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Tag: Braille

No org affiliation? No problem! An invitation to a stylish virtual boutique.

Published July 15, 2020 by L. Legendary

No matter which blindness advocacy organization’s name is printed on your membership card, there’s been a little something for everyone at the summer national conventions. this year, due to the pandemic crisis, our lives seem to have moved online. So has our conference-going. As was the case for many of you, I had planned to attend a number of conferences in person this year, and one by one, they all dropped back and punted to the player on the other team, Zoom.

By this time any other year, I would be exhibiting my Elegant Insights Braille Creations, greeting many of you in person, shaking your hand, introducing you to whomever was working the exhibit hall booth with me, showing you my pretty merchandise, and thanking you for stopping by. Instead, I’m offering my products virtually, via the conference platform chosen by the NFB for their online sessions and hoping you’ll select the link that will deposit you in my Zoom room.

While registered attendees are strongly encouraged to attend the general, educational, and affiliate sessions, the vendors who would typically have exhibit hall hours that did not conflict with the convention agenda would be eagerly awaiting the arrival of the conference attendees, hoping to make some sales. In the case of the convention of the American Council for the Blind, the “exhibit hall” was actually a series of recorded infomercial’s where blind business owners could present everything they possibly could in the span of ten minutes. These recorded presentations were then played on ACB Radio. The NFB invested in an elaborate conference platform, where sessions could be attended virtually, while exhibit hall hours were scheduled throughout the week.

After two days of presenting my products to a mostly empty room, surprising considering the trumpeted number of registered attendees, it has occurred to me that there is no reason to limit my audience to the NFB audience. Anyone can connect to a Zoom room, so I’d like to invite all-comers to a couple of sessions at which I’ll be talking about my products, answering questions, and hopefully, meeting the customers that I’m missing by adhering to the limits of the convention exhibit hall hours.

Copy and paste the link below into your browser to join our virtual booth via Zoom:

us02web.zoom.us/j/81181371379?pwd=ellQUW5vVThRYnpjeDRZSkhzcmlkQT09

Meeting ID: 811 8137 1379
Password: 514106

On Thursday, July 16, Friday, July 17, and Saturday July 18, I will be available during the NFB20 exhibit hall hours as follows:

Thursday
6AM to 8AM Pacific Time, 9AM to 11AM Eastern: I’ve got a couple of announcements I’m excited to share, including some great new products, as well as big news about a new direction for Elegant Insights.

Friday
6AM to 8AM Pacific Time, 9AM to 11AM Eastern: We’ll be talking about gifts, gifts, and more gifts. Hey, it’s never too early to start holiday shopping. Think of it as Christmas in July.

Friday
2PM to 4PM Pacific Time, 5PM to 7PM Eastern: Catch up on everything you’ve missed with Elegant Insights, and get your product questions answered. You may even win a gift of braille jewelry! Did somebody say prize drawing?

Saturday
6AM to 9AM Pacific Time, 9AM to noon Eastern: Am I really hitting the Zoom room at 6AM? Yes I am. On Saturday, I’ll be joined by Brent Harbolt from The Harbolt Company, and we’re just going to chat about the convention, check in with our customers about the best sessions, compare notes on how tired we are, and generally shoot the breeze.

Saturday
3PM to 5PM Pacific Time, 6PM to 8PM Eastern: Busy this Saturday night? After a long week working, social distancing, or conventioneering, zoom in to a session that’s all about fashion, fragrance, and fabulous. Laura and Brent invite you to join our Saturday Night Style event, where we’ll chat about apparel and accessories, fragrance and skin care, trends, and bath and beauty products for both men and women. Brent, Laura, and a mixed panel of fashionistas will answer your burning style questions. Need a heads-up about men’s grooming products? Summer trends? Color cosmetics? Hottest men’s fragrances? Ways to wear jewelry and accessories while wearing a mask? Okay, maybe not that last one, but whatever you want to know, we’re here to rescue you from any style emergency.

