Society for News Design Board of Directors Meeting Minutes
Sunday, April 19, 2009, Orlando Sentinel
Officers/Staff
Gayle Grin
Matt Mansfield
Bonita Burton
Steve Dorsey
Elise Burroughs
Susan Santoro
Directors/Chairs/SNDF
Michael Bird
Chris Edwards
Bill Gaspard
Jeff Goertzen
Scott Griffin
Hans-Peter Janisch
Stephen Komives
Gustavo Lo Valvo
C. Marshall Matlock
Pai
Denise Reagan
Laura Ruel
Anders Tapola
Jon Wile
Don Wittekind
The meeting was called to order at 9:15 a.m. The minutes of the fall 2008 board meeting were approved and the officers gave their reports.
SND President Matt Mansfield outlined the proposal to move SND headquarters to the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, and the directors voiced their support of the move. Mansfield said he, Vice President Bonita Burton and Executive Director Elise Burroughs will make a site visit to the campus within a month. They will examine the proposed office space and meet with the journalism-school dean to clarify details. After that visit, they will make a recommendation and call for a formal board of directors vote via e-mail.
Steve Dorsey summarized his secretary-treasurer’s report. Without an increase in the number of members and additional revenue, SND faces a $50,000 cash deficit for the year. Dorsey said he will work to increase membership by 500 by the end of the year and seek a fund-raiser to secure sponsorships for SND Buenos Aires.
Bill Gaspard gave an oral report on the SND Foundation and its 2009 budget.
The program directors delivered their reports.
International Director Hans-Peter Janisch asked the board to approve a region change in response to a request from a newspaper in Kyrgistan. He proposed moving newspapers in six Asian countries where Russian is the dominant language from Region 19, Asia, to Region 17, Russia. The board approved the change. Janisch will
give headquarters a list of the countries affected.
Burroughs said she will send the text of the 2008 Call for Entries to Janisch so he can ask a translator to get a start on translating it into Russian. C. Marshall Matlock agreed to develop a proposal to add magazines to the Best of
Newspaper Design ™ Competition by July. Bonita Burton will send him a list of magazines. Burroughs will revive an earlier plan to fill out entry forms online.
Burton and Stephen Komives will recruit a group to test the online-entry process.
Matlock asked directors to solicit 10 names each for potential competition judges.
He also asked regional directors to encourage their members to enter the competition.
After a 10:15 break, the board reconvened at 10:27 a.m. for the rest of the Program Director reports.
Multimedia Quick Course Director Don Wittekind said he may schedule another New Media Quick Course in Chapel Hill later in 2009. The board approved a proposal by Publications Director Tyson Evans to reduce publication of Design magazine to two issues per year, and to shift $10,000 from that budget to the Web site. Evans will use the funds over the next five months to hire programmers for multimedia projects. The first two projects will be launching a digital member newsletter and upgrading the jobs site to generate revenue.
The group took a lunch break from 12:10 p.m. until 1:02 p.m.
The regional directors gave their reports. The board discussed and rejected a proposal from Region 20 Director Douglas Okasaki to set higher fees for nonmembers who enter the Best of Newspaper Design™ Creative Competition. Matlock agreed to add a payment option encouraging nonmember entrants to join SND on the Competition Tally & Payment form.
Mansfield announced the results of elections on Orlando for two director positions on the SND Executive Committee. Melissa Angle was elected to represent the Regional directors and Tyson Evans was elected to represent the Program directors. Mansfield also announced that Matt Erickson had resigned as director for Region 4. Regions 5, 6 and 11 also are vacant.
The directors resumed a discussion on a proposed new mission statement that had been discussed at the strategic planning meeting April 18. They approved the following:
The mission of the Society for News Design is to enhance excellence in visual journalism and communication around the world
The meeting adjourned at 1:53 p.m.