Minutes
Meeting of the Society of Professional Journalists, Valley of the Sun Pro Chapter
P.O. Box 1488, Phoenix, AZ 85001-1488
. March 15, 2026, 10 a.m.
Meeting called to order: 10:17 a.m.
Attendees: Tim Eigo (President), Mark Scarp (Secretary), Kerry Fehr-Snyder (Treasurer). Absent: Nicole Greason (Vice President), Deb Krol (Board Member).
NOTE: Board actions, either votes or assigned tasks, are in italicized type.
Opening
- Secretary’s report/approval of minutes from Jan. 18, 2025 – Board action: Moved (Kerry) and seconded (Nicole). Unanimously approved.
- Treasurer’s report – Kerry reports our investments with Russell Life Points/Northwestern Mutual as of March 12 lost $293.49 in the past quarter, to $21,930.98. Our checking account as of the same date contained $1,204.94, compared to $2,108.39 on Jan. 15, 2026. The savings account contained $2,000.21 on March 12, compared to $1,700.18 on Jan. 15.
- Mark’s Mighty Minute – Nothing this meeting.
Old Business
There was no Old Business.
New Business
- Update on 2026 Valley Publicity Summit – As Mark seeks to have the 2026 Summit be the last one he chairs, in consultation with Tim, Mark has been meeting with Phoenix PRSA President Julie Kurth regarding the possibility PRSA and SPJ becoming co-sponsors of the Summit, as it was during the event’s first several years. Co-sponsorship would result in splitting duties as well as proceeds. Talks are in early stages, but tasks as well as proceeds would be split 50-50 between the two organizations. One scenario calls for PRSA to take over media representative procurement and splitting promotional/social media efforts. SPJ would continue to handle registration, food/beverage and location management.
- SPJ AZ hosts the SPJ Region 11 conference, April 10, 2026 – Board members planned the conference by discussing the following:
- Registration is now open and emails have gone out to Region 11’s chapter presidents, presidents of Arizona journalists’ organizations and about 50 individual journalists and newsrooms in urban and rural Arizona. Promotions have also gone on the chapter’s Facebook and X accounts. More promotion is coming.
- Board members discussed the sponsorships (we are scheduled to receive $3,800 in cash from three sponsors and an in-kind donation of food and beverages from the Arizona Republic/azcentral for the post-conference reception and newsroom tour.
- Also, pens with our chapter name and logo have been ordered; conference bags, badges and reporter’s notebooks were discussed and will be ordered, as well as speaker gifts. For speakers, Nicole suggested coffee mugs bearing the chapter logo and conference info, which can be purchased at an affordable price.
- Tim praised the Flinn Foundation building as beautiful and the meeting rooms functional with terrific audio/visual capabilities.
- The board also talked about the end-of-conference reception at the Republic, featuring hors d’oeuvres, a newsroom tour and a presentation of Native artwork. Deb said volunteers will be needed at the door to monitor access to the artwork.
- The board generally agreed to allow Tim, Mark and Nicole to make the most appropriate and financially viable decision regarding swag and speaker gifts.
Adjourned: 11:47 a.m. (90 minutes) — NEXT BOARD MEETING: 10 a.m., Sunday, May 17, 2026.
Respectfully submitted,
Mark J. Scarp, Chapter Secretary
SPJ: Phoenix, Arizona Chapter 