AGENDA

May 2010 Board of Directors Meeting

SPJ South Florida Pro Chapter

Wednesday, May 26, 2010, 7:00 p.m.

South Florida Business Journal

1. Roll Call

Roll called. All members present, except Sam Terilli (teaching a class) and Paola Iuspa-Abbott. Meeting started at 7:15 p.m.

2. Approval of April 6 Minutes

ACTION: Lisa made a motion to approve the last meeting’s minutes. Dori seconded the motion. A vote was taken by voice. Motion carried unanimously.

3. Committee Updates

(Darcie Lunsford) Going forward we will only have committee updates from people who tell Darcie before the meeting that they want time to speak. This will allow more time for agenda items.

Bylaws. (Darcie) She plans to email a draft of the new bylaws to the board next month for review, and then have a vote for final approval at the next board meeting. The committee is very close to completing the revision.

Membership. (Dori Zinn)

- Dori has been talking to the folks at national about making it easier to join our chapter on the SPJ website. They just revamped the site, but didn’t do anything to fix the membership page. (Koretzky) They actually haven’t automated the membership part of the website, so someone has to enter all the new members by hand. This makes it difficult to know if we have new members in a timely fashion. He is going to see if we can get an extension on the cutoff for new members, so we can get an extra delegate for the Vegas convention in October. Right now we are just a few away from the 150 needed to have three delegates.

Student Affairs/Scholarship. (Michael Koretzky)

- Scholarship ideas for next year: We should give out scholarships at events – clips and resume would be reviewed on-site by judges after the event. They would hand out scholarships of smaller denominations ($500 instead of $1,000). This would tie scholarships to membership and events.

- Discussion with Bill Hirshman on how this would work. He thinks we should hand out scholarships with higher dollar values because students won’t be motivated to apply otherwise. (Koretzky) We tried this plan at the unconventional and it worked out well. It also gave an opportunity for students to get their clips and resumes critiqued. (Darcie) This new plan would make it an interactive process, instead of people just sending in clips.

ACTION: The board supports the idea and Koretzky will come back with a more concrete plan.

- The FOI program held at FAU on May 20 was a success – golf claps all around for the event. (Darcie) It was a really good program with a good turnout – about 20 people, mostly students.

Awards. (Tim Dodson/Julie Kay – Sunshine State Awards update)

- They’re working on getting the room fee waved. We’ll only be paying for the food. We still have to create programs and a PowerPoint presentation. We also need volunteers to stuff bags. They have to come two hours early.

- Discussion on what to do about the first place awards. We have a $500 grant from the Palm Beach Post that we could use towards getting something more substantial than just a certificate. (Tim) He’s concerned that we can’t do more in such a short amount of time. It was decided to just stick with what we have.

- (Julie) Discussion on whether we then spend the money from the Post on dessert and coffee? Tim read through the menu, which is really nice. Discussion on whether to do just coffee for $50 or go with coffee and desserts for $500. ACTION: Six voted for the dessert and coffee and three voted for just coffee (Jake, Dori, Rachael), so the motion to have coffee and dessert passed on a majority.

- Sergy and Rachael agreed to staff the registration table.

- (Lucy) Wants to know what the future holds for this event. (Rachael) We should put this discussion and a review of what we can do better as an agenda item for the next meeting.

Diversity. (Arlene Satchel)

The chair emailed her committee update, and it was part of the board’s meeting packet.

4.  Proposed 2010-2011 chapter budget (Tim, Darcie)

- (Darcie) Review of the proposed budget that was passed out to the board. We need to come up with an additional fundraiser because the Sunshine State Awards aren’t bringing in as much money as in years past and we are running into a deficit-spending situation. Let’s look at what other chapters do to fundraise that has been successful: a high-brow FOI dinner (Sacramento does it), National Writers Workshop, Lisa’s high school journalism camp.

- (Lucy) Will we get money from membership? We should start collecting our dues. (Jason) We need to give people incentives to be part of our chapter. Otherwise, what would be their motivation for paying dues. (Darcie) Michele needs to create a marketing flyer. We could have discounts on events. (Koretzky) If we start charging dues then our membership count will go down when people do not renew. Right now anyone in Florida who signs up nationally who doesn’t pick a chapter is allocated to us. (Darcie) We need to make a decision going forward. The membership committee needs to sit down and weigh the pros and cons. They need to bring back a proposal for the July board meting.

ACTION: Darcie asked for a vote to adopt the new budget. Lisa made a motion to approve, which was seconded by Jason. All voted by voice, and the motion carried unanimously.

5.  Minority Scholarship proposal (Julie Kay, Lourdes Martinez)

- (Julie) Lourdes, a former editor at the Miami Herald, wants to give our chapter $500 for five years to start a scholarship for a graduating high school student or first-year college student. This person needs to be either a minority or the first person in their family to go to college. (Koretzky) There could be an issue for picking someone who is the first person in their family to go to college because how can you really verify it?

- After a bit of discussion from the board, Koretzky asked if Lourdes would be willing to let us partner with other minority associations for marketing purposes. Lisa knows a man from Miami who runs a three-week journalism camp for minorities who could help us. (Darcie) The board is in agreement that this is a good idea. Now we need a more detailed proposal that Julie will work up for the next meeting.

6. Lip Service program proposal (Jake Cline, Sergy Odiduro)

- (Jake) He participated in a literary event recently at Books & Books in Miami that he thinks would be an interesting event for our chapter to do with a journalism twist. The program is run quarterly by two women. People get up and read first person stories (of 8 minutes or less) about themselves. About 200+ people show up. It’s an interesting exercise to edit your stuff to be read aloud. He was the only journalist there. He was thinking that we should do a journalism version. It would be a good promotional and membership opportunity for us.

- He’s already spoken to the organizers about it. They partnered with a Jewish organization last year to put on a similar event. They sent him a budget of what the event would cost: $1,438. He broke down what each cost would be. He thinks he can get them to cut it in half: $600. This would fall under a professional development program.

- (Julie) It would be good to have an event in Miami. (Koretzky) It would be neat for the journalists to be edited by non-journalists – that is quickly what is happening in their real world. (Jake) Our event would be held on Nov. 13 (a Saturday evening) at the Books & Books right off Lincoln Road in Miami. We do a lot of insular events with journalists and journalists. It would be a good way to actually meet with readers. (Jason) This sounds completely different from anything our chapter has done. This is the type of programming we need to do more of. (Jake) If this is successful, this is something we could replicate in Palm Beach or Broward county. We should start promoting ASAP.

