SPJ Minutes – May 27, 2018

Board Meeting of the Society of Professional Journalists, Valley of the Sun Pro Chapter

May 27, 2018, 10:00 a.m., First Watch, Tempe

10:00 am – Meeting opens

• Present: Tim Eigo, Deb Krol, Robert Leger, Teri Carnicelli, Mark Scarp. Tim Eigo took minutes.
• Minutes from March 11, 2018, meeting approved: Mark Scarp motion, Deb Krol second.

Treasurer’s report

• Tim Eigo delivered SPJ HQ dues to chapter for the period Jan-March 2018: $150.02
• The board approved a payment of $135.10 to Mark Scarp for full reimbursement of his SPJ regional conference expenses.
• Cash currently available: $3,320.39
• Teri will call our Northwestern Mutual rep (Rick Beyer) to ask about declines in our account over time. The board will look at the varying funds we are invested in and decide if changes are in order.
• To increase flexibility and to plan for times when Treasurer Teri Carnicelli may be unavailable, Tim Eigo and Teri will go to Wells Fargo to provide Tim access to our account.

Mark’s Mighty Minute!

• The Publicity Summit Committee had its first meeting. The annual event will be held on Saturday, Sept. 15. Based on experience, the committee will ensure there are more classrooms available to reduce congestion. The committee recommends that the IABC not be brought in as a co-producer, due to their declining interest. There will be a sound system for the opening-morning panel discussion. Sponsorships will be a bigger emphasis this year, and Paula Pedene and Leslie Beckhoff are focused on that.
• Either as an announcement or as part of the PubSum marketing, we should remind folks that our chapter is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year. Tim Eigo will ask Perri Collins if she could develop a 60^th anniversary logo.

Old Business/Updates

• Regional Conference: Mark Scarp and Tim Eigo reported that the programing was good. The LA chapter did a good job and had about 110 attendees. AP legend Linda Deutsch spoke, and the MOE luncheon had a good (and fast) emcee.
• NewsTrain: Tim Eigo reported that the April 6-7 event was well done, with about 100 attendees. Paula Casey of the Arizona Newspapers Association appreciated our SPJ chapter participation in the planning, marketing, and attending.
• Covering the Aging Population event: The session, location, and panelists were terrific. Tim Eigo will send a thank you to the Osher Lifelong Learning Center for the use of their facilities. The board agreed that Deb Krol would send thank you notes and $10 gift cards to each of the four speakers. (Teri Carnicelli wrote a $40 check to Deb.). Deb Krol also sent KJZZ’s Kathy Ritchie an invitation to apply for this year’s Journalist in Aging Fellowship; she also alerted the fellowship people about Kathy’s work on the topic.
• The board considered gifts or gift cards for panel speakers in the future. Teri will research the cost to produce SPJ mugs as a gift.

New Business

• First Amendment Coalition: Paige Phelps reported that the April and May meetings were canceled, so there is nothing to report.
• Scholarship Update
  • In past years the winning essay writer was given $500 (in 2017 it was $1,000) for the upcoming fall semester, and the submission deadline was March 31.
  • The board agreed this year’s amount will be $500. We will select an essay topic at the July meeting and begin advertising it in September, when students are back in school. Submissions will be due Oct. 15, and awards will be given at our annual holiday party.
• FOI Awards (determine honorees by mid-July, awarded in late September):
  • The board discussed various candidates for the chapter’s Silver Key and Phil Alvidrez Awards. A single list of possible honorees will be distributed to the board for consideration at our July meeting.
• The SPJ chapter annual report is complete and will be emailed/uploaded by May 30 to SPJ HQ.
• Tim Eigo and Mark Scarp will meet with Paula Pedene to discuss ideas for chapter social media/marketing + member retention/recruitment.
• Tim Eigo and Paula Pedene will follow up about a possible national whistleblower program that could be put on in Arizona (https://www.spj.org/news.asp?REF=1552).
• Other possible 2018-19 programming:
• Dave Munsey has a new book about his life in journalism. Maybe we could have him speak (and sell his book) at an upcoming chapter networking event in the fall (the book is out June 2). Teri will reach out.
• The board discussed whether having a speaker/guest at every monthly networking event could drive attendance. The presentations would be brief and be followed by the networking. Tim will ask Kaely for her thoughts, and we may develop a list of potential speakers.
• Possible October event: How to survive and thrive in a gig economy (which could be of interest to anyone freelancing in media).
• Possible January program: Tax prep for freelancers. (We may opt to charge attendees for this program.)
• ASU J School: Mark Scarp will explore a meeting with him, Tim Eigo and Kristen Gilger to explore how the chapter could help get the word out about ASU’s journalism programs. We also could see if there are opportunities to co-partner with the school on programming.
• The following Board members indicated interest in attending the annual EIJ in Baltimore, Sept. 27-29, 2018: Tim Eigo, Deb Krol (who will be running for Regional Coordinator), and Robert Leger.
• Three of the current officers indicated they are willing to stand for election again and serve if elected. Following the meeting, Secretary Kaely Monahan indicated she would be unable to serve again, due to outside commitments.
• Date for June elections: Thursday, June 21 (which is the Summer Solstice): In the marketing for that event, we will mention we’re celebrating our 60^th

NEXT MEETING: JULY 15, 2018, First Watch, Tempe

Adjourned 11:35 a.m.

Tim Eigo recorded the minutes of this meeting as Kaely Monahan was absent.