Minutes of NINA Board of Directors Meeting
Members present (15): Greg Rivara (President), Sharon Boehlefeld
(1st VP), Pete Nenni (2nd VP), Colin O'Donnell (past president), Lois Self
(interim executive secretary), Roger Ruthhart, Jim Killam (communications
coordinator), Rick Nagel, Mike Cetera, John Etheredge, Penny Wiegert, Lonny
Cain, Pam Lannom, Jim Slonoff (treasurer), Joe Corrado.
Members absent (6): Denise Renckens, Josh Albrecht, Jay Dickerson, Wally Haas, Kim Kubiak, Randy Swikle.
Guests present (4): Kristen Turner, Kane County Chronicle; Jason Schaumburg, Northwest NewsGroup; Dr. Steve Ralston, chair, NIU Department of Communication; Dirk Johnson, NIU Department of Communication.
Rivara called the meeting to order at 10:05 a.m.
Minutes of the June 22 board meeting were approved (Cain motion / Etheredge second).
Treasurer's report:
Slonoff reported a July 31 savings account balance of $5.94 and a July 31
checking account balance of $7,543.87. That's not including $1,815 in recent
deposits, so the overall checking balance is $9,358.87.
Report accepted (Ruthhart / O'Donnell / unanimous).
Executive secretary's report:
Self said 2007 contest entries are down from 2006. Here are total entries
from the past six years:
2002: 845
2003: 883
2004: 951
2005: 904
2006: 821
2007: 661
That's a 19 percent drop from last year, and a 30 percent drop from the
2004 peak. She speculated that the elimination of advertising categories
played a role; those brought 51 entries last year. In addition, several
newspapers that traditionally enter the contest have not paid their dues
this year.
Ralston said three journalism faculty searches are ongoing, and the department has two new tenure-track faculty this fall: Drs. Sabryna Cornish and Tom Oates. In addition, Dirk Johnson is working with the department in several capacities, one of which likely will include serving as NINA's executive secretary soon.
President's report:
Rivara mentioned that there continues to be some confusion about memberships
for individual newspapers vs. memberships for groups. Other membership discussion
was sprinkled throughout the meeting and included the need to push NINA
information to all member employees rather than just one or two key people
in each newsroom; the need to update our membership list; and the possibility
of college newspapers becoming members.
Program Committee report:
Boehlefeld talked about the Oct. 26 "Fall Conference and Swap Meet."
Six roundtable discussions will be offered in two different time slots,
so attendees can choose two. Sessions are: cops/courts reporting, new editors,
general assignment reporting, features, political reporting and copy desk.
Each session will have a discussion leader and will last 60 minutes. The
luncheon and awards presentation will follow.
Education Committee report:
Nenni said next Thursday's Nontraditional Storytelling workshop at NIU has
44 people registered. The presenter is Cory Powell from the Minneapolis
Star-Tribune.
The committee briefly discussed workshop ideas for next year. Most centered on new media - which appears to be a highly relevant topic to many newspapers. Killam will post a blog entry seeking more ideas.
Membership Committee report:
No report.
Resource Committee / Communication Coordinator Report:
Killam said the fall newsletter will completed and mailed by the last week
of September. A PDF file of the newsletter will be e-mailed to the listserv
… to which he will begin adding as many new names as possible. He also
encouraged board members to post items to the Digital Ink blog whenever
possible
Old Business
None.
New Business
The board agreed to set aside $100 per quarter for an NIU student to be
paid to help build and administer the e-mail database. (Slonoff / Self /
unanimous)
Next board meeting: Thursday night, Oct. 25, at Carl's Fargo Restaurant in Sycamore. Details TBA.
Meeting adjourned at 11:10 a.m.
Minutes submitted by Jim Killam,
communications coordinator, 9-7-07.
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