Society for News Design Spring 2012 Board Meeting
March 10, Cleveland
IN ATTENDANCE
Officers
Jonathon Berlin, President
Rob Schneider, Vice President
David Kordalski, Secretary/Treasurer
Stephen Komives, Executive Director
Steve Dorsey, Past President
Directors/Committee Leaders
Michael Tribble, Region 4 U.S.
Lee Steele, Training Director
Cristobal Edwards, International Director
Ryan Hildebrandt, 2013 Workshop Chair (non-voting)
Josh Crutchmer, 33rd Edition Coordinator (non-voting)
By Skype: T.K. Sajeev, Region 19 India
The meeting began at 10:13 a.m. CDT
President Jonathon Berlin called the meeting to order and the participants made introductions.
Executive Director Stephen Komives reviewed the minutes of the Fall 2011 Board Meeting in St. Louis. He noted that there were no formal motions made at that meeting, but lengthy brainstorming about membership options, the need to more aggressively market SND, and future workshop site locations and structures.
Rob Schneider moved to accept the motion. Cristobal Edwards seconded the motion.
Without a quorum at the meeting, the motion was tabled, pending formal approval by the board.
One new member of the board was formally introduced: Ryan Hildebrandt, site chair of the 2013 workshop in Louisville. Josh Crutchmer, 33rd edition coordinator, also attended.
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PRESIDENT’S REPORT
President Jonathon Berlin talked about the Society’s financial situation and the growing realization that “We’re looking at world where membership revenue is not the way to pay for what we do.” He said the secretary/treasurer’s report and the planned brainstorming session seek to address how to expand the reach of the Society without reliance on membership fees.
“It’s an evolution of what the Society is.”
Berlin paused the meeting to recognize a few individuals:
- Josh Crutchmer, for “going above and beyond the duties of an edition coordinator. January and February are reallooy busy, and it’s some of our best and most noticed work of the year. Everything related to the judging this year was very smooth and efficient.”
- Javier Errea, for being someone who always thinks big, especially with the planning of the 20th anniversary of the Malofiej infographics competition. “It promises to be a big production and spectacle.”
- Michael Tribble and David Kordalski, for “doing a great job setting table for the workshop.”
- Ryan Hildebrandt, for taking the lead on the SND Louisville 2013 Annual Workshop and Exhibition.”
- Larry Buchanan, for helping push the yearlong design conversation on snd.org, through interesting and newsworthy Q&As and other blog entries.
- Lily Lu, for her always-energetic work in China.
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VICE PRESIDENT’S REPORT
Rob Schneider focused his report on ways to improve snd.org. For the competition, he said SND needs to offer a richer multimedia experience with results on the site. As vice president of the SND Foundation, he said expressed concerns about the funding of the Society’s charitable arm, and said stronger efforts are needed to ensure SNDF secures sources of funding beyond Syracuse karaoke night and the workshop’s silent auction. He also stressed the need to explore a broader range of corporate membership options.
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SECRETARY/TREASURER’S REPORT
David Kordalski reported that, for the second year in a row, SND finished in the black. He noted that in 2012, both competitions did better than projected budget-wise. Thanks to careful money management, SND recently transferred money to its reserve fund for first time in at least five years.
But he raised a caveat – that SND has always been a membership-funded Society. “We all know the reasons why” this is more difficult than ever to sustain, he said.
Kordalski suggested reaching out to new markets, including TV & Radio, whose web sites and apps are being created in an environment where there is no support structure for design. To a degreem though, it still represents a membership focus, a “that’s what we’ve always done” type of thinking.
He suggested two other alternatives. One was cutting costs substantially at SND’s major-ticket events, the competition and the workshop. He outlined several ways Cleveland 2012 is doing just that, “while keeping the value to the members the same.”
In the competition, he suggested replacing the Call for Entries booklet, of which 12,000 are produced, with a postcard and coordinated push – through Mailchimp and Facebook – to an online download of the same material.
The other alternative approach he suggested involves seeking funding for SND’s administration and programming costs, with “very specifically targeted grants, by asking strategically, and by asking bigger.”
Michael Tribble made a motion to accept the reports of the President, Vice President and Secretary/Treasurer. Rob Schneider seconded the motion.
The motion was tabled, pending review and online vote by a quorum of the board.
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PAST PRESIDENT’S REPORT
Steve Dorsey’s report focused on two post-St. Louis workshop events in which he represented SND in late 2011. The World Design Summit – Cumbre Mundial – in Mexico City in October drew 350 attendees for single sessions over three days. Dorsey spoke of the import of this event, which had been held in Spain 6 times previously. Press coverage of the Cumbre Mundial was extensive, with the major speakers individually profiled in local papers, and the event coordinator, Willy Gomez Hill, engaging in numerous press interviews preceding the event.