Whether you have an upcoming job interview, special event, or just want to look your best in all those Zoom meetings, join us from 6 PM to 8 PM Eastern Time, 3PM to 5 PM Pacific for Saturday Night Style. Here is your Zoom invitation:

Join our zoom group with your computer or zoom app on your device by clicking the link below:
us02web.zoom.us/j/81181371379?pwd=ellQUW5vVThRYnpjeDRZSkhzcmlkQT09

Meeting ID: 811 8137 1379
Password: 514106

Join our zoom group by doing a single tap on your mobile device on one of the numbers below:
+16699006833,,81181371379#,,,,0#,,514106# US (San Jose)
+12532158782,,81181371379#,,,,0#,,514106# US (Tacoma)

Join our zoom group from your landline telephone by calling one of the numbers below. (You will need to enter the meeting ID and password with this option)
Meeting ID: 811 8137 1379
Password: 514106

+1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)
+1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)
+1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)
+1 929 436 2866 US (New York)
+1 301 715 8592 US (Germantown)
+1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)

Find your local number: us02web.zoom.us/u/kddCvKUbKa
See you there!

LL

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A crowdfunding campaign you can get behind: Help make it happen for a blind entrepreneur

Published March 29, 2016 by L. Legendary

Since Accessible Insights is a blog devoted to advocacy, accessibility, and assistive technology, I get a little squishy whenever I post something unrelated to those topics. However, to paraphrase an old song, it’s my blog, and I’ll write what I want to, write what I want to, write what I want to…

This post will consist of a short explanation and a call to action. I need your help.

My little enterprise, Elegant Insights Braille Creations, has enjoyed a five-year run as your source for all things beautiful Braille embossed jewelry and accessories. Now, I have a bit of a problem, and, as they say in entrepreneurial parlance, it’s a good problem to have. My business is expanding, thanks to an invitation I received to showcase my products on the new Amazon Handmade platform. Amazon is seeking to aggressively compete with Etsy, which, in case you don’t know, is an enormous online destination for all things handcrafted. There you can find everything from woodwork to knitted pet blankets to scrapbook supplies. There’s plenty of handmade jewelry there, too. You will not find me there, instead, I chose to go my own way, and set up shop on my own domain, elegantinsightsjewelry.com/.

Etsy does billions per year in business. That’s right. I said billions. Amazon wants a piece of that very sweet pie, so they solicited artisans from a variety of sources to showcase their items on the Amazon platform. I applied, and was accepted. I think I may have read the congratulations letter about a hundred times. I was very excited.

My excitement was quickly quelled, though, by the realization that I was somewhat unprepared for the task. I needed to buy a whole lot of jewelry making supplies, sheet metal, findings and components, tools and other assorted parts and pieces. Not to mention the extra hands I would need to hire in order to put it all together in sufficient quantity to meet demand. I realized that I needed to raise some money.

To that end, I’ve launched a crowdfunding campaign on Indie GoGo. Wow, has that been a learning experience. As is the case with many other adventures in life, there’s more to crowdfunding successfully than one might think, given the many startup victory dances that seem to be going on everywhere. Just when I think my head is about to explode from learning yet another new skill, I find out I have a lot to learn. My head may explode anyway.

I’m raising a relatively modest amount of money, just enough to get the ball rolling on my plans. The campaign period is 30 days, and I’m just over halfway through it now. Here’s where you come in. Remember that call to action? Here it comes.

Crowdfunding is, to some degree, part advanced planning, part momentum, part luck, and part numbers game. It’s also a ton of work. the more traffic you can drive to your campaign page, the more likely you are to attract a stranger who thinks what you’re trying to accomplish is cool, investment worthy, and they may decide to back your campaign by throwing some coin your way. In exchange, you offer perks, or thank you gifts, as a way of showing your appreciation for said stranger’s contribution. Hopefully, your family and close friends have already contributed, so by the time said stranger hits your page, you are already a small percentage of the way there.

I’m about 35 percent of the way there, and with just under two weeks to go, I feel the distance between me and success is a long one. I have worked tirelessly to this point, and have abandoned just about everything else in an effort to shepherd my campaign to the finish. Please take a look at my page, read my story, and contribute. If making a direct financial contribution is not an option for you, please let me leverage your network. Please tweet, blog, share, and nudge your friends on my behalf. Let them know that there is a video, photos, explanatory text, and a one-woman army driving the campaign. I appreciate any and all support, even if that support is in the form of an interview on your podcast, a guest post on your blog, or a link on your Facebook page. Please help me spread the word about my efforts, and help me make it happen.

Here’s the link: igg.me/at/ElegantInsights

If you need a gift for an upcoming birthday, or for Mother’s Day, which is right around the corner, I’m offering some great perks in exchange for your contribution, so check it out. I’ll keep you posted on my progress, which is another way of saying I’ll be promoting the ever loving daylights out of this. It’s been pretty hard to get away from me recently, I’m all about this right now. Thank you for your help, and for your patience.

LL

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