ACTION: Rachael made a motion to approve up to $600 for the event. Lucy seconded. All voted by voice. The motion passed by a majority with Lisa Lucas voting no.

7. National Writers Workshop discussion/steering committee creation (Lucy Reed)

- (Lucy) She didn’t make it to the UF event to see how they did it because she broke her arm, but she spoke with some of the folks at the journalism school. We need to put together a steering committee.

- (Darcie) We need to get some heavy-hitters on the steering committee. Brainstorming from the  board: We need a super publicist; need to talk to Books & Books about finding authors who will be down here on tour. UM and FIU can also probably help with that. The Florida publishing association may be able to help us get a book publisher.

ACTION: Darcie asked for a vote to create a steering committee. Jason made a motion, which Jake seconded. All voted by voice and approved. Jake, Koretzky, and Rachael agreed to be part of her committee.

8. New Business

- (Darcie) Please look at annual report and see if anything is missing. Comments are due Tuesday.

- (Lucy) She went to the national journalism awards in Tampa of behalf of our chapter. It was amazing and motivating.

- (Rachael) A brief update on the Will Write for Food program. We have nearly all the applicants we need. We were getting a lot of applicants from outside of Region 3. We’ve decided to admit some, but will give people from our region the priority. We will pick the winners by June 30. (Jake) We should get one of the writers from the event to participate in the Lip Service event.

- (Lucy) When can we get a regional convention again? We need more programming for pros . We should look at holding some more one-day training events.

ACTION: Jason made a motion to adjourn the meeting, which was seconded by Rachael. All approved.

As a follow up to the April 6 board meeting, Chapter Administrator Tim Dodson recommended we hold this year’s Sunshine State Awards banquet at the Art & Culture Center of Hollywood. He met with the Culture Center’s events manager, who offered a discounted rental rate of $860. This is 20 percent less than what our chapter paid to hold the event there last year. They are holding June 5 open for our event. Tim suggested that the board vote by email to approve the venue so he could sign the rental contract.

ACTION: Chapter President Darcie Lunsford emailed the board, requesting an immediate vote by email to approve the venue. The motion passed 9-0 with Directors Lucy Reed and Paola Iuspa-Abbott not voting.

Tuesday, April 6, 2010, 7 p.m.
South Florida Business Journal

1. Roll Call

Roll called. All members present, except Julie Kay, Sam Terilli (teaching a class), Paola Iuspa-Abbott (sick), and Lucy Reed (out of town). Meeting started at 7:15 p.m.

2. Approval of Feb. 2 Minutes

ACTION: Jason made a motion to approve the last meeting’s minutes. Dori seconded the motion. Vote was taken by voice. Motion carried unanimously.

3. Committee Updates

Bylaws. (Darcie Lunsford) Had a conference call in Feb. Sam wrote a best practices draft. Their goal is to be thorough and take their time because this bylaws revision will have an impact on future boards for years to come. Trying to be specific but flexible. Jason and Darcie have been talking since the conference call. They plan to have a draft of the revised bylaws at our next meeting. Darcie handed out a review of the key bylaw changes:
1)    Revision of the electoral process – use of electronic voting, creation of an official ballot, allow for direct nominations from outside the nominating committee
2)    Creation of a student board seat; addition of a 13th pro board seat – Talked about having a student liaison who comes to the pro board meetings. Would probably be a non-voting member.
3)    Purging all outdated and conflicting articles
4)    Financial safeguards that limit spending and contractual obligations that president/treasurer can enter into without full board approval
5)    Clarification of membership eligibility and expansion of categories to be in line with national practices

Finance. (Tim Dodson)
- Our tax return was filed by the deadline. The chapter posted a loss of $5,000+.
- $18,560 came in from the Sunshine State Awards.
- They’ve begun to flesh out a 2011 budget that will be voted on in June.
- Our 12 month CD matured, and Tim recommended that we transfer it out to the savings account because we don’t know what the new interest rate will be. Darcie said to go ahead with that plan.
- Summary of the money we have: checking account – $37,908.60; savings account – $12,149.45; CD – $33,077.59
- Discussion over the Sunshine State Awards ceremony. For the student award, we should decide what the “monetary award” we mention should be.

Programs. (Sergy Odiduro)
- Had to push back the Haiti program because of a snafu with the facility. (Michael Koretzky) They are now pushing it back to September. They are meeting with UM over the summer to nail down a date and the details. All the dates they wanted in the spring/summer have already been booked. The UM studio is really nice and worth waiting for. UM is the best bet because the crew and everything is included. The event is going to be a discussion inside and an outdoor festival with food and music. Still waiting to decide on speakers; will move forward once they get a solid date.
- FIU wants our chapter to be involved with their communications week. We’re looking to get involved next year. They want someone from our chapter to go down and speak. They are very open to whatever we want to do. Sergy will stay in contact.
- Sergy is also speaking with someone from Media Bistro to see how SPJ can become involved with the site.

Membership. (Dori Zinn)
- We’ve had 17 new members join this year. Last year we had 29 the whole year. We now have 140 members total – just 10 shy of getting another delegate seat at the national convention.
- The committee was discussing local chapter dues. We aren’t getting our chapter dues checks from national. (Michele Boyet) Everyone in the region isn’t collecting chapter dues. There is no drop down menu right now on the website for it. No one knows they are supposed to pay.
- (Darcie) Dori needs to talk to national about why we are not getting our chapter dues.
- (Dori) We need to make it easier for people to register and renew online. It is a national issue.
- (Koretzky) He and Darcie need to bring it up at the next national board meeting.
- Lengthy discussion about the pros and cons of collecting local dues. Darcie decided to make it  an agenda item for the next meeting.

Student Affairs/Scholarship. (Michael Koretzky)
- Not enough people are applying for the Sunshine State Scholarships – we’ll be lucky if we get 25 applicants. He would like someone else with more time to be in charge of this scholarship program. We need to revamp the process to get more people to apply.
- He suggests that we continue to pick out-of-state judges because it makes the scholarship program more reputable – no conflict of interests.

