The TAPING RECORDER June 29, 2001 No. 06-02
News from and about Taping For The Blind Inc.

FLOOD REPORT…We are glad to report that flood damage to Taping was minimal.
Some water did come in the back door and soaked about a foot of carpet and
the floor mat. On the equipment side, we lost one computer monitor, and
the DigiCart (a piece of equipment that plays public service announcements
on HTBR) is out of service but our capable radio staff is able to work
around this outage.

Neither heavy rain nor high water deterred our faithful volunteers, as
readers showed up on Saturday but staff wasn’t able to get in. On Saturday
the Chronicle was nowhere to be found. One of our volunteers who was
on-site to read has pull with them (see DID YOU KNOW? below), but even that
didn’t help. On Sunday, the Chronicle was read live with Cynthia Franzetti
filling in as engineer, and the rest of the broadcast time was filled with
satellite feed from Minnesota.Pager systems. Cellular phone systems were
down and that didn’t help out either. We apologize to anyone who was
inconvenienced by our unscheduled closing of the building, and we thank you
for your dedication to Turning Sight Into Sound!

Some of our volunteers were not so lucky with the great flood of ’01, and
our thoughts are with them as our city recovers from the devastation. We
will try and get more information on volunteers who experienced flood
damage and report that to you in subsequent issues.

AWARD…In our last issue, Jim Martinez, Radio Manager, told you about the
award we received from the International Association of Audio Information
Services. If you missed his article, we won the award for the best special
program production. This was for the HTBR Christmas Special produced by
Jim and Nate Swerdlin. Congratulations all around for an award-winning
special!

HOLIDAY HOURS…Taping will be open from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Wednesday, July
4, 2001, as we celebrate Independence Day. We hope this will not cause you
any inconvenience.

NEW FEATURE…We want you to know more about your fellow volunteers, and as a
result, we are including the new column that follows and which will appear
from time to time. If you are interested in being the subject of this
feature, please let the editor know.

DID YOU KNOW…Judy Minshew has been a volunteer at Taping since 1993, first
reading books on HTBR, and more recently as a co-anchor of the second-hour
reading of the Houston Chronicle on Saturdays? There are many more facets
to this jewel of a volunteer. For instance, did you know…That Judy is a
fifth-generation Texan with family roots back to the Austin Colony
300?…That she has two grown daughters, both of whom are artists, and she
has two grandchildren?…That she is the female lead singer with The
Blenders, a group that does folk and rock, and appears regularly at Hickory
Hollow, 101 Heights Boulevard, on the third Saturday of each month?…That
she is a founding member of the Central Texas Bluegrass Association, and
that she is a founding member and board member of the Music Umbrella of
Austin?…That she is President of the Houston Chapter of the Association for
Women Journalists?…That she is a member of the Editorial Board of the
Houston Chronicle, and is the editor of the Viewpoints letters?…That she
loves growing roses?…And that for the last six years she has been a dancer
with the International Association for Creative Dance? We thought you would
like to know!

GOODWILL AMBASSADORS WANTED…Dr. Ed Bradley (Chairman) and the Listeners
Committee have been working again to improve our client survey so we can
put the Goodwill Ambassadors Program into operation again this summer.
Using our survey form, an Ambassador contacts selected clients and reviews
the questions in order to assess our program schedule, as well as educate
our clients to the services available from Taping. This program is very
helpful to the Listeners Committee as they make judgments about our radio
schedule because we want to maximize the usefulness of our programming to
our clients. We anticipate getting this surveying started sometime in
July. If you would like to serve as a Goodwill Ambassador for Taping,
please call Jim Martinez at 713-622-2767, or visit with him when you are at
Taping.

CONGRATULATIONS MR. CHASE…Tony Chase has been a member of our Board of
Directors and is currently an Advisory Director for Taping. The excerpt
below was plucked from the Houston Chronicle and will tell you much more
about Mr. Chase.

June 22, 2001

Entrepreneurs draw on plenty of inspiration

Builders of businesses
By DEIDRA M. LEMONS
Copyright 2001 Houston Chronicle

Anthony Chase sat in his chair shaking his head in amazement as his family
and co-workers stood to applaud him.

"I honestly can't believe this," said Chase, chairman and chief executive
officer of ChaseCom and this year's recipient of the Ernst & Young award
for Entrepreneurof the Year in the communications field.

Chase began his career in communications while working for WHRB, Harvard
University's radio station, and used the skills he learned in college to
create
ChaseCom in 1998.

ChaseCom supplies products and services to help communities, businesses and
households get connected and become part of the telecommunications age.

But as a boy he learned from his parents the skills he needed to succeed.

"My father has been an entrepreneur for the last 40 years and has served as
a role model for me," Chase said. "I have always been lucky to have been
surroundedby good people, and they make me look good."

Chase is also the chairman and CEO of Faith Broadcasting Corp., Chase Radio
Properties and the Telecom Opportunity Institute.

Chase was among the eight entrepreneurs honored Thursday night for their
achievements.

Houston's winners will compete with winners from other cities in Ernst &
Young's national competition. Seven judges read through 200 nominations to
choose the winners.

Ernst and Young started the awards 14 years ago to recognize businessmen
and women who exhibit strong financial skills, innovation and commitment to
the community….

EDITOR’S NOTE…Your comments, questions and contributions to this
publication are always welcomed by Bob Bartlett, Editor, at rlb19@....

RLB