Hello Everyone, First of all, I hope all of you are doing well, and that you have begun receiving your vaccinations, so that you can again return to work, and the sort of life all of us hope to be enjoying once again. With the 2021 National Convention quickly approaching, yes I know it seems strange to be saying that, and the fact that we will once again be meeting virtually, I wanted to begin reaching out to all of you for help with the 2021 Virtual Cane Walk. Last year was very challenging; however, everyone that participated in the planning and the work of providing instruction truly rose to the challenge. The NOPBC has contacted me, and they are ready to join with us again this year to make the Cane Walk a success once again. They shared with me the following thoughts, and I would appreciate your feedback on these ideas. "We were thinking this year it might make much more sense to begin offering Cane Walk registration at the convention, and close it perhaps a week after convention is over. We would have a couple of introductory sessions at the convention so people would understand what the Cane Walk is, what Structured Discovery is, and why families might want to take advantage of this. Once families register, they would be paired with instructors. Again, this would be after the convention is over. Then, perhaps toward the middle or end of August, we would have a couple of debrief sessions where families and instructors could share experiences, debrief, ask questions, etc. We thought this might make more sense since it seemed as though our calls both before and during the convention were not extremely well attended by families. But, the virtual model for the Cane Walk did seem to work well for those who participated, so we do not want to take it away. Please let us know your thoughts." So, please be looking at your schedules, and provide your thoughts on the planning of the Cane Walk. Those of you that helped with the arrangements last year, if you have the time, and wish to help out again this year, your assistance will gratefully be accepted once again. Please feel free to write to me at debandjeff at allophone.com or you can call me evenings or weekends at (402) 489-9458. Should you call me, you will likely get my voice mail, so please leave a message, and I will call you back. Sincerely, Jeff Altman MA NOMCT CVRCB