June 1, 2015
SPJ/LA Board of Directors Meeting MinutesMonday, June 1, 2015, 7 p.m.Louise’s Trattoria, 10645 W. Pico Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90064 Bellman, Evans, Fleeman, Garriott, Hendrickson, Marcellino, Nonahal, Wald, Wax, Windsor, Zahniser.
MINUTES. Wald moved to approve the May 4 board minutes and Windsor seconded. Motion carried.
PRESIDENT’S REPORT.
SPJ grant – Nonahal reported that SPJ/LA has submitted a $500 grant application for the July 7 Mega Mixer. She thanked Fleeman for his help with the application. Officials with SPJ National say there are currently no deadline for grant submissions and no timetable for when the chapter will find out if we got one.
Upcoming event dates. Nonahal updated the board on the latest changes and additions to the year’s event calendar. They include: Sept. 24 FOI event; Oct. 15 event with Michael Fleeman on the process involved in writing/publishing a nonfiction book; a Nov. 10 diversity event; the Dec. 3 holiday party. The board also may have a June event with the writer Robert Scheer, which will be discussed later in the meeting.
Home for SPJ/LA. Nonahal and Marcellino updated the board on the search for downtown office space for SPJ/LA. Reporter Claudia Peschiutta from KNX Radio generously offered to share a portion her organization’s office on the 18th floor of the Criminal Courts building in the downtown Civic Center. Under that arrangement, SPJ/LA would have a file cabinet and some room to house some of its files.
Nonahal said that ideally, she hopes to be in the office one to two days a month and have office hours for visits from other journalists. Having office space would also allow SPJ/LA to obtain insurance, Nonahal said. Board members discussed how permanent the space will be. Marcellino noted that county officials always have the option of eliminating the press room entirely, if they want. That’s unlikely, she said, but they’re entitled to do so. Windsor moved to have the board accept the offer of shared office space. Wald seconded and the motion carried.
Excellence in Journalism. Nonahal said she is planning to attend the Excellence in Journalism Conference, Sept. 18 to 20, and would like to see other board members attend as well. She said she would be willing to split the amount of money provided for the event across multiple people if others are interested in going. Windsor, Garriott and Evans expressed interest in the conference, and a final vote on participation will be held at the July board meeting.
TREASURER’S REPORT.
Hendrickson updated the board on SPJ/LA’s finances. He provided some preliminary numbers but said bookkeeping has been complicated in the past few weeks by the receipts and expenses from two back-to-back fundraising events: the annual banquet in March and the Linda Deutsch roast in May. Because so much is in flux, Hendrickson said he will circulate an amended treasurer’s report in the coming days. The board deferred a decision on the report until next month.
STANDING COMMITTEES.
Awards – No report.
Banquet – No report.
Courts – No report.
Diversity – No report.
Ethics – No report.
FOI – No report.
Generation J – No report.
Membership – No report.
Nominations – No report.
Scholarships – No report.
OLD BUSINESS
Linda Deutsch roast– Board members praised Wax for her success in organizing and staging the roast for retired AP correspondent Linda Deutsch. Wax, in turn, thanked the board for sending flowers. Wax said Deutsch was very happy with the event, the Elvis was a big hit, and ultimately 163 made RSVPs. On the day of the event, the banquet served 139.
Wax said the roasters were, for the most part, spot on and the audio cost a little bit more than expected. Two of SPJ/LA’s recent scholarship winners were able to attend. On the whole, it seemed like guests felt they got their money’s worth, Wax said. Zahniser noted that one of the roast’s guests told him that it was the type of event that the late Rick Orlov, veteran reporter with the LA Daily News, would have enjoyed.
May SPJ mixer. Nonahal said attendance dropped at the May “Booze and Board Games” mixer. She encouraged board members to attend Wednesday’s mixer, set for June 3 at the Redwood in downtown L.A.
NEW BUSINESS.
“Booze and Board Games” mixer. See above – June 3 at the Redwood.
Robert Scheer event. Bellman reported that the author Robert Scheer has a new book out on the topic of government surveillance and data collection — a timely topic thanks to the debate in Congress. Bellman laid out some alternatives for having SPJ/LA sponsor or co-sponsor a Scheer book event. One option, Bellman said, is to have SPJ/LA participate in a signing event for Scheer at Book Soup on June 10. That would require a quick turnaround, he said.
Wax said she did not have a problem with helping with an event that is nine days out. The board authorized Bellman to explore the Book Soup event but also reach out to Skylight Books for a possible Scheer signing. Bellman said he would provide an update the following day.
Mega Mixer – Saxton said SPJ/LA has booked Molly Malone’s on Fairax for the July 7 mega mixer. Evans and Saxton said they are reaching out to other journalism groups to make it a success.
The board discussed an authorization of $500 for the event while indicating the chapter doesn’t necessarily have to spend it all if other groups agree to chip in. Zahniser moved to authorize the funds, Hendrickson seconded. The motion carried.
NEXT BOARD MEETING. July 6 at Louise’s, 7 p.m.
ADJOURNMENT. Bellman moved to adjourn, Windsor seconded. The motion carried.