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Dec. 13, 2003 at Nello's restaurant Warner Road, Ahwatukee
Nov. 29, 2003 at Rigo's Restaurant, Tucson
Oct. 18, 2003 at Friday's Front Row, Phoenix
Sept. 13, 2003 at NAU, Flagstaff
No meetings June - August, 2002
May 17, 2003 at Nello's restaurant Warner Road, Ahwatukee
April 2003, no meeting, banquet held April 12
March 8, 2003, at the Arizona Daily Star, Tucson
February 8, 2003 (no meeting, the board met at the Arizona Republic, Phoenix, to pack up the contest entries to send to judges.)
January 18, 2003 at Mi Amigo Ricardo Restaurant, Casa Grande
Minutes from meeting of Board of Directors Arizona
Press Club
Saturday, December 13,
2003
Nello’s restaurant Warner Road,
Ahwatukee
Taken by Jill Jorden Spitz, Alia Rau Typed by Dennis Joyce
Call to order at 12:30 p.m.
In attendance: Laura Clymer, Juan Villa, Alia Rau, Jill Jorden Spitz, Rob Schumacher, Tom Gibbons, Dennis Joyce
Alia moves to approve minutes from previous meeting. Tom seconds it. Motion passes.
Contest update: Jill said the committee took last year’s rules and made changes, which are underlined on sheets she distributed. Highlights:
- Small
paper entry fee is $10 then $5 per entry.
-
General rules, we now can disqualify entries that do not conform
to the rules.
-
Only certificates will be awarded for second and third places.
-
No story, photo, page design, cartoon, headline, web page may be
submitted more than once except as specifically noted.
-
Personality profile/feature was split in A categories.
-
Under C7, at least one story must be written on deadline.
-
News feature was split into four categories based on word count
-
Lifestyle was split into three categories based on word count
-
Personality profile was split into two categories based on word
count
-
Arts criticism was split between visual and music
-
Sports non-deadline is now sports enterprise and split in two
-
Spanish writing categories were made the D category
-
Photo will be E
-
Design portfolio category added back in
Rob suggested $500 is too much money for top three winners. Jill agreed, saying nobody enters for the money. Jill suggested $250, $150 and $75. Rob made a motion for POY, Virg Hill and Community Journalist winners to receive $250 and a pot, and only pots for second and third place winners. Jill seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
Update on judges: Le Templar e-mailed to say he has gotten one of his and Alia has most of hers. Jill said get them before Christmas and it’s easier. She suggested asking Tacoma to judge the small newspapers photo category. There was concern that in the past judging teams didn’t take small papers seriously.
Web site update: Since the last meeting, we have received a bill and were asked to settle up by the end of December. Dennis suggested we stick to what we agreed to before — say we will pay what’s requested, but in February, when we have revenue. He said he would write the former provider to say this.
Banquet update: Hugh Downs turned us down because he is doing the Santa Fe College commencement that night. He indicated he would like to do this in the future, though. Laura spoke with his wife. We decided to ask David Fitzsimmons of the Star.
The band is suggesting music of the last 80 years or music fitting for people in trouble this year, public figures. They will play after the event, too, if people stick around.
Financial report: We have $2,241.16. Tom said we should have enough to get us through pack-up day. Alia moved we accept the report. Laura seconded the motion. It carries.
Scholarships: We are missing our scholarship file. But Jill will get college addresses from the UA SPJ chapter so we can send solicitations in January and ask for applications by March. Applicants will send up to six examples of their work each, at least one of which must be published. We also will ask for a letter of recommendation.
Multi media: Max Becherer talked to Rick Wiley about the multimedia presentation for the banquet. We need a Mac program called “Dewar” (spelling?). Jill will talk to Dylan about doing it. If not we’ll talk to the East Valley Institute of Technology. Tom will call the sound system people we used last time.
Republic contributions: Alia and Maureen West wrote the Republic asking for money for party favors, scholarships, and other items. It is the Republic’s turn to pay for the printing of the program. They have agreed to do so, up to $2,000. Other monies are awaiting further discussion.
Alia will look into the possibility of asking papers for scholarship money if we create scholarships in the name of famous staff members.
