RFB&D Chicago

RFB&D Chicago Loop Studio Facebook Group

2009-07-29T09:50:00.001-05:00

Join Today!

Click here...

Connect with your fellow volunteers, keep up-to-date on what's going on in the studio, be the first to know about upcoming events...there's no reason not to join. It's free! Everyone else is doing it, so why shouldn't you?

RFB&D Raffle is HERE!

2009-07-29T09:48:00.001-05:00

Well, the raffle was delayed a bit but it has finally arrived!

We're having our annual "Back to School" fundraiser raffle. Tickets are $10 each. Up for grabs...Two Round-Trip tickets provided by Southwest Airlines! Only 300 will be sold, so your odds of winning are mighty decent...especially if you buy more than one! Pick up tickets in the Loop Studio next time you drop in and you could be flying anywhere Southwest flies for only $10, while helping to support your studio at the same time!

RFB&D RAFFLE IS COMING!

2009-04-29T13:29:00.001-05:00

Now that spring is here, the annual RFB&D raffle is just weeks away. Don’t miss your chance to purchase raffle tickets and qualify for a chance to win two round-trip airline tickets provided by Southwest Airlines.

As you may know, Southwest Airlines flies to more than 75 destinations throughout the United States, and recently began offering service to Minneapolis and New York City. The airline is well-known for its low fares and lack of hidden fees.

This year, each raffle ticket will cost $10; you can also purchase three tickets for just $25. Since no more than 300 tickets will be sold, you have excellent odds of winning. The raffle will be held at our Orland Park studio; please watch this space for more information about the date and time.

Good luck to all.

Goodbye volunteers!

2009-04-10T09:39:00.002-05:00

From Nat to the Chicago Studio volunteers:

Friday, April 24th, the last day of Record-A-Thon, will be my last day with the RFB&D Chicago studio. My wife and I will be moving back to the Boston area, which is where we grew up and lived before moving out here in 2004. Although we love Chicago, we’re Northeasterners at heart and the call of the ocean and the hills became too strong.

I have been with RFB&D since 2005- first as a volunteer, then a Production Assistant, and finally Production Director. This organization is truly a wonderful place, and has treated me incredibly well during my time here. I have nothing but fond feelings for RFB&D, and I have already notified our headquarters that, should a production position become available in the Boston studio, I’d jump at the chance to re-join the organization!

Mostly, though, I will be very sad to leave all of you. The greatest joy I receive from my job is working with all of the volunteers that contribute such amazing work to the organization. I know that the volunteer role here is difficult, and it requires tremendous patience (with staff forgetfulness, hot booths, and constantly-changing rules!) and equally tremendous dedication. It’s been absolutely wonderful to work with all of you, and being able to do so is the hardest part of my job to walk away from.

I am proud to announce that Andrew, who has been performing well beyond the call of duty as a Production Assistant since 2007, will be taking over as Production Director, and we will be hiring another Production Assistant to help out Andrew and Norma during the evening.
You can all be sure that whenever I visit Chicago in the future (and with some close friends here and cheap Southwest Airlines flights, you know I will!), I will be sure to visit the studio and I hope to see as many of you as I can!

Exciting news- Win a trip to the Illinois Capitol!

2009-03-17T08:21:00.001-05:00

Design and Essay Contest
RFB&D is inviting all students using RFB&D in Illinois to participate in our 2nd Design and Essay Contest. We want to know what RFB&D means to you! You can tell us through artwork, whether you paint, sculpt or draw, or through writing in essay form.
The first prize winner in each category will receive a free trip, including transportation and lodging to join us at our Rotunda Rally in Springfield on April 21, 2009. The winning students will also be featured in our Illinois Unit newsletter.
Please submit your artwork and/or essay to the Illinois Unit office with a completed entry form (http://www.rfbd.org/essay_design_contest/entry_form.pdf) by March 27, 2009. Artwork should be easy to transport, but we do not have any limitations for how you express yourself! All submitted works will become property of RFB&D and will not be returned. Please contact Ellen Gallagher at 312-236-8715 x208 or egallagher@rfbd.org if you have any questions!

Volunteer Appreciation Party date set!

2008-11-13T15:07:00.003-06:00

In past years, we've had a "Volunteer Appreciation Event". This year it's a party!

We're going a little more casual and comfortable this year, with the Volunteer Appreciation Party being hosted right here in the offices. (Don't worry, it'll look and feel much more festive than usual.) We'll have some great music, great food, great drinks, and no big speeches to cut into your socializing-time.