Awards. (Tim Dodson/Julie Kay)
- We had 700 entries, very close to the previous year. All have been sent out to be judges. Expect them back by April 23. We are judging three out-of-state areas. One is finished – we are working on two.
- (Koretzky) We should meet this year and discuss insights we gleaned from sorting the entries – i.e. categories to eliminate or add.
- (Tim) We need to take our system online like the one used by the SPJ chapter in Western Washington. He wants feedback from the judges who used it to see how they liked it.
- Have three potential venues for the Sunshine State Awards dinner – the Art and Culture Centre, the theater down the street, the antique car museum. The last one is out because it is too expensive.

Professional Education. (Paola Iuspa-Abbott) – No update because Paula was out sick.

Marketing. (Michele Boyet)
- Discussed marketing for Will Work for Food program.

Fundraising. (Lisa Lucas)
- Looking into finding venues that would donate their space for free. Lisa will communicate with Tim via email on this.
- Mentioned the summer journalist camp as a way to bring in revenue. She will bring a proposal to a future board meeting.

Ethics. (Oscar Musibay)
- Overview of a new program we’ll be hosting on media ethics. The aim is to engage the community in what they produce and consume. The goal is to come to some kind of consensus on how the public can participate in the process of accountability. We have applied for an SDX grant of $2,500.
- WPBT has already agreed to partner with us. The three-program series (called Crisis of Conscience: How to hold media accountable) will be in a 30-min., issue-style format. Plan to have journalists and citizens sitting on a panel for discussion.
- First topic – How community news could save journalism. Second topic – restoring credibility. Find out what people want. Do they want truth or the reinforcement of their own ideas? Third topic – Advocacy journalism: Opinion or news? Explore Fox’s model vs. CNN’s.
- They plan to have one session in each of the three counties we serve. The goal would be to listen to what the public says. No dates set yet. Still working on securing the grant. Please email him with ideas for possible participants.

FOI. (Bill Hirshman)
- There are two bills (one good, one bad) sitting before the state legislature right now that are of interest to journalists. Open government act (a good bill) – it combines the open meetings and open records laws to give them more heft. Trying to do away with or reduce the fees. Requires Sunshine Law training for all elected officials, to cut through ignorance. Increases enforcement penalties. This bill is stuck in a house committee. We should send strong letters to the speaker of the house and a key committee chair holding it up. Time is a factor. ACTION ITEM: (Darcie) Bill should draft a letter and sign by Darcie to send.
- The other (negative bill): Our own local legislature wants to seal forever records that have been expunged. Bill will draft a letter for this too.
- We have a lobbyist – the First Amendment Foundation. We have a bill from them for $265+  in membership dues. ACTION ITEM: (Darcie) Let’s go ahead and pay it.

Diversity. (Arlene Satchel)
- Introduction of the new chair of the diversity committee, Arlene Satchel. She said to send any ideas her way.

4. Grant request from Journalists in Transition for $447.50 to attend a grant writing workshop – Lisa Bolivar-Jacks, JIT
- They wanted money for one of them to attend a week-long grant writing seminar in West Palm Beach, so they can start going after grant money.
- Discussion focused on whether it was a wise use of funding during a tight budget year, especially given the fact that JIT hadn’t spent any time looking into grant writing training options. They received an email about the workshop and thought it would be a good idea to send someone. (Jake) What has JIT done since its founding one year ago? (Lisa Bolivar-Jacks) We’ve held a seminar for 25 to 30 people and became incorporated. (Michele) What does the money you are requesting pay for? Is this a good price for this kind of thing? (Koretzky) The Junior League grant library (near FAU) offers free grant writing courses. I’d be happy to go with you. We don’t know much about this organization offering the grant writing seminar you want to attend. We should vet it and maybe look into sending someone from JIT and SPJ next cycle. (Rachael) Training someone from JIT in grant writing is a good idea, but I don’t see the urgency to jump on this seminar. JIT should research more what is out there. I bet there are more cost-effective options. (Darcie) We just don’t have the money right now to spend on something like this. ACTION ITEM: Suggestion was made that JIT vet several grant writing programs and come up with a more-informed proposal. They had very little information about this workshop and the company hosting it. No funding granted at this time.

5. Sponsorship of May 20 national SPJ FOI program (request up to $200 max)  – Michael Koretzky/Sergy Odiduro
The chair of the SPJ National FOI committee is visiting 40 SPJ chapters. He is swinging by our area. Koretzky wants to hold his FOI event at FAU for cheap for 25 people. He thinks it would be good to do this event to curry favor with national since it is a national event.

ACTION: Motion by Rachael Joyner to approve the money with a rider that the presenter has to tailor the event to the needs of our local constituents, which will be determined by our chapter. Jason Parsley seconded. Motion unanimously after a vote by voice.

6. Report on SPJ regional conference in Orlando and the First Amendment Free Food Festival at UF – Michele Boyet
- Both events were very successful for our chapter.
- More than 300 attended the FAFFF at UF. Plan to expand the FAFFF to a community level – perhaps with an event held in Montgomery, Alabama, in the middle of five colleges. We also want to make it a regional event. Has only been done at colleges so far.
- Darcie requested a write up on the event for our website.
- During the SPJ regional convention in Orlando (attended by Rachael, Dori, and Michele on behalf of the chapter), we secured regional funding for our chapter’s Will Write for Food program   and planned FAFFF in other parts of the region. Michele was also appointed as the assistant regional director for our region.

7.Boca Media Summit update / regional SPJ student chapter – Michael Koretzky and Jake Cline
- Twenty-four students from Palm Beach State College, FAU, and Lynn attended. Jake and Koretzky believe we will get a SPJ student chapter by the end of the year. Some pros were there critiquing clips, such as Kevin from Boca Magazine. Jake is going back to speak to Palm Beach State College soon. Jake also spoke to the Lynn advisor in depth.

8.Project Invictus Update (Saturday, April 24) – Jason Parsely/Michael Koretzky
- Jason emailed an article from Colombia Journalism Review about the program to the board, so they would have a better idea about what it was.
- He’s securing a location tomorrow.
- Anyone who wants to go should email Jason. He’s also asked the board to recommend other journalists who would benefit from the event.

9. ONA Parachute Training Update — Michael Koretzky
- (Darcie) It was a great program – good bang for the buck. Got great feedback from attendees.
- Should look into doing future programs with ONA.

