB. All members deserve courtesy and respect and they have the right to be heard.

Question #4:

Tough economic time - as we all know the economy is a huge challenge, what will AADB need to stay afloat?

Jill-Mike:

a. My biggest goal for fundraising is to get rid of UDS this fall. UDS means United Deaf Services. They are a telecommunication company. What they do is make phone calls for donations to AADB and then they keep 68% of what is donated. The climate of fund raising has changed and UDS unfortunately does not fit in our fund raising strategy anymore. We have lost many donors because they feel that we are not a strong organization by signing contracts with UDS because they feel we should be doing all of the fundraising on our own. This makes me very angry and I have been against resigning with UDS because this is an embarrassment to AADB to have someone look at the 990 forms and see the 68% of the donations we are losing out on. It shows no strength in our organization and has been cited as the reason we have lost the confidence of donors who have withdrawn their support of AADB.

b. Encourage more lifetime members, I am a lifetime member.

c. As President and Vice-President, we will strive to be more visible by joining DB-related listservs other than the ones we are already on, so that we can be involved with DB members on a more frequent basis. To put it another way, we’ll be “out on the front lines”, more “hands-on”, so to speak.

d. We will continue to maintain our 501(c)(3) status.

e. We will make our organization as “environmentally friendly” as possible, i.e., recycling, resources management, do more for the dollar, etc.

f. We plan on beefing up our advocacy and fundraising efforts.

g. We will continue to invest wisely.

h. Check into writing/applying for any grants that may be available.

Dan–Hulk:

We will need to take a hard and good look at all the financial and budget aspects of AADB. This will include having a good cash flow, bills paid on time, any shortages or surpluses in a given area as well as other aspects.

We could also dip into the volunteer bank that AADB now has to see if we can use the membership's desire to volunteer to help AADB. The AADB Volunteer Bank was set up about a year ago to give the membership a chance to volunteer their services; matching their skills with a given choice of service.

We will make efforts to manage the many different needs of technologies which AADB uses at conferences. We know these different technologies are very important to the members.

We would welcome any input as to how we might be able to cut expenses without sacrificing our top three goals.

Question #5

Experiences - Please list 3 accomplishments you have done for AADB.

Jill:
a. 3 AADB Open Board meetings
- I worked closely with the AADB SSP/Interpreter committee to prepare for the meetings. I provided workshops to prepare all the interpreters, SSPs and staff at DeSales Centre for the board meetings and followed through with detailed information to all the board members and office staff regarding communication match-ups, room arrangements, meals, and transportation.
- I was able to obtain free room and board for everyone thus saving AADB thousands of dollars.
- I solicited donations of snacks and drinks from local businesses thus saved hundreds of dollars.
- I was able to get drivers to donate their services, as well as obtain donated gas cards. Also the van and gas from DeSales Conference Centre were donated to aid in transportation to and from the airport.
- I was able to get all interpreters and CARTs to decrease their normal hourly fee by $10/hour.
b. Chair of Fundraising
- Assisted with the subcommittees. Each subcommittee had its own chair but I assisted in advising.
- Assisted with Randy on CONVIO.
c. I serve on the NTFDBI as a member and have contributed to the general discussions and work. I have assisted in helping the TF know what works and does not work in terms of the meetings themselves (interpreter issues) and accessibility (of documents, etc.)

Mike: I've only been around AADB for 2 years now and am just starting to make my presence felt around here.
a. Assisted the Fundraising Committee with CONVIO and 25th Campaign. I participated in the general discussion and feedback via email with the committee on these two projects.
b. Served as a consultant on I.T. issues. (ex: database server support, web design issues, including programming styles) c. Attended an open AADB board meeting and demonstrated my support of our national organization at the DBW.

Dan–Hulk:

We may not be a part of the inside of AADB but we have served AADB in other ways.

1. We are both lifetime members of AADB. That shows our loyalty to AADB and its members, many of whom we met at the last conference.

2. We increased our efforts in 2008 to recruit and add many more new members for AADB which will help pump life back into AADB.

3. We purchased large quantities of SEE's candies from Emily Vera, board member of AADB, and sold quiet a lot at the annual Deaf-Blind picnic in Louisiana last April. This helped support AADB's fundraising action.

Question #6

AADB Bylaws - If the bylaws or Constitution need to be changed so AADB can run more effectively, are you willing to make that change?

Jill-Mike

Yes, we would have the sub-committee regroup and work specifically on the By-Laws. We would also connect with members for their suggestions on additions, modifications, and/or deletions on what they want in the By-Laws.

Dan–Hulk:

Yes to making whatever changes will need to be made to improve and make AADB bylaws more effective and easier to understand.

I, Dan Arabie, intend to appoint Hulk as chair of the Bylaws Committee and to ask for volunteers who have experience writing or editing bylaws to join us as well. Together, we can can come up with a more clear and concise set of bylaws that will give us a little room to be a little more flexible when needed without rules becoming too detailed or too rigid. We will submit newly revised bylaws to the general assembly for a final reading and final approval from its respected bonafide members. We also wish to encourage our members to give us their feedback and suggestions for making improvements to AADB bylaws. We want to hold the door wide open with open and honest communications.

We also feel that it might be appropriate to be sure the AADB Constitution and bylaws are in harmony with each other to help the AADB membership understand the organization better.

In conclusion, we are both excited and looking forward to a new and better AADB organization for all AADB members.