June 11 2012 board meeting minutes

June 11, 2012, board meeting minutes

Attendance:  Tom Borgerding, Beth Gianforcaro, Julanne Hohbach, Karen Kasler, Eric Lyttle, Jennifer Monnin and Chuck Nelson

Call to order:  12:10 p.m. Because only 7 members were present, there was not a quorum.

Minutes:  No minutes were approved.

Financial: No financial report was presented due to the absence of Treasurer Philip Rudell.

Membership:  Eric Lyttle reporting having membership brochures to bring to events and suggested the idea of bringing a laptop to future events to sign up members. He also suggested sending an email to members introducing himself as the new president and trying to build a bridge with membership.

Programming:  Beth Gianforcaro reported that 16 people attended the Access Across America program at COSI held June 22, and 17 attended the Mindset Digital program on social media held at The Columbus Dispatch on June 27.

Beth and Doug Haddix discussed getting our chapter involved with the Kiplinger program’s various events, including the idea of having SPJ co-sponsor this year’s KipCamp program. There was some discussion about what the logistics would be in terms of handling registrations on Eventbrite, etc.

Beth also spoke with John Long from the Main Street Free Press Museum about the upcoming annual event that we co-sponsor with that organization. This year, he wants to include the “Calico Edition” of the Fredericktown Free Press in the event.

Eric suggested doing collaborative events with the OSU student chapter. He also suggested holding career-building events, such as boosting technology skills (audio and video). Chuck Nelson suggested that SPJ national has some traveling programs along these lines that would be worth looking into.

Eric will check with James Pilcher about when our chapter is up next to host the spring regional conference.

Old business:  Eric said the issue of whether SPJ chapters are tax-exempt came up at the Scripps Leadership Institute event he attended. He’s concerned about this because the thank you notes for Silent Auction donations for Founders’ Day indicated we are tax-exempt. Based on feedback from other chapters, Eric thinks we may be a 501(c)6, not a 501(c)3. He will check with Phil to see if he has a definitive answer.

New business:  Board members are asked to think about candidates to fill the seat vacated by Andrew Welsh Huggins. Rick Rouan of Columbus Business First, who had expressed interest in a previous vacancy, was mentioned as an option.

The board needs to approve Eric or his designee to attend the national convention in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., from Sept. 20-22, and authorize reimbursing that person up to $1,300. The board also will pay the registration fee for an alternate if another board member wishes to attend. This will need to be done by email due to lack of a quorum.

Eric will ask board members to update their contact information on the spreadsheet he passed around.

Adjournment:  The board adjourned at 12:57 p.m.

Submitted by Julanne Hohbach

June 11, 2012, board meeting minutes

Attendance:  Tom Borgerding, Beth Gianforcaro, Julanne Hohbach, Karen Kasler, Eric Lyttle, Jennifer Monnin and Chuck Nelson