VTRID E-Letter Archive: Spring 2009

Good Morning, VTRID!

With the days getting a little bit longer and sunnier, I hope this finds you all well and excited with the anticipation of spring. Sugaring has gotten underway in my neck of the woods...and I suspect in most other parts of the state, as well. We live in a pretty "sweet" state. :-)

In this issue, you will find:
Announcements
Up-Coming Workshops
Kudos
March 7th Meeting Minutes

*Announcements*
1) VIRS Fundraiser is May 2nd!! Save the date. Robert Demayo will be performing at 7pm.

2) Please send in your nominations to Elizabeth for the VTRID Officers: President, VP/Secretary & Treasurer. Voting will take place at the June 6th meeting (Lianne's House).

3) Childcare has been brought to the table for VTRID meetings. Lianne is willing to have kids at her place in June. We need to figure out who will watch them, and also how we shall compensate the watchful-eye. Please send infomation regarding this directly to Lianne: liannemoccia@ gmail.com.

4) There will be an email coming out later this afternoon with discussion that has been happening the last couple days regarding Scholasrhip Guidelines. This was prompted from an item at the recent meeting about scholarship reciprocity and eligibility for funds. In order to keep this as transparent as possible, I'll be compiling the recent emails for all to read. I am thinking of setting up an online forum for further disussion on this matter (if I can figure out how). Keep your eyes peeled for more info!

5) Speaking of scholarships, our funds are exhausted. I am happy to say that we have granted 15 scholarships this cycle. If you are still in need of funding, please still send in your request so that we can keep a tally of funds needed for the next round of the scholarship pot. We will be adding this to the June agenda.

6) Region One Conference will be held August 13-15, 2010 in Albany, NY. Chairs for this conference were recently solidified. I will keep you updated when I know more.

*Up-Coming Workshops*
April 3-5th: Betty Colonomos
Brattleboro, VT (Austine's Campus)
Registration: $100/person
Registration form is on our website - www.vtrid.org
Contact person: Janet Dickinson - jdickinson@vcdhh. org

May 16th: Dennis Cokely
Location: TBD
10am-4:30pm
Contact Persons: Cory Brunner - corybrunner@ gmail.com
Lisa Bixler -leesahbixler@ yahoo.com

*Kudos*
A big Woo-Hoo goes out to Barbara Pomper for passing the first portion of her EIPA!!!

Another Woo-Hoo goes to Janet Dickinson for her efforts in grant-writing for the Betty Workshop. After the meeting she informed me that a local company (C & S) granted funds to support this workshop! Thank you!!

*March 7th Meeting Minutes*
VTRID meeting
March 7h 2009
CVH Berlin, VT

Whose here: Janet D, Janet D, Mary S, Nancy, Virginia, Janice, Elizabeth, Cory, Joan Pellerin, and Keri O and Lianne (on phone)

Announcements: (3 min)

Happy Birthday to Mary Stys!!!

Same 'ole same 'ole

President's report: Elizabeth B (3 min)
Has some info from Region 1. Main Hotel is full for Conference this summer. They have another hotel available. You can still register via online or on phone. List of workshops is available at rid.org. In the future, when planning a workshop, please check with national office to prevent workshop conflicts. Anyone who would like to join national "Bob" TF (re: EIPA and certified status) go to the RID website. There is also a "BOB" list serv you can join. Rebekah B is the contact for "BOB" questions. Region 1 also has its own website under the RID website. If you have anything to post to the region one website send it to Elizabeth! Next phone conference in a couple of months. For the national conference Elizabeth will help out with the president's dessert get together. Region 1 conference will be in 2010 in Albany NY.

Treasurer's report: Janice W (5 min)
Donations thus far…
DVAS Soup/Silent Auction 2007 $334.00?
Deaf Awareness Week UVM $200.00?
VIRS Fundraiser event $500.00?
VCDHH Golf Tournament $175. 00?
VT Deaf Expo $50.00
DVAS Soup/Silent Auction 2008 $327.00
Vagina Monologues $250.00?
Total- $1,586.00

Still have some membership dues coming in. in general, there is nothing exciting to report. If you have paid and aren't getting the list serv email let Janice know. A list of donations was given just to give an idea of how much we are donating annually (see above). We could discuss a cap for annual donations (will add to agenda for June meeting). VIRS is an on-going donation of $500 (voted in September). It should be a priority donation (and should be the responsibility of the treasurer to pay annually) and then following donations will be dependant on the funding available. Future consideration for the mentoring budget should become part of the Treasurer's responsibility as well as the Yahoo Account (already voted December meeting) to start when the new treasurer takes over in June. Lianne will bring up the mentorship $$ acct to the committee at the next meeting and report back at June meeting. PLEASE consider the treasurer position for June!!

