The meeting was called to order by Maria Rueters, VIBUG president at 1:05:p.m. After an introduction of all members who were present and guest attendees, the minutes of the May 8th meeting were read by Jeanette Kutash, Vice President, for Dennis Brady, VIBUG Clerk, who was away on business. Corrections were made to the minutes that included the website for the tic tac toe and other games is Voice, and the website is http://www.seeingwithsound.com. The minutes were accepted as amended.
Under announcements, Maria Rueters, VIBUG President indicated that the officers looked into the by-laws to see if the organization must hold meetings on a monthly basis with the idea of possibly not holding a meeting in August. Since the by-laws had no provision mandating a meeting be held each month, the officers decided that there would be no meeting in the month of August because traditionally, many members are away on vacation and attendance is usually low. A notice would be sent to all members indicating that no meeting would be held in August and that the next meeting would be held on September 11, 2004.
No additional discussions were held regarding a possible meeting to be held at the technology center at the Carroll Center for the Blind. Any possible meeting at the Carroll Center has been postponed until early next year.
Because of changes made at the National Braille Press during its recently completed renovations, it is no longer possible to store the desktop computer which VIBUG had been using for demonstrations and to conduct training workshops for its members. The membership at a previous meeting had already authorized the purchase of new updated screen reading software. In light of the new situations, the officers decided that the organization should look into the feasibility of purchasing a new laptop computer to use at demonstrations and to resurrect training workshops for VIBUG members. Tim cumings agreed to set up an ad hoc committee of experienced laptop users who would be responsible for looking into what laptop model should be purchased that would best suit the organization’s needs. Tim Cumings advised the membership that the committee consists of the following members: Don Breeda, Ted Filteau, Amy Ruell and himself.
The VIBUG Treasury has aroung $4,000 available according to Jim Roberts, VIBUG Treasurer. The officers agreed that at least for the moment, the latest JAWS software would be purchased along with the laptop, and that window eyes would be purchased at a later date subject to the availability of funds. It was decided that the JAWS software for windows xp home would be purchased as opposed to the windows xp professional. The membership was advised by John Mattioli that a JAWS windows xp professional software package was being auctioned off by National Braille Press as a part of its fund-raising activities. This led to the introduction and passage of two separate motions. The first motion authorized VIBUG to place a bid on this software for an amount not to exceed $800, (the cost of a JAWS Windows xp home package if purchased through regular channels). The second motion appointed John Mattioli to represent VIBUG authorizing him to bid on the item before the close of the auction. A motion was made by Don Breeda authorizing the laptop committee to spend an amount not to exceed $2,000 on the laptop unit alone. This motion was seconded and was passed without opposition.
Once the new laptop and upgraded software has been purchased, the officers decided that it may be a good idea to conduct a raffle with the door prize being the old VIBUG computer and software as is. Maria and Jannette would get together and determine the specs that are currently on that computer. There would be no adaptive software attached to the old computer. The raffle would take place at the annual Christmas Party and the price of the raffle tickets would be $1 a piece or 6 for $5. Some members brought up the fact that a flat monitor be purchased because it has more to see for low vision purposes than a standard laptop monitor. The projected start date for the sale of raffle tickets would be at the September meeting. Anyone with suggestions or ideas on the raffle can contact Jeanette by phone at 617-376-6341, or by e-mail at kutsh@theworld.com.
Maria indicated some additional enhancements for the search function with Zoomtext that were not mentioned at her demonstration at the May meeting. Contact Maria Rueters if you have additional questions on zoomtext.
Jeanette reminded people who had not contacted her about updating their membership information that they should see her if possible during the meeting or before they leave since she would like to have an updated membership list completed before the September meeting. The VIBUG clerk indicated that the September deadline at which time only 3 years worth of minutes would be available on the VIBUG website has been extended until January, 2005 because of issues that came up. Minutes older than 3 years old would be kept in an archive file.
Jeffrey Turner indicated that he had floppy disks containing a course on how to use Google offered by Infoeyes, an online library service offered for blind and visually impaired individuals. Contact Jeffrey if you are interested.