Feb 13 2012 board meeting minutes
February 13, 2012 board meeting minutes
Attendance: Barbara James (officiated), Eric Lyttle, Karen Kasler, Kevin Kemper, Sarah Mills Bacha, Jennifer Monnin, Chuck Nelson, Phil Rudell, Andrew Welsh-Huggins
Minutes approval: January minutes were not available for approval
Financial: Treasurer Phil Rudell presented the chapter’s current finances. There has been little change since January’s meeting. Phil noted that the chapter’s IRS nonprofit report is due in September.
Membership: Membership vice president Eric Lyttle noted that the chapter’s active membership is down to 91. Meanwhile, some directors’ memberships have lapsed and need to be renewed.
As a way to drum up new members and encourage involvement, Phil suggested an April happy hour/mixer, likely on a Thursday. Location, date and time is TBD.
Programming
Diversity Event: Eric noted that the diversity even was all set with speakers. The event was scheduled for Feb. 23 from 6-8 p.m. at the Buckeye Hall of Fame Cafe. Eric suggested the board reimburse speakers traveling in from out of town. Kevin Kemper made a motion to approve mileage reimbursement at the federal rate for those speakers traveling from out of town. Sarah Mills Bacha seconded and the motion passed on voice vote.
Eric presented expected expenses for the diversity event of approximately $520.49. Kevin made a motion to approve diversity event expenses of approximately $520. Andrew Welsh-Huggins seconded and the motion passed on voice vote.
Barbara James said she would ask Sharon West to write a press release for the event.
Ethics event: The board discussed the topic for an upcoming ethics event, with the general consensus being that it should center around coverage of this year’s presidential election. It was determined that further discussion and planning would take place over email.
Newsroom Training: The board discussed the topic for a newsroom training event. One suggestion included having it center on FOIA and pairing it with a membership happy hour that Eric suggested earlier. It was determined that further discussion and planning would take place over email.
Founders Day: The Fawcett Center is booked in May, so Founders Day committee will look for an alternate location. The committee was still seeking confirmation from Andrea Cambern as the featured speaker. The board decided that a location, date and time would need to be determined based on the speaker’s availability. The Founders committee will also look into hotels and conference space as a possible venue.
Old Business
Bylaws Review: Chuck Nelson reported that while he has been looking into the bylaws, it is a long-term project and will need to be picked up at a later date since the board and chapter is now into its busy event season. The board agreed.
SPJ 2012 High School Essay Contest: Barbara reported that emails to high school teachers, advisers and contacts have gone out. Deadline for entries is March 8.
New Business
Board Member Replacement: Meredith Heagney is leaving the board after accepting a new job in Chicago. Congratulations, Meredith! Also, Jennifer Monnin noted that she is term-limited at the end of this year. Barbara noted that she will not be returning to the board. A number of potential replacement board members were discussed and the board planned to collectively reach out to someone from Nationwide Insurance, someone from Ohio State University, someone from Business First and possibly a television broadcaster and someone else from the Dispatch.
Ted Scripps Leadership Conference: The national leadership conference is coming up this summer. Eric said that he can go.
Regional Conference: The regional conference is being held in Lansing, Mich., March 23-24. Eric said he can attend.
Chapter scholarships: Barb noted that Jennifer is planning to put out a call for scholarship entries.
Annual report: The board discussed that the annual report is due in May.
Adjournment: Phil made a motion for adjournment and Jennifer seconded. Motion passed by voice vote.