10. Grant request for $1,200 to hold a second Will Write for Food event in September. Michele, Michael, and Rachael have secured two matching grants already. – Rachael Joyner
- Short overview of the plans for the new event – Will be more of a scholarship program. Student journalists will apply and 20 will be picked to participate in the weekend program.
- The total budget for the event is $3,600. The bulk of the money is needed to fly in out-of-state students and put all the participants up in a hotel for two nights.
- Matching grants were pledged from SPJ regional and the Florida College Press Association. Our chapter will only have to put in 1/3 of the money.
- If the program goes well, we plan to make it a national event. All participants must be SPJ or FCPA members.

ACTION: Lisa made a motion to approve the full funding amount requested for the event. Dori seconded. The motion went to a voice vote and passed unanimously.

11. New Business
Time Limit on Committee Updates. (Rachael) Committee updates should be limited to 5 minutes to be timed by the secretary. Longer items should be put on the agenda so the president can budget the proper amount of time. All agreed.

Event Write Ups for Website. (Rachael) When  our chapter holds events, the person in charge of the event is responsible for doing a small write up on it for our website. These should be sent to Tim to post. This should also include a photo when possible.

Mike McQueen Scholarship. (Darcie) Our chapter has a $630 scholarship from Mike McQueen’s widow, the AP bureau chief who recently died of cancer. We need to give out the money to someone. Discussion on how to distribute the money: (Koretzky) We should give the money to a non-traditional journalist. We should partner with other journalist organizations and create a selection committee (one person from each org.) that will decide who the winner should be. (Darcie) We should consider ways to make this a yearly scholarship. (Jake) McQueen was into public service journalism, so maybe we should help fund a journalist who is working on that kind of project. (Lisa) We should ask the Associated Press to match the grant.

ACTION: Jason made a motion to adjourn the meeting. It was seconded by Jake. All approved.

Roll called. All members were present, except Julie Kay and Sam Terilli. Lisa Lucas was conferenced in by phone. Meeting started at 7 p.m.

2. Approval of Jan. 9 Minutes

ACTION: Lucy made a motion to approve the last meeting’s minutes. Dori seconded the motion. Vote was taken by voice. Motion passed unanimously.

3. Committee Updates

Finance. (Darcie) They plan to have a draft of the 2011 fiscal year budget ready by the April meeting so the board has time to look over it and can be ready to approve it during the July meeting.

Bylaws. (Darcie) The committee is having a conference call Friday, Feb. 5 at 2 p.m. They should have more ideas by the next meeting.

Marketing. (Michele) The members have been set. Rachael from the board along with two new SPJ members Kevin & Mallory who have very different media backgrounds. Michele said the committee has a good mix of experience and perspectives to bring to the table. SoFla SPJ now has a Facebook page and the committee is working together to create guidelines for updating it.

Scholarships and Student Affairs. (Michael) No Committee members needed for the scholarship committee because the year is already set.

Membership. (Dori) She is talking to people at SPJ national to get some ideas. Asking for people to join her committee. Tim offered his help. He already sent her some ideas.

Programs. (Sergy) Her goal is to have one program a month. Reverse press conference — was thinking about using that format for an event to reach out to the Haitian community before the earthquake happened. Now they are going to fashion the program after the first program Michael did. More later. Working with Jason to reach out to the gay community. Jason met with the president of the Gay Journalists Association.

Education/Professional Development. (Paola) So far just three members (Jake, Lucy, Paola).

- (Darcie) Darcie wants to receive the names and contact info of any new committee members so they can be posted on the website. Tim added that he can put them in an eNews update.

- Jason asked for clarification on how the committees are supposed to work. He questioned why decisions by the Sunshine State Award committee were enacted without first coming to the board.

- Darcie’s overview: The committees are like advisory committees. All big decisions have to come in front of the board, but all the work is done in committee. The idea is to delegate responsibility. The quick movement in the Sunshine State awards was an exception because it was late.

- Darcie said that anyone with ideas for a committee who isn’t in that committee should just contact the chair.

- Bill asked if we should put out an email asking for people’s input on the bylaw revisions. Tim: What about circulating the draft? Bill: We should try to get it to SPJ members before we have a draft. Solicit ideas. It will make things feel more collegial.

- Michele said we should send out an email with all the committee chairs and members and the contact info – not just focus on the bylaws.

- Darcie said we should do a committee update email in three weeks. Do all at once. Don’t want to overwhelm people with emails.

4. Sunshine State Awards (Tim Dodson)

Update from Tim: Awards committee met via conference call last tuesday. Went through the 2009 entries and discussed all the categories using the comments from last year’s board. Dropped five or six categories and consolidating a few more. Still have 62 categories. We still have a category for everything people could possibly want to enter for. Revised the timeline for this year’s awards program and circulated it to the committee. Friday, March 5 is the entry deadline. March 6 is the sorting day. We need five volunteers. It takes about a week to ship (UPS ground). Five weeks for judging. That means we should be able to announce finalists by the end of April. The event will be in early June. Call for entries went out yesterday to the 3,000+ email list.

- Michael wondered how much money is being lost by giving our chapter members one free entry. Tim didn’t think it was much. Michael said we should make it more prominent when talking about the Sunshine State Awards that SPJ members get one free entry. Need to use this more to get membership.

- Michele agreed to talk to Jamie, the web administrator, about that.

5. Review SPJ’s Coming Out Party (Dori)

Dori’s Summary: Got some coverage from The Miami Herald and the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association noticed and decided to come. About 40 to 50 people showed up. Many didn’t know that there was a local SPJ chapter. People were happy the event was in Boca. It was very successful. A handful of people from Miami showed up. It brought a lot of people (from Palm Beach County) who didn’t consider coming to our local SPJ events before because of the commute. Should try to rotate where the events are between the counties. Darcie said she got a few emails saying it was good.

6. Update on Parachute Training (Michael)

- Michael passed out cards with discount codes and fliers. Already at 30 (Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers have agreed to pay for a set number of attendees). Have 10 people registered from Martin County. They have room for 90 total.

- Michele mentioned that it was the same weekend as bar camp and word camp (other multimedia events for journalists who already know the techology), but the news of our event has been circulated at the Herald and Sentinel.

- Michael said this event is for people who don’t know about video, multimedia, etc. It’s for print journalists. You can find a session list online. He asked that the board talks to people working as print journalists.

- Michael said that we should have a membership table at the event and if we haven’t spent all the money from the event, we should get people to sign up right there as members and we’ll reimburse them for the event.

- Paola suggested that it should be the first 10 people to sign up who get the discount – create an urgency.

- Michael said ONA is spending $2,300 for the event. We spent $250. Good deal for SPJ as a co-sponsor.

