Hello everyone! As your AER Board Representative, I would like to set up regional teleconference meetings with you in the new year. While I found the national teleconference interesting earlier this fall, it was also problematic for the following reasons: 1. Few or no participants from Atlantic Canada because of the timing; 2. Reluctance to ask tough questions of the AER staff because of a feeling that the question would not relate to everyone on the call. This meant that some people were contacting me privately after the call was over, and this kind of defeats the purpose of everyone hearing others' issues and concerns, and benefiting from the call. Therefore, I'd like to try again, and this time, to commit to hosting 3-4 regional teleconference meetings with Canadian AER members and AER staff available to answer questions. These would take place January-February, 2015. My proposed regions are: Western provinces (B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba); Ontario; Quebec and Atlantic Canada (or Quebec separate from Atlantic Canada if that is preferred...given you are all members of NE-AER, I figured we could hold the call together). Some topics we could touch on would be: 1. Western provinces-a) Alberta members becoming members of the B.C./Yukon region of AER and how to encourage increased membership; 2. Ontario-having a joint AER region with New York; 3. Quebec-increasing the access to materials in French; 4. Atlantic provinces-increasing membership. Topics for all calls- 1. ACVREP certification in Canada-pros and cons-and why an ACVREP merger would increase AER membership and boost interest in the organization; 2. Regional mergers and why (or why not) they make sense for Canadians; 3. The 2020 conference-a Canadian host city and why we might want this; 4. The development of membership recruitment materials that make the most sense for Canada (since most of what we see online is not applicable, we need to work with the office to develop something that works for us); 5. Agency and School board support for staff membership-suggestions and comments. Teachers, I believe, need them to take place at 4:00 p.m. local time. CNIB and other rehab staff might not prefer this time, however, I am not sure I can accommodate all. Since this is volunteer work, is there a preference for, say, 7:00 p.m., like AER board meetings? I would keep these calls Monday-Friday. I am going to schedule these 1 hour calls for 4:00 p.m. on Mondays. And see how it goes. Thank-you for your patience. You will receive your call in information and the meeting request from the AER office in the new year. Western Canada: 4:00 p.m., Pacific Time, Monday January 12, 2015 (1:00 Deborah's time) Ontario: 4:00 p.m., Eastern Daylight Time, Monday January 19, 2015 Quebec: 4:00 p.m., Eastern Daylight Time, Monday January 26, 2015 Atlantic Canada: 4:00 p.m., Atlantic Time, and Newfoundland: 4:30 p.m., Newfoundland Time, Monday February 2, 2015 (3:00 pm Deborah's time) I hope this is helpful and that we can make these days and times work. Deborah. Deborah Gold, Ph.D. National Director, Research and Program Development CNIB (416) 486-2500, ext. 7209 (416) 802-6845 (mobile) deborah.gold@cnib.ca www.cnib.ca ________________________________ New and improved! Visit the new Shop CNIB web store with increased accessibility, better functionality and a refreshed look shop.cnib.ca ________________________________ Privacy Disclaimer - Fran?ais ? suivre This e-mail message (including attachments, if any) is intended for the use of the individual or entity to which it is addressed and may contain information that is privileged, proprietary, and confidential. If you are not the intended recipient, you are notified that any dissemination, distribution, or copy of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify the sender and erase this e-mail message immediately. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- D?claration de confidentialit? Le pr?sent courrier ?lectronique (y compris les pi?ces qui y sont annex?es, le cas ?ch?ant) s'adresse au destinataire indiqu? et peut contenir des renseignements de caract?re priv? ou confidentiel. Si vous n'?tes pas le destinataire de ce document, nous vous signalons qu'il est strictement interdit de le diffuser, de le distribuer ou de le reproduire. Si ce message vous a ?t? transmis par erreur, veuillez en informer l'exp?diteur et le supprimer imm?diatement.