Employees of the Year made a grand entrance to the General Session of the 2016 NIB/NAEPB Conference and Expo.
“NO LIMITS” in big bold writing was the message used to draw people to the 2016 National Industries for the Blind (NIB) and National Association for the Employment for People Who Are Blind (NAEPB) National Conference and Expo. NIB uses “no limits” as shorthand for “there are no limits to what we can do.” Their yearly conference and expo supports this message by offering an opportunity to improve upon and showcase the abilities of people who are blind.
This year’s conference was held from September 14th through the 16th, at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City Hotel in Arlington, Virginia. The conference featured various training programs, technology demonstrations, introduced new SKILCRAFT® products, and hosted a banquet to honor the employee of the year.
John La Varnway, who works as Channel Manager for The Lighthouse for the Blind, Inc. in Spokane, attended the conference and expo along with 18 other staff members including Melanie Wimmenauer (Vice President, Communications & Service Business), Karen Blake (Senior Vice President of Base Supply Centers), Bob Johnson (Senior Vice President of Strategic Business Development), and Harry Egler (President and Interim CEO).
John lost his sight 19 years ago due to a brain tumor. He attended the NIB conference for the first time in October of last year, not long after starting work with the Lighthouse. He appreciates the opportunity to attend workshops and learn more about organizations at the conference. At this year’s conference, John particularly enjoyed the Employee of the Year Banquet and the General Services Admiration (GSA) event which covered how to market products and services to the government.
The Lighthouse for the Blind, Inc.’s booth at the 2016 NIB Conference and Expo featuring some new wallboard items this year.
It is important for events like the NIB conference to be accessible to those attending. According to John, the conference handled accessibility well through the use of braille and by providing thumb drives containing conference notes. Hotel staff was also on hand throughout the event to assist during meals and to help with any other accommodations guests needed.
During the all-day expo on September 15th, John could be found at booth 333 where the Lighthouse was showcasing a number of SKILCRAFT® products including a new line of wallboards. In his opinion this year’s expo was “considerably better than last years” the Lighthouse was able to attract more business thanks to a larger number of Federal customers who came by the booth.
There are no limits to what we can do, this year’s conference helped champion that statement. Hopefully at next year’s conference we will continue to see improvement for both NIB and The Lighthouse for the Blind, Inc.
