October 2, 2017

SPJ/LA Board of Directors Meeting MinutesMonday Oct. 2, 20177 p.m.Louise’s Trattoria10645 W. Pico Blvd.Los Angeles, CA 90064 Present: Stephanie Bluestein, Sarah Favot, Elizabeth Marcellino, Frank Mottek, Alice Walton, Roberta Wax, Natalie Windsor Bluestein called the meeting to order at 7:14 p.m. I.               Approval of minutes from the Sept. 11 board meetingPostponed until November meetingII.             President’s report – BluesteinBluestein reported that on Fri., Oct. 20 the Chapter is partnering with the Junior League of Los Angeles to host the “Los Angeles Leaders in Media” luncheon honoring KTTV Fox 11 news anchor Christine Devine at the Junior Leagues’ headquarters. All SPJ-LA members are invited. We are going to issue a press release to our members to invite them to the luncheon. We are anticipating Windsor will represent the Chapter on Oct. 21 at the PR event "How Nonprofits Can Build Impact Through News, Advocacy and Digital Engagement” hosted by the Nonprofit Communications and Media Network.Bluestein also reported that Cocca said there is a glitch with our Chapter website and we are looking into it with Google.III.           Treasurer’s report – HendricksonPostponedIV.            Standing/Ad Hoc Committeesa.     Awards – StreiflerMarcellino reported the committee has received three awards nominations as of today, which is not surprising based on the number of submissions in past years at this time ahead of the deadline. She encouraged members to send emails to their colleagues to encourage them to send in a nomination. The deadline is Oct. 15. The committee will meet on Oct. 18 and recommend a slate at the November board meeting.b.     Banquet – WaltonWalton reported the banquet will be March 1 at the Omni Hotel in downtown Los Angeles. We are waiting to hear back from a national television journalist who we have asked to be our keynote speaker. Once that person is secured we will send out a “Save the Date” since we will have a date, place and keynote.c.      Courts – MarcellinoNo reportd.     Diversity – Arias/NonahalNo reporte.     Ethics – BellmanNo reportf.      FOI – ZahniserBluestein reported that Zahniser said he won’t be able to plan a FOI event in November.g.     Generation J – BluesteinBluestein reported about her programming idea to have Lunch with a Journalist. We need to decide if the Chapter will provide financial support to pay for the lunch. We will discuss it at the November meeting.h.     Membership – NonahalMarcellino reported SPJ National’s website was down for maintenance. She reported it looks like we’ve gotten handful of new members, but the quality of the membership data generated automatically by National continues to be problematic. Once we get confirmation of our new Chapter members, Marcellino will send out the names to members, so we can reach out to welcome them. The same applies for lapsed members so board members who know them can encourage them to renew. The easiest way for people who are national members to join the Chapter is to call national, which we don’t want to ask our members to do. Marcellino will reach out to Nonahal because she has experience with registering people who join SPJ when attending our events.i.       Nominations – FavotAudi, Mottek, Saxton, Wax and Cocca’s seats are up for re-election for three year terms. Irene Moore’s seat needs to be filled for the remaining two years of her term. Favot will reach out to members who are up for re-election to see if they will run again and will reach out to new people to see if they are interested in running for the board. She encouraged members to send her suggestions.j.       Regional Conference– Hendrickson and FavotBluestein reported that she checked with Mike Reilley from Google News Lab who gives seminars on Google Tools for News. He cannot do just a one-hour session on Saturday. He would need to do a three-hour workshop. We are thinking about having him on Friday afternoon. At the regional conference in San Diego last year he conducted a panel on Friday afternoon for the first 25 people who registered for the conference. Bluestein will find out from the hotel how much it will cost to host the additional session. We can also charge attendees an extra fee. Wax reported to the board the panel topics we are planning and our expected speakers.k.     Scholarships – AudiV.              Old Businessa.     Video editing workshop with Mike Fleeman on Oct. 7– BluesteinBluestein reported 16 people attended the event at CSUN. Five people weren’t members, so they paid the $10 fee. We’d like to plan another video editing workshop next year.b.     Nov. 15 game night mixerBluestein reported that Peschiutta said she hadn’t been organizing this event.VI.            New Businessa.     Directors & Officers InsuranceBluestein will send an email to summarize the quote that she received for board members to consider at the November meeting. The quote expires on Nov. 24.b.     Planning for holiday party in DecemberMottek reported we are planning for Dec. 7 at Shanghai Grill in Beverly Hills.VII.          Next board meeting: Monday, Nov. 6 at 7 p.m.VIII.          AdjournmentBluestein adjourned the meeting at 8:31 p.m. in memory of Anacleto Rapping, former LA Times photographer and teacher at the Brooks Institute of Photography, who died of cancer on Sept. 17.  He also had worked for the Thousand Oaks News-Chronicle. Respectfully submitted,Sarah Favot