Membership drive: We discussed happy hour events in Phoenix, Flagstaff and Tucson to do portfolio reviews and help people prepare entries for the contest. A better idea, it was decided, is to announce future events at the banquet with fliers on tables and in the program, designed to help build membership.
Next meeting is Jan. 10 at Rigo’s in Tucson. Packup day, we were reminded, is Feb. 7.
Alia moves to adjourn, Rob seconds. Motion carries.
ARIZONA PRESS CLUB BOARD MINUTES – Nov. 29, 2003Rigo’s Restaurant, Tucson
Attendance: Rebecca Allen, Scottsdale Independent; Dennis Joyce, Arizona Daily Star; Le Templar, East Valley Tribune; Francisco Medina, Tucson Citizen; Colleen Sparks, Arizona Daily Star; Tom Gibbons, East Valley Tribune; Alia Rau, Arizona Republic; Rob Schumacher, Arizona Republic; and Enric Volante, Arizona Daily Star.
President Dennis Joyce opened the meeting at 12:41 p.m.
Le Templar made a motion to approve the minutes from the Oct. 18 meeting in Phoenix and the Sept. 13 meeting in Flagstaff with revisions made and sent to board members prior to the current meeting. Joyce seconded the motion. The board unanimously approved the minutes.
Contest Judges: Joyce said that board member Jill Jorden Spitz, who could not attend the meeting, wanted to strongly encourage everyone to get their contest judges as quickly as possible. The board agreed that Feb. 7 would be pack-up day.
Banquet Update: Allen said that The Containers, the band that played at the banquet last year, agreed to play at next year’s banquet for free again. Allen suggested the band stay an hour after the banquet ends and the club provides a dance floor for people to dance and mingle after the ceremony. Several board members said they liked that idea, and Allen said she would ask The Containers if it would stay.
Medina said he talked to a designer at the Tucson Citizen to see if he would put together the slide show for the banquet since Rick Wiley didn’t want to do it again next year, but the designer said “no.” Medina said he would ask Wiley for the names of other people who might be interested in doing it. Schumacher said he would ask his wife if she would be interested in doing it, as a back-up if Wiley’s contacts fell through.
Templar said the Tribune doesn’t want to pay for party favors for the banquet. Rau said she would ask board member Maureen West, who wasn’t at the meeting, if they could ask the Republic to pay for the printing of the programs for the banquet. Templar said he would talk to the board at its next meeting about what kinds of party favors it should consider using for the 80th anniversary banquet.
Board member Laura Clymer, who wasn’t at the meeting, is still trying to track down Hugh Downs to ask him if he will be the emcee for the banquet, Joyce said. Sparks said she would remind West about asking the former board presidents if they want to come to the banquet to be honored.
Web site Update: Allen said the Press Club’s Web site is on-line with provider WinSave now. Joyce said he would post a letter on the Web site inviting journalists from all over Arizona to attend the Press Club’s Dec. 13 meeting in Phoenix. The plan is to have a social gathering and clips review for journalists, and a separate, formal meeting for just the Press Club executive board. The planned meeting place of Nello’s in Ahwatukee probably won’t be big enough to hold everyone, so Joyce said he would look for another spot.
Financial Report: Treasurer Gibbons said the board has about $1,000 less than it thought it did at this point. The balance for the club’s bank account is $3,722.84 and $768.15 is committed to paying people back for various expenses, he said. The projected expenses for this meeting, and the December and January meetings, are about $400, he said. The Heard Museum will require a deposit of $500 for the banquet, he said. It will cost about $400 to buy the judges’ gifts, if they are the same ones (Fairytale brownies) that were sent last year, Gibbons said. Pack-up day breakfast and postage costs will be about $120, he said.
The board also has an alleged bill of about $1,000 from Iguana, the former Web site server, Gibbons said. Allen said the company never sent a bill for that amount and that the board believed the cost for the service was only $16.95 a month, which wouldn’t add up to $1,000. It would have cost $745.80 for service over the 44 months that Iguana provided the service to the club, Allen said.
Templar made a motion that the board Iguana $500 for the services. Volante seconded the motion. The board unanimously approved paying the $500.
Allen said she would send Iguana an e-mail explaining what the board was doing, and Joyce said he would write a letter to Iguana to send with the check, saying something to the effect of “cashing this check is agreement that the debt is paid.”