7. $100 Grant for Inlet Grove Community High School (Michael)

- The grant is to sponsor 20 high school students from a low-income area in Riviera Beach who want to attend the FSPA conference in Tampa. They originally needed $1,600, but they raised all they money except for $100. Michael thinks this conference will give them an appreciation of journalism.

- Darcie added that this is well worth the money, and we should support it.

- Michael said the students receiving this scholarship have agreed to be our volunteers for a First Amendment Free Food Festival later this year.

ACTION: Jake made a motion to approve the grant. Paola seconded the motion. Vote was taking by voice, and the motion passed unanimously.

8. Sponsorship of Project Invictus, $600 request (Michael)

- Darcie expressed concern that we were tripling the budget for this year. Last year we paid only $200. What did people get out of the event?

- Lucy went to the event and liked it. It’s alternative. It’s different. It was trying to encourage journalists to think differently. Same idea with people who work in combat situations. Encouraged us to be in touch with ourselves as humans.

- Darcie wanted to know what the increase in money was for. “We need to make sure we are getting the most bang for our buck.”

- Michael said the budget for the event is increased because they want to have twice as many people at the first event, which has about 20. The money is needed to rent the space and for food. He said that as long as we don’t go below $300, we will get the $300 grant from the Dart Society.

- Lucy suggested gearing invites to the people who have been through trauma. (Darcie) We should try to bring in more SPJ members.

- Michael said this event will look good for SPJ. Part of a good mix of events for the year.

- Some of the board members’ concern stemmed from confusion over what the benefit of the event was. A suggestion was made to make it more clear to invitees what they could expect to get out of the event, since the nature of the event itself requires that many of the details remain a mystery beforehand. Michael agreed to make up something catchy for marketing the event in an email blast.

ACTION: Lucy made a motion to approve the full amount requested for the event. It was seconded by Paola. All voted by voice, and the motion passed unanimously.

9. Sponsorship of Haiti Forum, $500 request (Sergy and Michael)

Brief Overview by Michael: Sergy will be the host. There will be a panel discussion about how the press is covering Haiti. We want to get people from the Haitian community to attend. We want to get the president of Haiti on conference call if possible. They are shooting for a weekend in April to host the event. A $500 “donation” (would be the maximum) is needed if we want to use UM’s studio. We need a space that will accommodate an audience.

- The board briefly discussed other options to get around having to pay. (Darcie). We don’t have a problem with the program but would rather not pay. Michael and a few other board members agreed to work on alternatives.

ACTION: Darcie made a motion to provisionally approve the event and the $500 with directions to the program chair (Sergy) to try and not pay. Jason seconded. All voted by voice. Motion passed unanimously.

10. Harry Chapin media awards, $25 request (Michael)

- Michael briefly explained that we are eligible to enter the issue produced by one of our events last year – the Will Work for Food takeover of the Homeless Voice last April – for this award. If we win, we could get $1,000, which could be put toward doing the event again this year.

ACTION: Lucy made a motion to approve the $25 entry fee request. It was seconded by Jake. All voted by voice, and the motion passed unanimously.

11. Lynn University SPJ chapter, $200 request for an event that will explore starting a Boca Raton college student chapter (Michael)

- Michael gave a brief overview of the event. Mission is to get a few profs to join SPJ in order to create a student chapter. This $200 may not pan out until next year because of the time it takes to get a student chapter approved.

- Michele asked: If there is a student chapter, does that mean that students can’t be part of the pro chapter? Will those already members of the pro chapter be grandfathered in?

- Darcie said that once there is a student chapter all the students from the pro chapter would be moved to the student chapter.

ACTION: Jason made a motion to approve the $200 request, which was seconded by Sergy. Vote was taken by voice. The motion passed unanimously.

12. New Business

Reviving National Writers Workshop (Lucy)

Lucy gave a brief overview: There was no NWW last year. The Sun Sentinel sponsored it the year before that. She would like to revive the NWW in South Florida for 2011. It’s a lot of bang for your buck. Great speakers for a cheap price. Kathy Bushouse, who planned the NWW for the Sun Sentinel, has agreed to volunteer her time to help. The only one scheduled so far for this year is at Harvard.

What is needed from our chapter:

1) Seed money: The Sentinel made money on the event, which cost them $20,000. Could maybe curtail cost of flying speakers in. (Darcie) If we do this, it would have to be run like a business.

2) Location. Where should be do this? Maybe we could run it through FAU. Look for a smaller-budget place than Pier 66, where the Sentinel held the last one.

3) Should we mirror the NWW model or deviate from it to make it our own event?

4) Board needs to volunteer.

- Bill suggested that if we do this right, this event could be an alternate revenue stream for us. The Sunshine State Awards is drying up a bit.

- Brief discussion on who we are marketing it to. (Rachael) Maybe journalism teachers could offer extra credit to their students if they attend.

- Dori suggested combining the NWW with the Sunshine State Awards reception.

- (Tim) This could be a good opportunity to bring something to people who haven’t been interested in SPJ events. This is big stuff.

- Jake suggested having vendors come – could be another source of revenue.

- Darcie suggested we create a committee to work on this. She is comfortable with the chapter spending $10,000 or $12,000 to hold a NWW. “We want to do it right.”

- The board supported Lucy on this idea. She will do more research.

ACTION: Jason made a motion to adjourn the meeting. It was seconded by Sergy. All approved.

• Role called. All members except Julie Kay present.
• FIRST ORDER OF BUSINESS: Brief explanation of Parachute Training by Michael Koretzky, which will be held at Florida Atlantic University on Feb. 20. Cost: $500. Make check payable to FAU. Darcie Lunsford plugged the event, saying it is a great move for the chapter.
• ACTION: Lucy Reed motioned to approve. Jake Cline seconded. Vote taken by voice. Motion passed unanimously.
• SECOND ORDER OF BUSINESS: Brief explanation of SPJ’s Coming Out Party by Dori Zinn, which will be held at the Porterhouse in Boca on Jan. 28. Cost: $400 — $300 for food and the location, with $100 underwriting free admission for SPJ members to the Parachute Training at FAU on Feb. 20. Brief discussion about the location and costs. Lucy Reed was concerned that we are paying for food. She wanted to use all the money to provide scholarships for the Parachute Training event. The rest of the group decided that free food is important to motivate more people to come to the event, especially recent grads, freelancers and working journalists.
• ACTION: Motion to approve made by Jason Parsley. It was seconded by Lisa Lucas. Vote taken by voice. Motion passed unanimously.
• Lisa Lucas made a motion to adjourn the meeting. It was seconded by Sergy Odiduro. Vote taken by voice. All approved.

