March 10 2008 board meeting minutes

March 10, 2008 board meeting minutes

Attendance: Brain Ball, Sarah Bacha, Jane Beathard, Robin Hepler, Paul Kostyu, Mike Lorz, Joe Meyer, Trace Regan, David Richter.

President Mike Lorz called the meeting to order at 12:04 p.m.

Minutes accepted
The board unanimously accepted a motion by Kostyu, seconded by Richter, to accept the minutes from the Feb. 11, 2008 meeting prepared by Secretary Joe Meyer, with two small changes to the section on the Ohio SPJ awards.

Treasurer’s Report
Treasurer Bacha provided the treasurer’s report on banking account activity. Recent checking account activity included honorariums to presenters at the Feb. 16 Building a Multimedia Environment for Your Organization workshop hosted by the Columbus Dispatch. Access for moving funds continues to be limited to the Chapter’s account with PayPal; Support is an issue with no response on PayPal’s 1-800 line, so we are still trying to figure out the restrictions.

Richter gave a presentation on the Feb. 16 workshop. With 25 paid attendees, the chapter netted a $469.22 profit from the event. The only complaint was from people at the back of the room, who reported difficulties hearing the presenters. Those who attended were solicited for comments and suggestions with a follow-up e-mail. The comments were generally very positive and three were shared with board members.

President Lorz asked Bacha how much money remained in the Chapter’s Ohio SPJ account, with Bacha responding $3,689.74 remains – the net of banquet fees, less banquet expenses. Lorz said he would send that to the Ohio SPJ committee member in Cleveland for disposition and proper splitting between the Central Ohio, Cincinnati and Cleveland chapters.

Programming
Jennifer Monnin was absent due to her children missing school with a snow day, but sent an e-mail to board members for discussion on two upcoming programs: a Digital Journalism program at the Glenn School with the Kiplinger Fellows March 26, and an Ethics program in April. She asked whether Lorz had secured PRSA participation in the Ethics panel, for which the Chapter has received a $500 grant from National SPJ.

Pizza and soda was being offered to attendees of the March 26 program; Lorz told board members that PRSA has declined participation in the ethic event.

Founders Day
Speaker/location
Lorz reported Pulitzer-winning Plain Dealer columnist Connie Schultz is available May 21, but the OSU Golf Course is not. Hepler and other board members supported moving the venue to accommodate the excellent speaker. Lorz said he would contact the Fawcett Center following the lunch to book the 21st, if it is available.

Chapter Awards
The board discussed nominations for the annual Chapter awards to be presented at Founders Day. Nominations will be accepted by board members; The full Chapter membership also will be solicited for nominations with the Founders Day mailing, which also is to include a slate of candidates for the upcoming board of directors openings. All Chapter members also will have the chance to write in their choice for directors with the same mailing.

Kostyu said he would nominate the Dispatch team of Jill Riepenhoff and Jennifer Smith Richards for its ‘Slimy Teachers’ series, for the Chapter’s First Amendment Award; and the Ohio Department of Education for the Chapter’s Brick Wall Award for withholding records from the Dispatch during the reporters’ work on the same series. He said he would provide more details at the April board meeting.

Ball said he would nomination Business First for the Appreciation Award for its practices of paying for staff members’ SPJ memberships and annual donations to the Founders Day silent auction, among other measures of support for the Chapter.

Meyer said he would nominate Richter and Ball, who will be term limited out of service on the board, for the Chapter’s Distinguished Service Award

Silent Auction
Bacha again solicited board members to see if any were willing to take over running the auction; She said Jennifer Davis has again offered to help and Bacha could provide e-mail addresses of past contributors of auction items. Cutting down the items in the auction also was discussed, as was discontinuing it altogether. No board members at the meeting expressed an interest in taking over the job, but Beathard in an e-mail following the meeting did agree to take on the task.

Chapter Scholarships
Lorz solicited input on past practices on soliciting applicants for the Chapter scholarships and the Faulkner scholarships. Members discussed the standard recommendation processed followed with staff at OU and OSU for the Dohn and Meckstroth scholarships, respectively, and Hepler said she would e-mail him a letter we’ve used to solicit Faulkner applicants. Meyer also offered to provide contacts at Ohio colleges and universities. It was suggested Lorz contact our Region 4 SPJ director to get a full list of colleges with SPJ student chapters.

New Officers and Directors
The board will face upcoming vacancies as Ball, Kostyu and Richter leave in May due to term limits. Possible replacements included Katy Waters, copy editor for Business First, and Julanne Hohbach, managing editor of Columbus C.E.O. magazine. More discussion was planned for the April board meeting, with Lorz asking members to attend with ideas for Chapter awards as well as new board members and board officers.

Membership
No report.

State and Regional SPJ
Ohio SPJ
Lorz reported 700 entries were received for the statewide editorial contest. He noted the deadline had been extended due to statewide snow storms and requests from some organizations. He said Bruce Cadwallader will need help with bundling and sorting the entries, in preparation for shipping them to judges. He asked for input from board members with information on any sister chapters for which we have served as judges in the past. Several suggestions were made, to pass along to Cadwallader.

The board discussed the new student categories in the contest, and whether students should also be able to enter the pro categories. Consensus was reached on allowing that option, dependent on where the work was published: If the work was published in a professional publication, students are able to enter professional categories; if it was published in a student publication, the student would be restricted to the student categories. Lorz said he would pass along that input to the Ohio SPJ Contest Committee.

Old Business
None.

New Business
None.

Adjournment
The board approved a motion by Ball, seconded by Kostyu, to adjourn at 12:58 p.m.

Minutes prepared by Joe Meyer, Chapter secretary