The Board of Directors of NSNC met May 3, 2012 in Macon, Georgia, prior to the annual conference. Ed Grisamore said he is happy to have us in Macon and expects to have 50-60 people at each conference event. St. Petersburg FL was decided on at a previous board meeting as the site of the next conference. We originally choose St. Petersburg due to Poynter Journalism Institute being there and the opportunities to have input from that facility. The 2013 conference will be the third week of June. Dave Barry has accepted our invitation and will be our next Ernie Pyle Lifetime Achievement Award winner.
Luenna Kim went over the financial report and concluded that we currently have a healthy account. We have ample money for the conference due to generous sponsorship grants from several foundations and other organizations.
Rose Valenta gave literature to 300-400 people at the Erma Bombeck Conference,and would like to consider doing this for the other conferences. We will have to consider whether the number of new members is worth the expense. We need to find out more about what young people are looking for in a journalism organization in order to draw members from this segment.
The board discussed the possibility of NSNC seeking a 501c3 designation instead of the current 501c6. Generally, journalism organizations have a separate foundation for non-profit functions. We currently have the NSNC Education Foundation which is non-profit and a separate entity from NSNC.
Ben Pollock suggested the idea of having someone responsible for seeking grants as designated duty. It could be an at-large member of the board, not necessarily a consultant. We need to have continuing funding to carry us. We want to have enough to cover continuing operating expenses as well as the next conference.
Bob Haught likes using MS Publisher for the newsletter instead of Constant Contact. The product looks more like a newsletter and can be printed. We will continue to send out a link via Constant Contact as that is where our mailing list is kept. The newsletter is a membership benefit and contains items that do not appear on the website.
Sheila Moss is not running for WebEditor and is being replaced on the board by Ben Pollock, who will serve as Online Media Director. Sheila said that WordPress has worked out well without the problems of the old website. We have gone through a lot of changes in the past 6 years, but the site performs well and is professional. Ben will carry on with a smooth transition.
The general membership meeting will be held Sunday at 9 A.M. when additional business will be discussed and officers elected.
