Sept 25 2015 board meeting minutes

Board meeting minutes

Society of Professional Journalists, Central Ohio Pro Chapter

September 25, 2015 Board of Directors Meeting

Submitted by Julanne Hohbach

Attendance:  Sarah Mills Bacha, Thomas Bradley, Doug Buchanan, Bruce Cadwallader, Beth Gianforcaro, Julanne Hohbach, Joe Meyer, Kevin Smith

Call to order:  The meeting was called to order at 12:13 p.m. by President Joe Meyer with a quorum present.

Events update: Meyer said he attended the annual Main Street Free Press Museum event held Sept. 10 in Fredericktown that the chapter helps to sponsor.

Meyer also presented a report from the National Convention, held Sept. 18-20 in Florida. Lots of Ohio connections, including President-Elect Lynn Walsh, who is from Columbus, graduated from Ohio University and now works in San Diego. Kate Hiller, our most recent Dohn scholarship winner, was elected student rep at-large. Nerissa Young of OU was student adviser of the year and OU was the student chapter of the year. The Columbus Dispatch won the First Amendment award. Cleveland won best communications for a small chapter.

Other news of note from National: The new president is Paul Fletcher. This is the 50th anniversary of FOIA. A proposed name change from the Society of Professional Journalists to the Society for Professional Journalism was tabled. National has 7,200 members, only 41 percent of whom are in their local chapter.

Minutes:  The minutes of the August 17, 2015, meeting were approved unanimously. Motion was made by Sarah Mills Bacha with a second by Beth Gianforcaro.

Financial Report: Treasurer Doug Buchanan presented the financial report with current account balances.  There were no changes since last month. The report was approved unanimously. Motion was made by Kevin Smith with a second by Bruce Cadwallader.

Membership: No report

Programming: Mills Bacha said more students than anticipated have expressed an interest in attending the OSBA Law & Media Conference, which will be held Oct. 16, 2015. At the last meeting, the board voted to allocate up to $225 to sponsor up to 15 students to attend. We have received eight requests from OU, nine from OSU, an undetermined number from Otterbein and one from OWU.

Thomas Bradley made a motion to amend the motion from the August 17, 2015, meeting to approve sponsoring up to 25 students. Mills Bacha provided a second. The motion passed unanimously.

On the Ohio SPJ awards, Mills Bacha has agreed to be the contest administrator. She has someone in mind to handle the digital/web portion of the contest. She recently met with Mike Lorz for two hours to discuss the transition. The Cleveland awards banquet lost $1,700, which affected the amount of money each chapter received from last year’s event.

The chapter will host a program for displaced journalists Saturday, Nov. 14, at Ohio State. Speakers are being finalized.

We would like to set up a screening for the Michael Keaton movie Spotlight, about the Boston Globe breaking the child abuse scandal in the Catholic church. It is supposed to come out in November.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

Web/social media: Bradley sent out reminders about the Ohio SPJ awards via MailChimp

Bylaws review: Mills Bacha, Julanne Hohbach and Smith met to review suggested changes to the bylaws. They divided revisions among themselves. Mills Bacha has entered the areas she is handling. Hohbach and Smith with make their revisions and the board will then review the proposed changes.

OLD BUSINESS

None

NEW BUSINESS

Meyer has accepted a buyout from GateHouse Media and will leave ThisWeek Community News after 30 years of service with ThisWeek and Suburban News Publications, effective Oct. 2. This will not affect his service to the board.

Next meeting:   The next board meeting is noon October 19, at the Buckeye Hall of Fame Grill.

Adjournment: At 1:05 p.m., Smith made a motion to adjourn, with a second from Mills Bacha. The motion passed unanimously.