President Julie Kay called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m.

BROWARD BULLDOG
Dan Christensen described the plans for his new online news operation, www.browardbulldog.com.

Christensen: Organization will be a not for profit, on a volunteer basis only for now. Working with Joe Demma, former investigations editor at Sun Sentinel. Other board members include Kevin Boyd, Buddy Nevins, and Julie Kay. Looking for free office space now. Need to find people who can help us raise some money for the initial stake. Must be careful who we solicit.

Following the model of the Voice of San Diego. We need about $300,000. Nova may be interested in a partnership arrangement. Tom Julin has helped with setting up the organization. We have applied for tax exempt status.We’ve opened a bank account.

Plan to cover municipal stuff, county, courts, etc. No sports, few features. Staying away from what Sun Sentinel is covering. Initially we’re doing words and photos only; no multimedia yet. We expect to go live in October.

Hirschman: The chapter will assist with publicity in its e-newsletter. Chapter will consider a grant later.

Kay: Perhaps the chapter can offer a matching grant and challenge other local organizations.

Dan: Anyone interested in assisting can contact me at danchristensen2@gmail.com .

TREASURER’S REPORT
$26,038 in checking, $12,142 in savings, $32,571 in CD.

CHAPTER PROGRAMMING
Kay: Want to do panel discussion on online news publications. To include Dan Christensen, the Coastal Star publisher, the Florida Health News publisher from Tampa. Perhaps someone from Knight Foundation. Perhaps within four weeks, in mid-late October. Need venue: a library, a university? Probably in Broward. Broward Main Library? Nice room on fifth floor.

No other program ideas were presented.

LOCAL FUNDRAISER FOR SPJ
Gurinsky: need ideas for a local event. Possibilities include an online silent auction.

Kay: I still have some items saved that were previously donated. We could possibly do an auction at the Sunshine State Awards.

SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM
Koretzky: board needs to decide what it wants to do.

Discussion about criteria followed.

Koretzky: why not let’s stick to the current model: one high school, one community college, one university. $1,000 each. Hirschman moved as such, Gurinsky seconded. Passed unanimously.

MEDIA JOBS PRESENTATION
Koretzky: did a presentation on this topic at the national convention. I want to do a similar presentation at local schools. Would incur AV/tech costs, though. Koretzky will look into cost of the chapter purchasing an LCD projector.

Hirschman moved to let Koretzky spend $250 on AV costs to visit area schools to make presentation media jobs. Tabuteau seconded. Passed unanimously.

UM MEDIA ETHICS EVENT
Hirschman: This is a great event, but the timing (middle of the work day) is not good. Should be a Saturday or evening.

CHAPTER BYLAWS
Gurinsky and Koretzky volunteered to serve on a committee to review the bylaws and make recommendations for updates. Tim will send an appeal for other volunteers.

BOARD ELECTIONS
Chapter needs a meeting in mid-late November in order to do elections. Tentative date of Thursday, November 19 was selected.

NEW BUSINESS
Hirschman: SPJ National’s recent email campaign regarding contacting senators about the Shield Law missed on several levels.

Hirschman: We freelancers no longer have access to Lexis Nexis. Could we create a loose cooperative to get the service? Koretzky: what about Journalists in Transition? Hirschman: I will discuss this with Stacey.

Gurinsky: Time to start planning for Sunshine State Awards.

Gurinsky: Still need to explore a Yahoo Group to keep email back-and-forth to a minimum.

ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business, Sigale moved to adjourn. Hirschman seconded. Meeting adjourned at 9:23 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Tim Dodson
Chapter Administrator

Members present: Darcie Lunsford, Bill Hirschman, Ron Levitt, John Hopkins, Merwin Sigale, Sergy Odiduro, Sam Terilli, Alana Roberts, and Jaime Danielson. Sylvia Gurinsky gave her proxy to Lunsford. President Julie Kay — aware of this meeting — was traveling out of the country.

Darcie Lunsford called the meeting to order to discuss a blog written and produced by our Committee Chairman Michael Koretzky and its effect at both the national and local level.

The board reached a consensus not to speak out publicly as a chapter, despite the blog’s inflammatory title and offensive imagery.

The board then moved on to discuss business to be conducted at the upcoming national convention in Indianapolis (Aug. 27 -30).

After a discussion and – according to the by laws – the following action was taken:

1. John Hopkins moved and Sam Terilli seconded a motion — amended by Bill Hirschman — that “our board directs Darcie Lunsford to be our sole 2009 convention delegate with the power vested in her to vote all 3 votes allotted to the South Florida chapter.” Passed unanimously.

2. Sam Terilli moved and John Hopkins seconded a motion to direct Darcie Lunsford — as our delegate to the National convention in 2009 — to vote for candidate Jenn Rowell of the Alabama Professional Chapter or for any other opposition candidate worthy in Lunsford’s judgment to be Regional Director. Passed unanimously.

3. It was approved by unanimous voice vote that Terilli and Lunsford meet with Michael Koretzky to tell him of the decisions taken by the Board today.

The minutes of the previous board meeting were discussed briefly. Tim Dodson suggested that we forgo reading them at meetings since they are posted online so rapidly. Jaime Danielson suggested board members who spot errors in minutes posted online simply email her with corrections that need to be made.

Treasurer’s Report: Treasurer Hirschman reported that the chapter had approximately $26,000 in its checking account, $12,000 in its savings account, and $32,000 in a CD that rolls over this month. He also expected $19,000 more in income from the Sunshine State Awards to go into the chapter’s coffers soon. Hirschman also reported that the chapter is caught up on paying bills due.

Julie Kay announced that Martha Sternberg had resigned from the chapter board due to personal reasons.

Tim Dodson launched into a discussion of the chapter budget for 2008-2009. He presented the board with two spreadsheets. One spreadsheet detailed overall income and expenses for the period, and one spreadsheet detailed income and expenses for this year’s Sunshine State Awards. Dodson pointed out that the chapter budget was incomplete because he still needed additional information from Michael Koretzky.

Dodson said, as expected, income from the Sunshine State Awards was way down. He had $19,000 in entry fees in hand, and there were several outstanding entry fee payments due. Total revenues should total $20,000. John Hopkins asked for last year’s total. Several board members put it at around $25,000.