Totals for Savings: $5462.25 Checking: $210.68 Mentorship: $7426.96

VP/Sec report: Cory B (3 min)
Nothing to report.

Scholarship: Elizabeth B (5 min)
Elizabeth brought updates for the new scholarship system with the sliding scale. (voted in June). We are almost out of funds. Will re-discuss the effectiveness in the June meeting and will make decision at that time to re-new sliding scale or not. The membership voted to add as a prerequisite for receiving a scholarship that the member must have attended at least one meeting within the 12 months prior to the requested event and that they subsequently write something for the newsletter about the workshop, and/or attend a meeting to report back, or if unable to attend, provide a written report about what they learned. The must be an active member, not solely a paying member. These changes will be made and will be listed under reciprocity in the scholarship requirements.

Mentorship: Lianne (5 min)
Mentorship Comm. meeting March 30th. Had a workshop with Toni and Lesley in early Spring which had rave reviews. Dennis Cokely May 16th. Trying to host it in the WRJ area… need help with a location. Any profit will be donated to the VIRS Community Fund. Currently people asking about becoming an interpreter are referred to Lisa. Membership will revisit if she still wants to accept that responsibility in June.

Workshops: Janet D (5 min)
Foundations Workshop: We have 15 people and need 30. VTRID will draft a letter to request funding from VCDHH.
Cory will resend out to list groups. Elizabeth will send out to Region 1 affiliates pres.

Website: Cory B (3 min)  Website is fine. Please email Cory with any changes you want on the website in the exact format and language you want it in. She doesn't think to change it unless you email her.

Region: 1 Report: Elizabeth B (10 min)
Included in Presidents Report

VIRS: Nancy G (10 min)
May 2nd fundraiser. Robert DeMayo is the presenter. It's in conjunction with the Austine Alumni weekend. Anyone who has time to volunteer is welcome.

Request for donations/ sponsorship: Elizabeth B (5 min)

VIRS Community Fund donation: $500 approved already

New Stuff!!

Mary Stys from Sorenson! (15 min)
Sorenson just moved to Concord. (Mary will become a VTRID member). Looking for interpreters to join the Sorenson team. If you are interested you can come to the training (paid). Great opportunity to meet great people. There are more than 100 call centers in US and Canada. There are great benefits for working at Sorenson. They also have an Intensive VIP program for pre-certified interpreters. Interpreter training is provided and follow up training is there as well Very flexible schedule. Sorenson is always looking for Deaf Professionals. Check online.

One comment is that working with Deaf people D.D. having a CDI available would be of much benefit. (They are looking into that).

Sorenson is not currently considering setting up rural interpreters in their home to provide services. (maybe in the future).

If you get a license in the state of NH you would qualify to work for Sorenson.

Please contact Mary Stys for more information.

Meeting format change: CB (10 min)

Because of such low membership attendance it was suggested that VTRID drop down to one or two meetings a year. It also seems that the same 3 or 4 people are heading up all the committees. Is there something that could be done to get more involvement.

Membership decided to host one meeting via teleconference / or VIT. Will re-discuss dropping the March or June meeting in December when the 2010 - 2011 dates are picked. September meeting will be a camping overnight.

June 6th Lianne's home 1 - 3
September 12th to 13th - Camping at Cory's house (Sept 19th rain date)
DVAS December 5th
March ITV or teleconference (Cory will look into the cost)

Meeting dates: Elizabeth B (10 min) June and September
June 6th 1 to 3 at Lianne's home. (FYI: June 7th is Lianne Birthday)

Election of New Officers: EB (10 min)
Elizabeth will collect all nominations via email. Need positions for Treasurer and Secretary/VP and President. Will vote at June meeting at Lianne's home.

Committee on Deaf issues about interpreting coverage (15 min)
Not a lot of response thus far with the idea of people getting together to talk about issues. Deaf Club event happening on May 9th may be a good time for having the discussion. They meet every 2nd Saturday. Or it could be part of Deaf Awareness week. Keri has joined the committee and will help to identify a good date.

Last Minute: Box of old VTRID stuff: Cory will go through it and give to the next President

Meeting Adjourned at 2:57