So come on down and bring a friend, spouse, date, acquaintance, guy-or-gal-you-just-met-on-the-street. It's a great way to celebrate all the work you've done, and to meet other volunteers who share the same passion, commitment, and enjoyment in volunteering for RFB&D!

Details:
Wednesday, December 10th
5:30ish-7:30ish
Right here in the studio at 180 N. Michigan

Hope to see you all there!

SO close!

2008-07-18T11:24:00.004-05:00

I owe a huge THANK YOU to every volunteer that has helped out over the past fiscal year (which ended on June 30th). With all of your help- in reading, checking, editing, and book preparation- we were able to record 4,061 hours of audio, which was JUST shy of our goal of 4,250 hours.

Excellent work!

We've got a slightly higher goal for FY09 of 4,275 hours, so we'll need all the help we can get to reach that goal! Please tell your family, friends, coworkers, even strangers on the street, that we need more volunteers! Every hour you can give us will help us reach our goal, so let's make this next fiscal year as successful as the last! (Actually, how about we make it slightly more successful?)
: )

-Nat

Record-A-Thon photos!

2008-05-13T09:41:00.009-05:00

As promised, I'm including a few photos from Record-A-Thon in this post.

First, here's some delicious food. Piles of meat, cookies, and popcorn = Yum!

RFB&D's own stellar volunteer, Michael Burgan, contributed a collection of books he's written, which are available for a donation.

This may not look like much, but starting AND completing 12 books in one week is an impressive feat! Great job guys and gals!

Here I am, with my lovely assistant (and RFB&D Office Manager) Sara Almassian, announcing the winning name in the Record-A-Thon lottery. The winner of two round-trip tickets on Southwest Airlines was Meg White. Congratulations Meg!

Excellent turnout, delicious ice cream sundaes, and a whole lot of children's books!

2008-05-07T14:12:00.003-05:00

Thank you, everyone, for an excellent and successful Record-A-Thon. A few highlights:

-You started and finished 12 books

-You recorded over 100 hours of audio

-You contributed 244 hours of your time

-You ate delicious ice cream sundaes

-Many of you participated in, and a few of you won prizes in, RFB&D's first annual Record-A-Thon raffle

...Record-A-Thon pictures of, among other things, me in a ridiculous hat, to be posted shortly...

it's Record-A-Thon time, and we need your help!

2008-04-21T09:05:00.002-05:00

Record-A-Thon 2008 begins THIS SATURDAY, April 26th, and runs until the end of the following week (May 2nd).

There are currently recording booths and checking stations available all week, especially during the afternoons and evenings. We really want to keep the booths full all week, as that means more recording, and more books for blind and dyslexic students!

As if that weren't incentive enough, we've also got some great treats lined up for you all, including:

-ice cream sundae bar all week!

-a $25 Borders gift card for the volunteer with the most recording hours!

-an adorable RFB&D teddy bear for the most checking hours!

-books written and signed by our very own volunteer, Michael Burgan!

-oh, and on Friday May 2nd at 12pm, the raffle drawing for two Southwest tickets to anywhere in the U.S.!

Please give us a call at (312) 236-8715, extension 213, or e-mail me at nmeyer@rfbd.org to sign up for a timeslot.

If you are interested in BECOMING a volunteer, now's a great time to do so! Give us a call or an e-mail and we'll tell you how to get started.

Thanks!

-Nat

incentive

2008-04-07T10:32:00.003-05:00

By the by,

We've got an exciting Record-A-Thon coming up, and here are some incentives to give us a few extra hours of your time, and to tell your friends to come in and do the same:

-delicious snacks all week long!
-all children's/young adult's books all week long = guaranteed reading fun!
-prizes for the hardest working volunteers!
-a raffle for 2 round-trip Southwest tickets to anywhere in the U.S.!

It's been too long, and we need your help!

2008-04-07T10:26:00.003-05:00

Rather than attempt to make up for almost a YEAR without posting, I'm going to post this message as if I'd been dutifully posting updates every month.

Record-A-Thon 2008 is coming up! April 26th through May 2nd, to be precise. Studio production has been going strong, and we've got an excellent group of dedicated volunteers. The only problem? Not enough of them!

For all current volunteers, please tell everyone you know about us. It's amazing how inspired to help people become when you just tell them what we do for students with visual impairments and learning disabilities all over the country. I have all kinds of volunteer pamphlets for you all to hand out, so please take them and help spread the word!

Also, and perhaps even more importantly- I want everyone to know- current and prospective volunteers alike- that it is my second highest priority* to make this recording studio a fun and satisfying place to be. If there is anything that I can do to make volunteering more enjoyable, please do not hesitate to let me know.