Since revenues are down, Dodson and Julie Kay have been planning a more frugal event this year. It will be a cocktail reception. They expect a total of 90 guests and will charge about $35 for tickets. Heavy hors d’oeuvres and two drink tickets will be provided to attendees for that cost. Tim also expects some income from duplicate awards sales.
Dodson said he expects expenses for the awards ceremony to be around $30 per person. He and Julie Kay believe the Art & Culture Center in Hollywood to be the best place to hold the ceremony this year.

They also looked at the Museum of Art Fort Lauderdale, Cinema Paradiso, and the Girl’s Club Gallery. Of all four options, Dodson and Kay believe the Art & Culture Center to be the best for its charm, price, and free parking.

The board unanimously approved holding this year’s Sunshine State Awards Ceremony at the Art & Culture Center in Hollywood. Dodson said the date will probably be Saturday, May 30th.

John Hopkins made a suggestion that Dodson look for ways to get ticket price down a bit lower. Dodson said he would look into it.

Darcie Lunsford wondered if Phil Latzman should still host this year’s awards ceremony, but said it could be decided at a later time.

After the discussion of the Sunshine State Awards budget, Dodson returned to discussion of the Chapter’s general budget. Income from membership dues was examined. Lunsford said she wouldn’t be surprised if the Chapter gets fewer membership renewals this year. Dodson said we should go after new members to make up the loss. Dodson also noted that SPJ National will begin to automatically invoice members for local dues, which could help push membership and membership revenue higher.

Dodson and Hirschman also pointed out that interest income will be lower this year. They will go to bank to review other means of generating interest income.

Next, Dodson reviewed Chapter expenses. The Sunshine State Awards, Chapter Management, National Meeting and Event Attendance will be the largest expenses.

The Board then discussed how many delegates it should send to this year’s SPJ National Convention in Indianapolis. Lunsford said the chapter needs to figure out how many members it has because that determines the minimum number of delegates to send. Lunsford wondered if members who had their local dues waived were actually being counted on local membership rolls. Lunsford and Kay said they would check with Linda at national headquarters to get the answer to that question.

Hopkins said the chapter shouldn’t send more than 3 people, regardless. Those people would be Julie Kay, Darcie Lunsford, and Michael Koretzky – who all must attend the convention. The Board had general agreement on this point.

Next, Stacey Singer of the Palm Beach Post presented a proposal to the board to organize a way to help out-of-work journalists monetarily. She said she is driven to help colleagues who have lost their jobs during this tumultuous time in the media industry. She said it is obvious many of these journalists will have to turn to other industries to find employment. They’ll need money to go to school or just to pay rent for a couple months. She has seen larger companies donate for such causes, and she suggested partnering with FSNE to create a tax deductible organization to collect and distribute funds to displaced journalists. She also suggested we hold fundraisers to add to the funds.

The board immediately agreed this was a good idea. They discussed a need for a committee to head up such a non-profit corporation and also deal with ethical concerns about determining who would be awarded the funds. Singer pointed out that the organization will need buy-in from leading journalists in South Florida, and she suggested the organization might be called “After the Jump.” Dodson pointed out that creating a 501 3c corporation can be difficult and involve a lot of legal paperwork, so he suggested that we might want to look into getting a group like the Dade Community Foundation to handle the money. Singer said she would look into it. In addition, Lunsford suggested Singer call Board member Sam Terilli, who has legal background, for insight.

Next, the Board reviewed Michael Koretzky’s scholarship proposal. The proposal was presented on paper, since Koretzky could not attend the meeting. Kay asked why there weren’t any scholarships for out of work journalists in the proposal. Danielson and Dodson said Koretzky didn’t want to get into that complicated matter this year and would consider it for next year.

Hopkins opposed #2 in Koretzky’s list, which discussed offering two $250 instant online scholarships at the regional convention. There was general agreement among board members that it sounded like a lottery and it should not be approved. The Board wants scholarships only given out for meritorious reasons.

The Board also agreed it would increase the total amount of scholarship money from the $2,500 in Koretzky’s proposal to $3,000. Board members would like to see two $1,000 scholarships, one $500 scholarship, and two $250 scholarships (if they are awarded for meritorious reasons). Danielson pointed out that next year the chapter should consider offering a scholarship to the Sunshine State Awards College Journalist of the Year.

The Board also decided that Hopkins will write bios of the people behind the chapter’s named scholarships, so the information (along with photos) can be posted in a special section of the website. The suggestion was also made to build a chapter history section of the website. Gurinsky said she would try to find an old video she had that could offer insight into chapter history.

Kay asked, on behalf of board member Merwin Sigale, for volunteers to judge a high school essay contest. Roberts and Odiduro agreed to help out.

Dodson reminded everyone to register for the Regional Convention. He said they can do it via the convention link on the chapter website.

The board also decideed that Danielson and one of her colleagues from Nightly Business Report would judge the College Journalist of the Year Award this year because the entries received were broadcast entries.

The board then discussed ideas to offer grants or some other assistance to journalists working to create local community news websites. Coastal Star was offered as an example of such a site. Lunsford wondered if a Knight Foundation grant could be obtained to help fund such a project.

Odiduro offered an update on her Trauma Reporting event. She said there have been obstacles in her efforts to get speakers committed. The board agreed that now might not be the right time for this topic, so the idea was tabled.

Hopkins suggested the chapter put its efforts into creating support meetings for out-of-work journalists. The board had general agreement that this would be a fabulous idea. Kay offered to organize the first meeting in Hollywood next week, and suggested that they be organized in each of the three counties.

The meeting adjourned at 9:15 PM.

Minutes respectfully submitted by:
Jaime Danielson

The minutes of the previous board meeting (posted online) were approved, after several corrections (typos and John Hopkins’ suggestion that Sunshine State award “winners” might be linked to our chapter website).

Treasurers Report: Treasurer Hirschman reported that the Chapter had $ 28,247.68 in its checking account, $12,135.25 in its savings account and $32,151.71 in a CD. Levitt moved and Danielson seconded a motion to approve the report. Unanimous.

Dodson reminded the Board that the Chapter is currently on a calendar year for its fiscal responsibility while national By-Laws mandated all chapters be on the same fiscal year as National – ending July 31. He recommended a bylaw change to reflect an August 1 calendar year and that it should be taken up at the next meeting. It also was suggested that all by-laws should be looked at to see if there is a need to update or correct any items. Dodson reported our current tax return (which had been on an extension) had been filed.