Post Office Box: Gibbons said the board could open up a post office box again at the same place as before in Phoenix. Allen said she would open it and send instructions for how to open the combination lock to Rau and Jorden Spitz. It would cost $63 to open the post office box for six months, and $126 to have it for a year, Gibbons said. The board informally decided to sign a one-year contract for the box.
Templar made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 2:00 p.m., and Rau seconded the motion. The board unanimously approved adjourning the meeting.
Attendance: Rebecca Allen, Scottsdale Independent; Dennis Joyce, Arizona Daily Star; Le Templer, East Valley Tribune; Jill Jorden Spitz, AZ Daily Star; Francisco Medina, Tucson Citizen; Colleen Sparks, AZ Daily Star; Dina Doolen, Tucson Citizen; Max Becherer, AZ Daily Star, Juan Villa, La Voz; Laura Clymer, Arizona Daily Sun, Julie Riddle, Northeast Phoenix Independent.
President Dennis Joyce opened the meeting at 12:29 p.m.
Le Templar made a motion to change the minutes from the Sept. 13 meeting in Flagstaff to say that Jorden Spitz talked about the “contest committee,” not the anniversary committee, Clymer “moved” to approve the changes in the contest rules, and Becherer “moved” to second it. Jorden Spitz seconded Templar’s motion and the board approved it unanimously.
Slate of Officers: Joyce presented the proposed slate of officers for the coming year with the same officers who are currently in those positions: Joyce, president, Clymer, vice president, Sparks, secretary, and Gibbons, treasurer. Templar moved to approve the changes, and Becherer seconded the motion. The board unanimously approved the officers.
Pack-up Day plans: Templar said he would
help with pack-up day by checking the post office for entries. Becherer said he
and Medina would organize the photo contest pack-up entries. Jorden Spitz said
she would organize the contest as contest chairwoman and Doolen would be the
co-chairwoman of the contest committee. Allen made a motion to approve the
assignments, and Becherer seconded it. The board approved the pack-up day jobs
unanimously.
Templar moved to make Allen the banquet chairwoman again and Jorden Spitz
seconded it. The board unanimously approved her role.
Allen said the tentative date for the banquet would be May 1 or 8 because April
11 is on Easter weekend, and the Heard Museum would be a good place to have the
awards banquet again.
The board discussed it and realized May 8 would be the day before Mother’s Day
so Joyce suggested Allen reserve the Heard for May 1 or 15. Templar made a
motion to reserve the Heard on those days and Joyce seconded it. The board
unanimously approved the dates.
The governing board decided Maureen West, board member from The Arizona
Republic, would contact the past presidents of the Press Club, who are still
living, to invite them to the banquet. Templar said he would talk to the Tribune
about pitching in about $1,500 for party favors with an historical theme for the
banquet.
Templar moved to raise the ticket prices for the banquet to $30 per person and
Jorden Spitz seconded it. The board unanimously approved the ticket price
increase.
The board decided it would have door prizes instead of a raffle, in part because
of questions over the legality of raffles. Allen said she would also see if the
bar fee at the Heard could be waived.
Sparks said she, West and Clymer would work on the historical pictures/anecdotes
display for the banquet. Jorden Spitz said perhaps Sue Billings of the AZ Daily
Star could design the program for the banquet, perhaps with a montage of old
photos. |
West and Alia Rau, a board member from the AZ Republic, were nominated to ask
the AZ Republic if it could print the programs for free, and the board decided
to have Allen ask Chris Fiscus and his band to play again.
The board talked about several possible speakers for the event, including Hugh
Downs, who lives in the Phoenix area, and Richard Threlkeld, an old broadcast
journalist. Clymer said she would look for a speaker.
Web site fiascos: Allen told the board the club’s Web site was created in 1999 with a company called Iguana producing the Web site. Because of a switch in the Web provider, the club owes $1,000 because it was not paid for several years. Jorden Spitz, per Allen’s suggestion, made a motion for the club to switch to WinSave as an ISP at a cost of $107.40 per year. Clymer seconded the motion. The board approved the switch unanimously.