*My highest priority is, of course, to get these books recorded and into the hands of the students as quickly as possible, and to produce the best possible recording while doing so!

THANK YOU!!!

2007-05-07T15:04:00.000-05:00

RECORDATHON:
I just wanted to thank all of you volunteers for making this year's Record-A-Thon a wonderful and productive week!

Because of that week, we shot past our monthly goal of 280 recorded hours, finishing the month with 370 hours! That's fantastic.

WHAT NEXT?:
Right now, the best way for you to help out is to make sure you come in once a week. If you can't make it in one day, just ask us if there's a booth available on another day and we'll sign you up- it's that easy!

AT-HOME RECORDING:
We currently have TWO at-home recording machines. If you are interested in recording from home, please let me know as soon as possible. You must be able to record at least 5 hours per week in order to be eligible to use the at-home machines. I can give you more information on the at-home recording process anytime!

-Nat

Record-A-Thon is coming!!

2007-03-28T11:08:00.000-05:00

April 14-20 (Saturday through the following Friday) is RFB&D's Record-A-Thon event. The goal if Record-A-Thon is to double the production of recorded books across the country in preparation for the busy back-to-school season in the fall.

What we'd LOVE to see here in the Chicago Loop Studio is a full house all week. That means: all 5 recording booths full throughout the day, and all 3 checking stations occupied. For those who come in regularly, it would be great if you could pitch in an extra hour, or come in twice that week instead of once.

For those who haven't been into the studio in a while, now's your chance to ease a little guilt and help us out! Of course, you can even just come in for a tour of the new studio if you haven't been in since last summer. We'd love to see EVERYONE!

We've also arranged for demonstrations of the playback hardware our members use, which is some cool technology. If you've ever wondered what happens to all those recordings you work on, this is your chance to find out! Doug, our Outreach Coordinator, will be on hand on select days to show you how it all works.

Hope to see much more of all of you in a few weeks!

-Nat

Pictures, etc.

2007-02-14T08:51:00.000-06:00

Sorry it's been so long since I've last posted. I'll be posting a lot more frequently from now on, and I'll be sure to pester you all when you're in the studio to make sure you check the blog often.

Today's announcement:

I've taken down the Volunteer Appreciation Reception pictures from the board in the kitchen, so if you would like a copy of any of the pictures, please let me know. You can view a few of the event's photographs a few posts below this one, on this page.

A big THANK YOU to all those who've made it to the studio in this awful weather, and I promise: in a few months, I will make the snow go away and the days will be brighter and warmer. I'm working on it, and I think you'll start to see the results of my work by mid- to late-April.

Times available! Help us out!

2007-01-10T15:01:00.000-06:00

Greetings volunteers!

I have an important and simple message for everyone: We need more recorded hours!

We're doing well, but I'd LOVE to have the studio full all day. If you can put in an extra half hour a week, or an extra day a month, it would help out TREMENDOUSLY.

If you would like to come in for an extra session, here are some recommended times to come in:

-evenings (after 5pm), Monday through Wednesday
-Tuesday morning, from 8:30-10
-Tuesday afternoons (anytime after 2)
-Wednesday mornings- in fact, we have space available throughout the day on Wednesdays!
-Friday afternoons
-Saturday, anytime

Again, I want to emphasize that any small amount more you can contribute would help so much. You're all doing a wonderful job, and I'm so impressed with your dedication.

Hope to be seeing a little more of all of you in the near future!

-Nat

Let's do this again!

2006-11-28T16:19:00.000-06:00

My biggest take-a-way impression from the volunteer appreciation event was this:

we all want to do this more often!

I think that's a great idea, and I'm asking for your help in organizing another volunteer event. It doesn't need to be anywhere near the scale of this year's appreciation event; I'm really just thinking about an opportunity to get all of you volunteers in the same place at the same time. This is not an event, unfortunately, that can be funded by RFB&D, but I think the primary goal is just to all get together for a fun social event.
And if we have some good food and drinks...even better!

So anyone with an interest in event planning, anyone with the ability to host a low-key get together for 50-100 people, and anyone just interested in making sure this happens more than once a year- come talk to us!

More photos!

2006-11-20T12:28:00.000-06:00

Joan Horberg receiving her award for 25 YEARS (!) with RFB&D

Terry Passaro receiving her award for 10 YEARS with RFB&D

Event photos

2006-11-20T12:14:00.000-06:00

Great party, guys and gals!

2006-11-20T12:00:00.000-06:00

I hope everyone enjoyed the volunteer appreciation event as much as I did!