Dodson presented the Board with a spreadsheet of income and expenses covering a six months period ending 31 January 2009. However, members were urged to use this for informational purposes only as it did not include income and expenses covering last year’s Sunshine State Awards.

There was a general discussion on SPJ Chapter finances and the general effect our income might be affected by the economic downturn. Several points were made:

Money in bank should be used for education, scholarships; scholarships could be set up in a local Foundation; sheltering of resources needs to be studied meticulously; we need to know the income generated from the 2009 contest before we spend any funds indiscriminately.

Lunsford suggested we need to work out a 2009 budget because we are currently working from an “imperfect document.” Koretzky and Levitt suggested that there needs to be a budget established with “priorities” before spending is approved and scholarships are awarded.

President Kay appointed a Budget Committee of herself, Hirschman, Tim Dodson and Koretzky to report on expected revenue ($38,000 in 2007) and expenses for the Sunshine State Awards, regional meeting, regular chapter events and scholarships.

Koretzky reported on the Aprl 3-4 regional event – a joint project of South Florida SPJ and FCPA. Cost is anticipated at $2,000, with $1,000 from a grant and the balance from the Chapter. The registration will include all meals including a dinner in a homeless shelter. Otherwise, plans are being made for a restaurant in Hollywood for those who prefer it (extra charge). Help is needed at a registration table Friday, April 3 – 4 to 6 p.m. and around 9:30 a.m. Saturday, April 4. SUGGESTED INFO AVAILABLE ON http://www.spjchapters.org/southflorida/ LOOK UNDER UNCONVENTIONAL 2009.

Koretzky gave an upsate on the scholarship program, including the ability needed to apply online (He will work with Danielson on this program). A discussion was held on the program…we need to determine if awards can be made to both high school and college students; the explanation that recipients must live in South Florida; the subject of whether scholarships should be partly based on need, and how do we handle two existing “name” scholarships – the Jack Kassewitz Community College Scholarship and the Garth Reeves Scholarship. It was decided this subject needs furether discussion and members are asked to bring their ideas and thoughts to the next Board meeting. Koretzky was asked to form a committee to come up with some suggestions.

Program Ideas: Julie Kay will look into a possible program with J.B. Harris on the “Implosion of TV Mergers and Sales in South Florida.”

Reisner and Odiduro will look into a possible program for late March on “Trauma Reporting…How to talk to victims.” We may be able to piggyback with FIU which has a March 26 daytime event, with a victims advocate speaker. Reisner will look into this possibility.

Sunshine State Awards: Dodson reported that 4 out of the 5 chapters (Seattle, Chicago, Pittsburgh and Maryland) who judged our entries last year have confirmed to do it again in 2009. We also have 2 of judges confirmed for the Batten Awards.

We are looking into the Hollywood Arts Center as a possible venue for this year’s event. The location has both an area for a reception and a theatre for the awards ceremony.

A discussion on a possible media directory was tabled.

It was agreed to have Board meetings the second Monday of the month – April 13 June 8.

Koretzky requested $200 for a UF sponsored First Amendment Food Festival. After a discussion, John Hopkins moved and Bill Hirschman seconded a motion to provide half that amount – $100 – for the event. Lunsford said she might be able to make up the difference from her SPJ regional funds.

The meeting ended at 9:30 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Ron Levitt, Secretary

The minutes of the previous board meeting (posted online) were approved.

Treasurers Report: Treasurer Hirschman reported that the Chapter had 426,769 in its checking account, $12,134 in its savings account and $32, 117 in a CD.

Dodson reminded the Board that the Chapter is currently on a calendar year for its fiscal responsibility while national By-Laws mandated all chapters be on the same fiscal year as National – July 31, This will need a bylaw change. It was suggested that all by-laws should be looked at to see if there is a need to update or correct any items. Dodson reported our current tax return (which had been on an extension) will be filed immediately.

The Board discussed the Sunshine State Awards and agreed to spend time at this meeting to go over “Categories” including possibly combining or eliminating some and considering recommendations in the Broadcast and Web categories, (The updated version will be posted on our Web page within the next few days. Dodson took the notes regarding suggested changes and additions).

Hopkins suggested that, when possible, entries might be linked to our chapter Web site. Suggestion approved, when feasible.

It was suggested and a preliminary discussion/poll of members was held on the “event” site (possibility of a museum) and type of event (banquet, lunch or cocktail reception). Preisdent Kay appointed a committee to come up with details the event. The committee will inclue Kay, Levitt, Hirschman, Gurinsky and Odiduro.

It was determined to keep pricing for the Sunshine State Awards the same as 2008.

Dodson presented the Board with a calendar, including a distribution of materials on Jan. 9, an entry deadline of Feb, 20, sorting entries on Feb, 21 and then shipping entries by Feb, 23. Other key dates include April 6 for “judging deadline,” April 15 for announcing the finalists and the actual event on May 16. The timeline was approved.

Alana Roberts was elected as the 12th member of the Board.

Regional Conference: Koretzky deferred discussion of the event until the February meeting (information on the April 3-4 event is on the Web ). www.spjchapters.org/southflorida and in the right hand column of our site (spjsofla.net) as posted by Jaime George Danielson, our web administrator.

A discussion was held on future programming, Among possible progarms are Blogging, A workshop on interviewing grieving individuals, one on part-time public relations/journalism conflicts, one on freelancing.

Hopkins briefed the Board on National’s request for our feelings on a proposal to contribute to National for dues of unemployed / laid off employees in 2008 and 2009, A discussion was held on the growing reduction in journalism work forces and how possibly a reduction in dues might be done on both national and chapter levels, The Board was in general agreement to help with the economic situation but wanted more specific numbers and how other Chapters would be participating, (Hopkins reminded the Board that the problem was nationwide and that some 15 States do not have SPJ chapters), The consensus of the Board is that “we want to help..and favor supporting this effort in principle.”

Outreach to international journalists. Hopkins proposed the Chapter seek ways to work with non-American journalists. President Kay will designate someone to look into how we can accomplish such an effort and Dodson said he would help in this undertaking. President Kay appointed Sergy Odiduro as membership chair to work on this project.

Gurinsky reminded the Board that 2009 is the 100th anniversary of SPJ, The regional conference and Sunshine State Awards will reflect that milestone event.