Contest Update: The board discussed at
length ways to generate more money in light of anticipated losses in contest
entries because Patti Epler of the New Times is no longer on the board. The
board discussed eliminating some of the cash awards. Allen made a motion to
award only cash prizes for the first-place winners and not second or third, but
not change the Virg Hill, POY, or Community Journalist awards. Doolen seconded
the motion and the board approved the changes unanimously.
As an incentive to get more small papers to enter the contest, Jorden Spitz made
a motion to lower the entry fees from $20 to $10 per person plus $5 per entry
(down from $10). Templar seconded the motion and the board approved the changes
unanimously.
Membership Drive: The board talked about
ways to get new members. Clymper said the board should have social hours and
more informal events to attract smaller papers and students. The board talked
about tentatively having four events per year, including a Happy Hour/media
workshop in Phoenix, the annual Flagstaff workshop, the awards banquet and
something else in Phoenix or a small town in Arizona.
Allen also volunteered to start attending the First Amendment Coalition meetings
as the sixth media member and a Press Club representative.
Templar made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 2:54 p.m. and Doolen seconded
it. The board unanimously voted to adjourn.
Arizona Daily Sun, Flagstaff
Attendance: Dennis Joyce, Arizona Daily Star; Jill Jorden Spitz, AZ Daily Star; Colleen Sparks, AZ Daily Star; Rob Schumacher, AZ Republic; Maureen West, AZ Republic, Dina Doolen, Tucson Citizen; and Max Becherer, AZ Daily Star. President Dennis Joyce opened the meeting at 11:30 a.m. Jill Jorden Spitz moved that the board approve the minutes. Dina Doolen seconded it. The board approved the minutes with no changes unanimously.
By-laws committee: Joyce said that he, Francisco Medina and Le Templar met
a few times as the by-laws committee members and came up with ideas for
changes in the by-laws. The committee may meet again to try to blend the
old by-laws with the proposed new ones.
"The by-laws are very carefully crafted to reflect a group that's very
flexible," Joyce said.
Joyce said one goal the Press Club should have is to find new people to
join the club. A membership chairperson could be appointed to find new
members, he said. West said maybe the Press Club board should talk about
what it does to draw new members. Is an annual contest and banquet enough
to attract new members, she asked.
Jana Bommersbach and Kari Bland were active in the club before and could
help the current club come up with ideas for the club's direction, West
said. West also asked if the Press Club could combine its efforts with the
Society of Professional Journalists to produce programs.
Joyce said the First Amendment Coalition was helping the Press Club to put
on the workshops that day. He also said Mark Scarp of the East Valley
Tribune is trying to form one umbrella organization for the approximately
12 journalism groups in the state.
Clymer said some journalists might feel like all they do is pay for the
contests every year and they don't get much out of the club. It would be
good to reach out to journalists at smaller papers, she said.
Sparks said a previous club board had created a network of mentors from
larger papers and circulated it to smaller papers to allow journalists in
the smaller publications to seek advice and input on stories and clips to
Schumacher said he supported those ideas as long as the Press Club didn't
lose its own identity.
Clymer said the club could have quarterly, informal meetings to talk about
issues and then the executive board would meet separately in an informal,
happy hour type setting.
Jorden Spitz said she likes the idea of the informal meetings.
Joyce said he would contact different journalism groups, including on his
trip to the APME conference Oct. 17 in Phoenix. He suggested the board hold
off on approving any new by-laws until it figured out its new direction. He
also said the governing board would nominate officers at its next meeting
in October.
Anniversary committee: Sparks gave a report on the anniversary committee's
meeting. West and Sparks met twice to talk about ways to commemorate the
club's 80th anniversary next year the awards banquet.
West and Sparks sorted through boxes of old photos, programs and minutes to
get ideas. Some proposals included displaying old program covers, writing a
column about what it was like reviewing the history and having Joyce write
a column about the future of journalism. Sparks also said a timeline could
be created showing major events in the club's history.
Doolen suggested that a cartoonist could draw cartoons reflecting the
club's history. The board accepted the ideas on the anniversary committee's
handouts but didn't take any specific action.
Contest committee: Jorden Spitz said the anniversary committee proposed
some changes to the annual contest rules for the writing side, including
disqualifying entries that were not filed properly and adding more specific
language prohibiting journalists from entering the same stories or photos
more than once.
