Minutes of NINA Board of Directors Meeting
Dec. 7, 2007
Northern Star office, Campus Life Building, NIU, DeKalb
Members present (11): Greg Rivara (President), Sharon Boehlefeld (1st VP), Pete Nenni (2nd VP), Colin O'Donnell (past president), Dirk Johnson (executive secretary), Roger Ruthhart, Jim Killam (communications coordinator), Mike Cetera, Denise Renckens, Randy Swikle, Wally Haas.
Members absent (10): Rick Nagel, John Etheredge, Josh Albrecht, Jay Dickerson, Kim Kubiak, Penny Wiegert, Lonny Cain, Joe Corrado, Jim Slonoff (treasurer), Pam Lannom.
Guests present (4): Dr. Lois Self, NIU; Kristen Turner, Kane-DeKalb News Weeklies; Jason Schaumburg, Northwest NewsGroup; Dr. Steve Ralston, chair, NIU Department of Communication;
Rivara called the meeting to order at 10:05 a.m.
Minutes of the Oct. 25 board meeting were approved (Nenni motion / Cetera second).
Rivara then proposed the 2008 slate of NINA officers: President Sharon
Boehlefeld, 1st VP Pete Nenni, 2nd VP Kim Kubiak, Treasusre Jim Slonoff,
Past President Greg Rivara, Executive Secretary Dirk Johnson, Communications
Coordinator Jim Killam, At-Large Executive Committee Member Mike Cetera.
The new officers were approved unanimously (Hass / O'Donnell)
Rivara then turned the meeting over to incoming president Sharon Boehlefeld.
Treasurer's report:
No report (Slonoff absent)
Executive secretary's report:
Johnson said the department will be looking at why the number of contest
entries was down this year in some categories. He also said he is working
with NIU journalism students to secure internships, and encouraged editors
to contact him if they have openings (dejohnson@niu.edu).
President's report:
Boehlefeld announced the following meeting dates for 2008:
Jan. 18, March 21, June 20, Sept. 12, Oct. 23 and Dec. 5. In addition, the
spring conference will be April 25, and the fall conference will be Oct.
24.
She also announced tentative 2008 committee assignments:
Executive committee:
President - Sharon Boehlefeld
1st Vice President - Pete Nenni
2nd Vice President - Kim Kubiak
Past President - Greg Rivara
Treasurer - Jim Slonoff
At-Large Member: Mike Cetera
Executive Secretary - Dirk Johnson
Program Committee: Pete Nenni (chair), Rick Nagel, Denise Renckens, Colin O'Donnell, Mike Cetera, Josh Albrecht, Roger Ruthhart, Kristen Turner
Education Committee: Kim Kubiak (chair), Jay Dickerson, John Etheredge, Wally Haas, Randy Swikle, Jason Schaumburg
Membership Committee: Greg Rivara (chair), Joe Corrado, Lonny Cain, Jim Slonoff, Pam Lannom, Penny Wiegert
Resource Committee: Jim Killam, Dirk Johnson
Program Committee report:
No report
Education Committee report:
No report
Membership Committee report:
Rivara plans to spend time developing a survey of NINA members about the
organization's direction, training opportunities, etc.
Resource Committee / Communication Coordinator Report:
Killam said the deadline to submit copy for the winter newsletter is Dec.
18. Boehlefeld, Rivara and Johnson will write articles or columns.
Old Business
Nenni asked about an item from the October minutes, about increasing Killam's
yearly stipend (currently $600). The board agreed to defer this discussion
to the January meeting when Treasurer Jim Slonoff is present.
New Business
Ralston informed the board that Valerie Clawson is the new department secretary
who will be handling NINA matters as of January 2008.
Ralston also asked the board to consider adding a yet-to-be-determined NIU journalism faculty member as a board member, in order to strengthen ties between NINA and the faculty and students. The board, while generally receptive to the idea, decided to first undertake a review of NINA's constitution and bylaws - in particular, the number of board members and the procedure for adding them. Boehlefeld appointed an ad-hoc committee to do this at or before the Jan. 18 executive committee meeting. Appointees are: Rivara, Killam, Self, O'Donnell, Nenni and Ruthhart.
Nenni asked the board to review and add to a list of ideas suggested for 2008 workshops and conferences. Here is the list, including ideas added during the discussion:
1. Workshop for editors on the changing industry and changing demands in managing a staff and organizing a newsroom
2. Advertising and editorial: How to work together while preserving ethical standards.
3. Time management between print and online
4. Mobile journalism. How and why to do it
5. How to produce and manage databases for your Web site
6. Intro to Flash - maybe with a trainer from Adobe
7. Video shooting and editing for dummies
8. A "best ideas" forum where people talk about out-of-the-box ideas for new products that have worked and made money
9. Multimedia equipment show-and-tell. Products for all price ranges
10. New and innovative ideas for online election coverage
11. The Northern Star is hosting a symposium Saturday, Feb. 23. Keynoter is Markos Moulistas, founder of the "Daily Kos" blog and an NIU alum. Details coming soon.
12. Presentation by someone from the Readership Institute
13. Finding feature-story ideas
14. Making weekly newspapers more timely through online products
15. Sports journalism ethics
16. New media primer
17. How to develop rapport with sources
18. FOIA requests - what, when, who, how. Possibly to coincide with Sunshine Week, March 16-22. See www.sunshineweek.org
On Jan. 18, the education and programming committees will hold a joint meeting to discuss these ideas and plan a tentative workshop schedule.
Killam said the annual job fair for the Illinois College Press Association is scheduled for Friday, Feb. 22, in Chicago. Details and a sign-up sheet for employers can be found on the blog.
Ruthhart brought up the controversy between the Illinois Press Association
and the Illinois High School Association. The IHSA denied acess to photojournalists
from several newspapers to state football championship games. The board
approved a resolution, "authorizing the NINA president or her designee
to contact the Illinois Press Association to offer our support in the conflict
with the IHSA, and to seek their input on how we might be able to help them
resolve the matter."
The resolution was approved unanimously (Rivara / Swikle). Boehlefeld asked
Rivara to contact Dave Bennett at IPA.
Next board meeting: Friday, Jan. 18, 2008, at the Northern Star. Committees at 9 a.m., full board at 10.
Meeting adjourned at 11:50 a.m.
Minutes submitted by Jim Killam,
communications coordinator, 12-7-07.
Back to top