Sept. 8, 2015
SPJ/LA Board of Directors Meeting MinutesTuesday, Sept. 8, 2015Louise’s Trattoria10645 W. Pico Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90064Tami Abdollah, Joel Bellman, Stephanie Bluestein, , Christina Cocca, Khalil Garriott , Frank Mottek, Navid Nonahal, Julia Seifer, Natalie Windsor, Richard Saxton, Alice Walton, David Zahniser.
MINUTES – Bellman moves to approve the minutes, Windsor seconds. Bluestein abstains. Motion carries.
PRESIDENT’S REPORT
Nonahal turned the report over to Cocca, who announced she is leaving NBC 4 to go to Buzzfeed, where she will be homepage editor and breaking news reporter. The board offered congratulations. Nonahal also reported the office space at the Criminal Courts Building is coming along well and should be ready by the end of the week. She promised to send pictures once it’s ready. It’s at 210 W. Temple St., 18th floor. Checks for SPJ will continue to go to Hendrickson’s address.
Excellence in Journalism 2015: Nonahal reported board member Dan Evans had to drop out of the SPJ conference in Orlando, leaving her as the only delegate. The event, which runs from Sept. 18 to 20, remains open to other board members with an interest in going.Garriott said he is already plans to attend and can serve as a delegate. Nonahal promised to look into whether Garriott can be swapped out for Evans at the conference.
TREASURER’S REPORTHendrickson, who was unable to attend the meeting, distributed the treasurer’s report to board members via email.Nonahal reported the chapter’s checking account was $30,740.66 on Sept 1. The Morgan Stanley account is $69,261.65 and reported a loss of $46.86. Again, Nonahal pointed out that none of the Morgan Stanley money was used for this year’s scholarships.Bellman moved to accept the report. Windsor seconded. Motion carried.
STANDING COMMITTEESa. Awards. No report.b. Banquet. No reportc. Courts. No reportd. Diversity. No reporte. Ethics. No report.f. FOI.
Zahniser updated the board on the committee’s effort to assemble a Spreadsheet 101 workshop for journalists who feel they want to be more fluent in Excel and the use of spreadsheets in reporting. Ron Campbell, who works with the Center for Healthcare Reporting, volunteered for providing the workshop on either Oct. 3 or Oct. 31, but a venue still has not been found.Windsor said she was troubled by the idea of staging the event on Halloween, especially since Halloween falls on a Saturday this year, making things extra crazy. Zahniser said he thought that the time of the event — from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. — would not interfere with Halloween festivities. Bluestein shared Windsor’s concern and suggested pushing the event back to Nov. 7.Zahniser said he would try to accommodate the board’s request and report back next month.
Generation J.Bluestein said the Generation J conference at Cal State, Northridge is set for October 24. She said there may be 50 more people than last year, when 150 participated. Bluestein said SPJ/LA may be called upon to pitch in for refreshments.
Membership. No report.i. Nominations. No report.j. Scholarships. No report.Breaking from the agenda for a moment, Tami Abdollah arrived at the meeting to announce that she is moving to Washington, D.C. for her job with the Associated Press. She will be covering national security and terrorism. Abdollah reported this will be her last meeting and that she would miss the board. The board offered its congratulations.
OLD BUSINESS
NEW BUSINESS
Booze & Board Games mixer: Walton and Cocca said that they have been spreading the word on the latest mixer. Happy hour is extended at the Redwood until 8 p.m. for the event.
Oct. 15 event: Nonahal reported that the Oct. 15 event planned by board member Michael Fleeman has been changed. Instead of focusing on the topic of getting your work published in book form, Fleeman has set up an appearance from someone with the web site ATTN.com, who will discuss ways of getting the millennial audience.Fleeman has not yet found a venue for the event but is looking for it to be held somewhere in the Miracle Mile area, Nonahal said.
NEXT BOARD MEETING. Oct. 5 at Louise’s, 7 p.m.
ADJOURNMENT. Wald asked the board to adjourn in the memory of Gerry Ruben, who worked as an executive producer at KTLA for 33 years. Mottek described Ruben as a great guy, someone who worked with Hal Fishman and Stan Chambers and all the greats at the station. Services are set for Saturday, Sept. 12 in Granada Hills. Windsor moved to adjourn the meeting, Cocca seconded. Meeting was adjourned.