She said the committee also recommended specifying in category C that the
beat reporting category must be entered and written by only one reporter.
Clymer voted to approve the changes and Becherer voted to second them. The
changes were approved unanimously.
Photo contest committee: Schumacher said the committee of he and Becherer
proposed combining categories B and C into one category and to allowing
five entries in the new category.
Becherer said they also recommended that the photo captions written were
beefier so that they were enough to tell the story.
Doolen moved to approve the recommended changes in the photo contest rules.
Jorden Spitz seconded it. The changes were approved unanimously.
Joyce said the board should meet again on Oct. 18 in Phoenix.
Jorden Spitz moved to adjourn the meeting. Clymer seconded it. The board
adjourned at 1:05 p.m
Nello's Restaurant, Phoenix
Attendance: Jill Jorden Spitz, Arizona Daily Star; Maureen West, The
Arizona Republic; Francisco Medina, Tucson Citizen; Dennis Joyce, AZ Daily
Star; Enric Volante, AZ Daily Star; Max Becherer, AZ Daily Star; Dina
Doolen, Tucson Citizen; Patti Epler, New Times; Beque Allen, freelancer;
Rob Schumacher, The Arizona Republic; and Tom Gibbons; East Valley Tribune.
President Dennis Joyce opened the meeting at 12:45 p.m.
Subcommittees: The board decided to form subcommittees to discuss different
issues during the summer. Joyce said that next year will be the Press
Clubís 80th anniversary and that one of the subcommittees could discuss how
to commemorate the occasion.
Doolen, Jorden Spitz and Epler decided to join the contest subcommittee and
West decided to chair the 80th anniversary subcommittee. Allen and Sparks
decided to join the 80th anniversary subcommittee, also.
Jorden Spitz said that the contest subcommittee should review the general
rules of the annual contest and designers and photographers should provide
input.
Joyce said he would gather old photographs and articles for the 80th
anniversary celebration and that people could e-mail him with ideas for how
to commemorate the event.
The board discussed whether new members should be sworn onto the board in
the fall and whether there should be guaranteed representation from all
newspapers on the board. Volante said he thought the membership should be
"fairly flexible."
New member: Doolen made a motion to appoint Francisco Medina, a
photographer at the Tucson Citizen, as a new Press Club board member. Joyce
seconded the motion and the board approved it unanimously.
By-laws subcommittee: The board talked about who should be on the by-laws
subcommittee. Joyce and Medina volunteered to be on the subcommittee and
board members said they would ask Le Templar of the Tribune to be on the
subcommittee, too, if he was willing to join. Templar was not at the
meeting.
Jorden Spitz moved to establish the three subcommittees and Epler seconded
the motion. The board unanimously approved the formation of the three
subcommittees.
New Executive Members: Epler said that Amy Silverman, New Times reporter
and board vice president, was leaving the Press Club board, as well as
Laura Laughlin, freelancer and scholarship committee member.
The board asked Epler to serve as the vice president until the end of
Silvermanís term in September. Allen made the motion to instate Epler as
the interim vice president and West seconded it. The board unanimously
approved appointing Epler as the interim vice president.
The board decided it would plan on meeting again as a whole on Sept. 13.
Joyce told board members on the subcommittees to e-mail Sparks their
recommendations by August 23.
Joyce said he would ask Karina Bland, Arizona Republic reporter, to work on
the scholarship committee with Juan Villa, La Voz reporter and board
member, now that Laughlin is leaving.
Citizen letter: West said the board should write a letter to the Tucson
Citizen thanking it for sending its May 15 letter to the Press Club board
offering suggestions for contest rule changes. Epler said the letter should
say that the contest subcommittee would be considering the changes as part
of its annual review of the contest rules.
Epler suggested that Sparks write the letter and Sparks agreed to write it.
Budget: Treasurer Gibbons presented a financial report and said the board
needs to cut the budget by $1,000. Joyce said the subcommittees could talk
about cost-cutting strategies when they meet.
Web site: Allen said she has had problems getting a bill from the Web site
host for the Press Club Web site. She said that she controls the content of
the Web site and that she believes the board could find a host that would
provide services for less than the existing provider's rate of $19.95 a
month.
The Press Club has paid for the domain name az.press club.org through April 2004, Allen said.