One thing I quickly realized was how much fun it was to see everyone in a social setting, and how rarely we all get to be together in one room. This is definitely something that I would like to have happen at least a few times a year. Although it's not likely we'll be able to put something together on as grand a scale as this year's event, it would be great for everyone to just be able to get together and socialize.

We have such a large and great group of volunteers, and it's easy to forget this when you only see 5 or 6 people at a time. If anyone has any suggestions of what they would like to do- a dinner? lunch? potluck at someone's house?- please let me know!

In the meantime, I'll be posting some pictures from the event shortly. Thanks again to everyone who came!

Volunteer Appreciation Event

2006-10-27T08:40:00.000-05:00

Ok, it's been a while since I last posted.

Today I have the wonderful task of reminding you all of our volunteer appreciation event on Thursday, November 16th!

The event will go from 5-7, and will feature some nice presentations from Chicago studio employees, as well as some special guests. I will be ending the presentations with awards to volunteers who've put in the most hours over the past fiscal year (July 2005 to June 30, 2006). Why the fiscal year? I know, it sounds so business-y for a volunteer event, but it actually works out quite well because of the studio being closed in August and September of 2006.

I suppose it's also worth mentioning that we'll be serving wine and beer, and some delicious food as well, at the event!

I hope you can all make it, and don't forget to RSVP either to me or to Debora Donato.

Oh- and we will be closing the studio at 4:00 on Thursday the 16th.

-Nat

ATTENTION! Changes to daily schedule...

2006-10-03T12:20:00.000-05:00

ATTENTION VOLUNTEERS!!
Two scheduling news items:

1) When you come in, you will notice that I’ve changed the timeslots slightly. The office will now open at 8:30, with the first timeslot being from 8:30 to 10:00. The rest of the day will be divided into two-hour blocks, starting at 10:00 and ending at 8pm.

If you are unable to come in exactly at 10, 12, 2, etc., that's OK. But I'd really like to fit as many people as possible into this more evenly distributed schedule.

2) We will not be adopting the old permanent schedule, and I ask all of those interested in a permanent spot (preference being given to those who had one prior to the move), to sign up when they come in. It is possible that your previous timeslot may no longer be available, as we can no longer accomodate more than 5 readers at a time. I appreciate your flexibility in handling these potential conflicts.

Let me know, either by phone or email, if you have any questions!

date pushed back

2006-10-02T15:53:00.000-05:00

I should've known that as soon as I announced a concrete date, we'd have to push it back! That is, in fact, what has happened.

We are now looking at an October 4th start, at the EARLIEST. Some last-minute painting work that took much longer than expected has caused this delay, and although that looks closed to finished, I don't want anyone inhaling paint fumes. The studio should be ready by Wednesday, and I will let all volunteers signed up for Wednesday know ASAP if there's a change.

Thank you again for all your patience, and I hope to see you all very soon!

-Nat

how about an address?

2006-09-27T14:30:00.000-05:00

In the post below, I forgot to include our new contact information.
Our address:

180 North Michigan Ave., Suite 620
Chicago, IL 60601

Our phone number remains the same:

(312) 236-8715, extension 213

The date is set: October 3rd

2006-09-27T14:20:00.000-05:00

RFB&D will finally be reopening its doors next Tuesday, October 3rd!

Things may look a little disheveled, but we wanted to bring in all you volunteers as soon as the booths were ready.
Here are some important items to be aware of:

1. We have reduced the number of recording booths from seven to five. To help alleviate some of the congestion, we now have three checking stations instead of just one. Because of the booth reduction,

2. I will schedule volunteers by phone (or in person) only. This is just until we've adapted to the new situation, at which point I will create a new permanent schedule, with those on the previous schedule receiving priority. Speaking of that schedule...

3. I have made a minor change to the timeslots. Instead of having 1.5 hour blocks throughout the day starting at 9am, we'll have a 1.5 hour block from 8:30-10am, then two hour blocks from 10am until closing at 8pm (Monday through Thursday), or 2pm (Friday and Saturday).

What does this mean if you're only about to come in at 9, or 9:30, or 12:30, etc? Well, all it means is that I'd like people to fit themselves into the 2-hour blocks, but don't worry about it if you can't. The important thing is having you here!

Norma, my new production assistant Leslie, and I will be calling all of you to tell you all this, but I wanted to post it here as well in case we don't reach all of you.

I hope to see you all soon, and I hope you're as excited as I am to start recording again!

Moving in!

2006-09-19T11:36:00.000-05:00

Hi volunteers!

