As was suggested at the end of our last program, we are going to complete our convention preparedness show by looking at the state of ACB through the eyes of ACB'S current Vice Presidents. David Trott from Talladega Alabama and Ray Campbell from Springfield Illinois will be our guests. Ray has decided not to run for the Board this time. He has served his full terms as Second Vice President of ACB. This will give Ray a chance to reflect on the current state of ACB and on the changes he has seen. David Trott is our First Vice President and, before that, was ACB'S treasurer. He brings to our show experience and knowledge about where ACB is and where ACB is going. You will get a chance to ask these leaders about what the state of the game is and how they see the future of ACB. This will be our last Topics till after the convention so I hope many of you will join us to reflect on the state of ACB!

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The ACB convention is rapidly approaching and we thought it might be fun to invite a few of ACB'S special interest affiliates to tell folks about what they have planned for the convention and other things they are doing. It is our plan to have the Braille Revival League, Library Users of America, Families and the Council of Citizens with Low Vision. Remember our convention extends over two weeks. The first week includes virtual presentations. The second week we will be in a hybrid situation in Dallas Texas. We will hear about planned presentations from these groups and, later in the program, if other special interest folks are there, we will give them a chance to tell us what they are doing! Library Users, the Braille Revival League, Families and CCLVI all have virtual and hybrid events that deserve your attention. If you register for special interest affiliates at convention some are offering door prizes. If you have already registered you can go back and add with no penalty!

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It has been a while since Tuesday Topics looked at artificial intelligence. We know that it is becoming more and more crucial for people who are blind. Meta glasses, copilot, and new components on new iPhones are just some of the changes that are happening. Blind Information Technology Specialists are sponsoring a three day training program in Dallas at our convention. Jeff Bishop, BITS President, will be with us to tell us about that and other AI activities. What has changed in the last year? How are people liking the new versions of the meta glasses? How do people feel about the other new glasses that are becoming available? How effective is AI at making what we do better and what can we expect in the future? These are just some of the questions we will explore as Tuesday topics once more focuses on artificial intelligence! There is a new book that has just been released by the National Braille Press concerning using AI. It is written by Judy Dixon who is, on Tuesday, on her way to Germany. She is expecting to join us for part of our show from the airport.

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In our last two editions Tuesday Topics focussed on the upcoming convention. Our first session looked at what is scheduled in terms of exhibits, tours and the convention in general. Our second session looked at how we will vote and at the proposals to change the Constitution and Bylaws of ACB. Now it's time to explore how many of us have experienced the ACB convention and what impact the hybrid era has had on what we do! What should people who have never been to a convention think about when preparing? Are there special things dog users need to do? What did you learn when you first went to convention? What's it like to attend convention virtually? How do you plan ahead and schedule how you will choose among options? What do you miss by not attending in person? What do you gain by staying home?

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Last week our topic was the upcoming ACB convention and we provided lots of information about what is planned for Dallas this July and via zoom during June! As part of our convention we will be exploring some constitutional changes and, of course, we will be holding elections and perhaps doing other voting. What are the proposed changes? Will we use the same approach as last year? What specific amendments will we consider this year and what chance will rank and file members have to provide input or offer changes? Our next program will feature folks from our voting task force and will also hear about planned changes to the Constitution and bylaws of ACB. We will also explore how resolutions will be handled and when various events will occur. There will be enough time for you to become a part of the debate over proposed changes and for you to provide suggestions that can be considered.

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Each year we do a convention preview. This year we are excited to welcome three people who can give you all the information you might want about what's coming up in Dallas. Of course we will have Janet Dickelman, the heart of convention success. She is the convention coordinator and can tell you all about what is coming up in Dallas. In addition, we are lucky to have with us Rhonda Trott herself who can give you information on tours which she coordinates. Are you curious about the exhibit hall? Michael Smitherman will be with us. He is the exhibit hall boss and can give us a preview of what is on tap there. I am excited to have all these folks with us to provide the most complete and comprehensive presentation on what the convention has to offer.

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Tuesday Topics will once more take to the digital radiosphere and a bunch of other places for our last program about recreation. We expect to have 4 folks with us who can talk about a range of outdoor activities open to people who are blind. Actually at least two of the "sports" are indoor activities. We have looked at phone games, Lady a games, games that are not electronic and stand alone games that are. Now it's time to look at other games and sports that don't fit into these categories. Do you know what goalball is? Did you know there is a special game of Darts made for people who are blind or have low vision? How much do you know about the United States Association of Blind Athletes? Did you know there is such a thing as "blind tennis". We will talk about all of these activities and may well also have some folks who can tell us about skiing opportunities and other sports that are open to people who are blind. I forgot about Beep Baseball which we will certainly discuss. As Summer approaches it will be good to look at some activities that will get us outside and that can get us some of the exercise we perhaps did not get during the Winter.

Special Note: You are cordially invited to join the new Tuesday Topics Discussion list. Simply send an email to [email protected] and reply to the confirmation email you will receive to activate your subscription. Please join us!

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Tuesday Topics will continue its series on the games blind people play! This time we are inviting Lucy Edmonds back to talk about accessible hand held electronic games. Some of the may be bigger but the point is that games can happen in a device that is not a phone and is not a computer! Lucy will once more bring some devices with her so we will get a chance to experience how some of the games work. Not all of the products we will be showing you are designed for the blind. Many of them just happen to be accessible!

We have now talked about iPhone and video games and about games on smart speakers. This time we want to talk about old-fashioned games that we played before the computer came along. Many of us grew up playing cards. Some of us played chess and checkers and backgammon and dominoes and scrabble and monopoly and parcheesie and snakes and ladders. Many of us played games either we adapted or our families did. Games like Clue, for instance. Do we still play those games? If not, do we miss them? Do we play them on the computer or on our iPhones? Where can we find adapted games? Are there new games available we could try? Essentially, we are going to explore the way it was with games when we were growing up. We will look at memories and resources. We will explore favorite card games and we will ask whether those days are gone for good!

Last week we began our series on "games blind people play" and had Aaron join us to tell us about his experiences both with the iPhone and with other devices. This time we are truly honored to have Lucy Edmonds join us who has been doing a show on community for the last four and a half years on games you can play with Lady a. She tells me she literally has hundreds of games but will choose some that she likes best from various genres. As she does on her community show Lucy will actually demonstrate some of the games for us. The coolest thing about Alexa games is that people who are blind are just as capable of doing well as people who can see. In fact we may be better at listening and processing game information quickly. I am over the moon excited to have the queen of Amazon Alexa games as our guest on Tuesday Topics.