Joyce calculated the months that the board has not been charged for the actual hosting and found
the board could owe $1,080 once the bills are sent.
Joyce suggested that Allen find out if the board could set up a traffic
count that only the board could see on the Web site.
Epler made a motion to adjourn. Schumacher seconded the motion. The board
adjourned at 2:05 p.m.
MINUTES FROM MARCH 8, 2003 MEETING:
Attendance: Tom Zoellner, The Arizona Republic; Juan Villa, La Voz; Dennis
Joyce, Arizona Daily Star; Enric Volante, AZ Daily Star; Jill Jorden Spitz,
AZ Daily Star; Colleen Sparks, AZ Daily Star; Rebecca Allen, Glendale Star;
Le Templar, East Valley Tribune; Alia Rau, AZ Republic, Tom Gibbons, East
Valley Tribune; Laura Clymer, Arizona Daily Sun and Patti Epler, New Times.
President Dennis Joyce opened the meeting at 12:40 p.m.
Colleen Sparks presented the minutes from the meeting in Casa Grande. Jill
Jorden Spitz moved that the board approve the minutes. Le Templar seconded
the motion. The board approved the minutes with no changes unanimously.
Banquet: Rebecca Allen said that the band would be playing in the main,
dining room at the awards banquet and that appetizers would be on the
tables. She said that if multiple people from the same paper bought tickets
a table would be reserved for them.
Le Templar made a motion for the board to spend $200 for a gift for the
banquet host and Allen seconded it. The board approved the expenditure
unanimously.
The board decided that board members Maureen West and Le Templar would work
at the front check-in table at the banquet from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Joyce, Rau,
and Sparks agreed to work in 20-minute shifts at the raffle table between 6
and 7 p.m.
Zoellner said he would walk around and encourage people to buy raffle
tickets. The board agreed that raffle tickets would be sold until the
program started. Board members also said they would circulate the dining
room trying to sell tickets from 7 p.m. until the program started.
Allen said that the approximately 300 Press Club matches that would be
handed out at the banquet would cost about $150, not including taxes.
Awards Update: Allen said that the porcelain pots that would be given to
award winners would cost $33.75 each, the same price as last year, and
would be a better quality than the ones given away last year. All the pots
would cost $3,242, Allen said.
Volante made a motion for the board to use $1,500 in banquet ticket sales
from last year for scholarships. Clymer seconded the motion. The board
approved the motion unanimously.
The board talked about whether to award the City of Glendale or the
Chandler Police Department for the Brick Wall awards. Zoellner said he
would investigate the wrongdoings in the City of Glendale. Epler moved to
nominate Glendale for the award and Templar seconded it. The board
unanimously approved awarding the City of Glendale as a Brick Wall winner.
Templar nominated the Chandler Police Department for the Brick Wall award.
Rau seconded it and the board unanimously approved also giving the award to
the Chandler Police Department.
Zoellner said he would write the scripts for the Brick Wall awards. Clymer
said she would find bricks and Jorden Spitz said she would print
certificates for the award recipients.
The board talked about possibilities for the Distinguished Service award
winners. Mark Schaefer and Paul Jaster were two possibilities, though it
was noted that Jaster is not a journalist.
Volante said that Don Carson was the University of Arizona journalism
department head, has been active in journalism a long time, and wrote a
book. Joyce said that Carson always had high standards for students and
that he encouraged many minority students to go into journalism.
Volante made a motion to award Carson with the Distinguished Service award.
Jorden Spitz seconded the motion. The board approved the motion unanimously.
Volante said he would ask a U of A graduate to talk for about five minutes
at the banquet about Carson.
Templar said six SPJ scholarships that the Press Club contributed to were
not used for a recent SPJ event. He suggested the board take the $450 left
over and put it towards scholarships. Allen made a motion to boost the
Press Club scholarships to $2,000. Rau seconded it and the board approved
it unanimously.
Templar moved to adjourn the meeting. Joyce seconded the motion. The board
unanimously decided to adjourn the meeting at 2 p.m.