I just wanted to let you all know that we've just moved into our new studio! All of the construction and renovation went as smoothly as we could have hoped, and we are on schedule to open our doors to volunteers on TUESDAY, October 3rd.

Just to spice up this post a bit, I've taken a few pictures of our temporary space:

-here's the view from my temporary office on the 20th floor. Sadly, the view is not as impressive on floor 6!

- this is just one of the hills of boxes with which we shared our temporary office space. We're in the process of emptying these boxes right now, but it's slow going!

-I was able to procure an at-home recording unit from headquarters, so I could work on checking and fixing while the studio was closed. I SMILed a lot of files, but don't worry checkers- there's still plenty for you to do when the studio reopens!

A few more pictures to follow...

come visit! come help!

2006-08-28T15:16:00.000-05:00

Anyone suffering from volunteering withdrawal?

I have a solution!

As you all know, producing a book requires much more than just recording. Before a book ends up on the shelf, it needs to be bookmarked. Then we set up the files in a program called TOCtool. Without these steps, we wouldn't be able to record any books! We'd love to involve volunteers in these important steps in book production, and now is a great time to learn how.

If you'd like to learn how to do one or both of these steps, please stop by. You're under no obligation to change your volunteering job, but the more jobs you know the better you can help us!

You can either call (312) 236-8715, extension 210, or email me at nmeyer@rfbd.org if you're interested.

It's dark and gloomy today. Hope everyone is staying warm!

-Nat

update from limbo

2006-08-23T14:42:00.000-05:00

Hello volunteers!

We're settling down (although we can't settle TOO FAR down) in our temporary office space on the expansive and largely empty 20th floor of 180 North Michigan Ave. If anyone would like to visit, please do! Mondays and Tuesdays are the best days, because Norma and I will both be in. But if you'd like to come in on another day, the mornings are best. All I ask is that you give me a call first, just so I can plan on being here to greet you! The phone number is the same: (312) 236-8715, extension 210.

180 North Michigan Ave is just as convenient to get to as our last building, if not more so- numerous Michigan Ave buses, Metra station, and either the Randolph or the State/Lake L stations.

When we start up in our permanent office on the 6th floor (suite 620), we ask that you call ahead to reserve a booth. Due to the reduction in booths from seven to five, we will need to juggle the permanent calendar on a few days. My primary goal is to have a booth available to all of you as often as you want one! Hopefully we can do this with only a few small changes to the volunteer calendar.

I hope this message finds all of you well. We are still planning on being up and running at the beginning of October, and I will provide the exact date as soon as I know!

-Nat

emptied booths...

2006-08-22T15:12:00.000-05:00

Booths with contents removed!

last week!

2006-08-01T17:30:00.000-05:00

This is our last week of recording before the studio closes! This Saturday, August 5th, will be the final day of recording. Next week we pack everything up, then the following week we'll be deconstructing the booths. I have no idea how that works, but I know I'm going to enjoy watching the RFB&D Booth Deconstruction Team (my name for them, not RFB&D's) work their magic.

We will be setting up a temporary office space on the 20th floor of 180 North Michigan. I'm not sure when we'll be up and running in that space, but it would be great to see any volunteers who feel like stopping by! All I ask is that you call me (we'll be keeping the same phone number) or e-mail me (nmeyer@rfbd.org) to let me know when you'd like to come in, so I can be sure to be there.

What will I be doing with the studio closed?

Good question. My main tasks during our downtime will be bookmarking, checking, and fixing. I'll probably be doing most of my work from home, but will be in the temporary office a few days a week.

Please let me know if you have any questions, or if you'd like to help out our coworkers in Outreach, Sales, and Development. It'll be business as usual (or only slightly unusual) for them when we're set up in the temporary space!

Take care,
Nat

move dates

2006-07-17T19:47:00.000-05:00

Signs are up around the studio, letters will be sent out to everyone, but for the internet-savvy I'll post the information here as well!

We will be shutting down recording operations on August 5th, and plan to be completely moved out by mid-August.

The projected start-up date at 180 N. Michigan Ave. is October 2nd. This is subject to change, so please check back here for updates as the date gets closer.

Thanks to all of you fantastic volunteers! I hope you're all doing well and coping with this intense heat.
-Nat

Welcome!

2006-07-12T16:04:00.000-05:00

Welcome to the RFB&D Chicago Unit's first ever blog!

Here I'll be posting useful information on our upcoming relocation to 180 N. Michigan Ave, as well as general studio updates and RFB&D organizational information.

Thank you for reading, and be sure to check back soon!

-Nat Meyer, Production Director