Press Club minutes, Jan. 18, 2003
Mi Amigo Ricardo Restaurant, Casa Grande
Attendance: Tom Zoellner, The Arizona Republic; Juan Villa, La Voz; Judd
Slivka, AZ Republic; Laura Laughlin, freelancer; Dennis Joyce, Arizona
Daily Star; Enric Volante, AZ Daily Star; Jill Jorden Spitz, AZ Daily Star;
Amy Silverman, New Times; Colleen Sparks, AZ Daily Star; Rob Schumacher, AZ
Republic; Rebecca Allen, Glendale Star; Le Templar, East Valley Tribune;
Alia Rau, AZ Republic; and Maureen West, AZ Republic.
President Dennis Joyce opened the meeting at 12:30 p.m.
Le Templar presented the minutes from the Nov. 16 meeting in Tucson. Jill
Jorden Spitz moved that the board approve the minutes. Amy Silverman
seconded the motion. The board approved the minutes with no changes
unanimously.
Pack-up Day: Jorden Spitz reminded the board that pack-up day is at 9 a.m.
Feb. 8 at The Arizona Republic. She said that the board would be adding up
the checks it had received for entries and packing all the entries with
gifts to mail to the judges.
Joyce said that board members should e-mail him and Maureen West by Feb. 4
to let them know whether they were planning to come to pack-up day. He told
board members to bring cell phones to pack-up day.
He said that Rob Schumacher would be the co-chair of the photo committee
for the contest.
Contest Update: Amy Silverman said that Patti Epler, the contest chair and
New Times reporter, has all the judges for the contest except for some that
will judge the Virg Hill category.
Joyce said that Echo magazine employees said that they were concerned about
competing with other magazines in this year's competition as previously
they competed with small daily newspapers and weeklies. West said it would
be good to get a representative from a magazine on the Press Club board.
Banquet: Rebecca Allen said that she gave The Heard Museum an estimate of
wanting to spend about $300 for the awards banquet April 12. She said the
deadline for people to register to attend the banquet would be March 28.
Templar moved to limit board members to two free drinks at the banquet and
Alia Rau seconded it. Then Templar withdrew the motion as the board decided
instead to save money by having no hors d'oeuvres. Silverman made the
motion for no hors d'oeuvres and Jorden Spitz seconded it. The board
approved the motion unanimously.
After reviewing various menu options, the board decided that Allen could
choose a menu with the most food and chocolate for dessert for the banquet.
Allen said tickets to the banquet would be $25. The board discussed its
decision to have a raffle but no silent auction. Board members agreed to
bring editorial cartoons and two photos from their respective newspapers to
raffle off. Slivka said he would bring the raffle items from the Republic;
Jorden Spitz said she would bring the items from the Arizona Daily Star;
and Templar said he would bring raffle items from the Tribune.
Silverman said that Tom Liddy, son of G. Gordon Liddy, would be the emcee
at the banquet. The board discussed having Schumacher ask Rick Wiley of the
Tribune put together the slide show for the awards presentation.
Templar made a motion to give an award to the White Mountain Independent at
the banquet for continuing publication throughout the Rodeo-Chediski fire.
Silverman seconded the motion and the board approved it unanimously.
Joyce asked board members and their co-workers to send nominations for the
Brick Wall and Lifetime Achievement awards to him by Feb. 8.
Finances: Treasurer Tom Gibbons made a financial report to the board. He
said the club has $3,084 in its checking account. Donations to the First
Amendment Coalition and Society of Professional Journalists have already
been made, Gibbons said.
Gibbons said the club still owes $500 more to the Heard Museum for the
banquet reservations. He also said that the club still needs to change the
board members' names on the account. Rau said she would go to the bank with
Gibbons to try to change them.
Scholarships: Laura Laughlin said that last year the Press Club awarded two
scholarships of $500 each. One was given to a student aspiring to be a
reporter and the other to a student interested in photography.
She said that the banquet raffle probably would raise money for a
scholarship this year. Laughlin said that she didn't want to give a
scholarship to just one person.
March will be the deadline for scholarship applicants and students studying
journalism at community colleges and universities are eligible to apply,
she said.
Rau, Laughlin, Schumacher and Juan Villa decided to form a subcommittee to
select scholarship recipients and the board decided that the club would
award two, $500 scholarships.
Slivka made a motion to adjourn at 2:20 p.m. Silverman seconded the motion.
The motion passed unanimously.
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