Dorsey said “There’s potential for more there, for future workshops and SND involvement.”
The past president also spoke of the first-ever Middle East SND meetup, held at American University. Also a major success, this event went a long way in bridging cultural differences, both within countries in the Middle East, and between the region and the West.
Dorsey also noted the officers, since December have been investigating a visual plagiarism claim raised in regards to an award-winning entry from the 31st edition competition. He noted it is a complex situation featuring newspapers in Brazil and Italy, and an Italian graphics production agency. He said he expects to submit a final report and recommendation on this issue by the end of March.
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HEADQUARTERS REPORT
Stephen Komives began by thanking the local organizers, Michael Tribble and David Kordalski, for taking on responsibility of building the 2012 workshop, and Ryan Hildebrandt for assuming the task in 2013. Komives summarized the Society’s financial standing, which continues to improve, buoyed by strong competition and workshop performances in 2011.
He spoke of the training efforts he initiated and followed through on post-St. Louis, including SND-sponsored speaker tracks at the College Media Adviser’s group, the upcoming Columbia Scholastic Press Association and ACES conferences as well as smaller state events. He also gave a report on the SND quick course held in Hang Zhou, China, in October 2011 and discussed an upcoming effort in the works for Shanghai in June.
He said membership now stands at 916 and emphasized the need to move quickly on Kordalski’s recommendations.
Jonathon Berlin made a motion to accept the past president’s and headquarters reports. Rob Schneider seconded the motion.
The motion was tabled, pending review and online vote by a quorum of the board.
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REGIONS
Region 4 and Region 19 were the only regions represented.
Berlin reported that, in the wake of Lee Steele’s move to Training Director, Miranda Mulligan of the Boston Globe has expressed interest in the Region 1 board vacancy. He described her as “well-connected in the digital world, and Boston has been a great supporter of SND through the years.” Berlin said Mulligan has ideas for focusing the SND Web Boot Camps on “Design for Coders,” and hopes to develop the idea as part of SND’s franchise. There was no board report submitted from Region 1.
JB reviewed reports submitted from Region 2 and Region 3. Cristobal Edwards suggested a future West Coast workshop site, perhaps Seattle or San Francisco, saying there would be high international interest in those destinations.
Michael Tribble gave a report on Region 4. He said Rick Epps of the Detroit News had agreed to be Michigan state representative, joining Dave Dombrowski in Wisconsin, Dennis Varney in Kentucky, and that he was seeking Indiana and Illinois state reps. Tribble also spoke of an article he wrote for SND/Scandinavia magazine about work in the region and about the Cleveland workshop.
Edwards summarized the reports from Regions 11 and 12, Central and South America. He said four events were planned in South America for 2012 at which SND would play a role, and that longtime SND member Carmen Riera in Venezuela is seeking support from the Society for a conference she is planning for June. Komives said he would contact Riera to establish that line of support.
Berlin summarized the Region 13 SND/S report, noting the chapter’s major successes from the past year, and high number of cross-chapter (both SND and SND/S) members. He discussed the need for a “date talk” with the chapter, and other international chapters, to avoid schedule conflicts, “so we do not miss our good friends at the workshop.” He said it falls to us as central board to initiate that.
Berlin also talked about Region 16, and exploratory talks to site a future workshop in Frankfurt. Reports from Russia and France were also discussed.
Michael Tribble motioned to accept the reports from the regions. Lee Steele seconded the motion.
The motion was tabled, pending review and online vote by a quorum of the board.
Region 19 director T.K. Sajeev Kumar joined the board meeting from India, via Skype. He put forward suggestions to bring in more memberships. He laid out several proposals for new membership pricing and tiers, including quarterly membership payments.
He asked for support, though sharing of old annuals, more interaction and critiques via online channels, and a push for more cross-cultural training opportunities. He said SND India is still in its formative stages and he is trying to build awareness. Berlin said the board would take up the proposals.
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PROGRAM DIRECTORS REPORTS
COMPETITIONS
33rd edition coordinator Josh Crutchmer, attending as a non-voting representative, said the competition, judged in February at Syracuse University, drew more than 10,000 entries, and that he was personally pleased to see the awarding of a Best-In-Show award, the Society’s first in a decade. He said Melissa Angle of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution will be 34th edition coordinator, and Colin Smith of Gannett Design Studio in Arizona was named 35th edition coordinator.
Crutchmer said there are a few outstanding issues the Competition Committee will address over the summer, including refining the definitions of the medal standards and the wording of some category descriptions in the Call for Entries.
He said there are 475 names on the potential judges list, and hopes to grow it to beyond 500.
The conversation turned to scheduling. It was noted that the judging for the past few years has conflicted with the Super Bowl, which poses a problem for facilitators wishing to get the time to come to Syracuse. Dorsey asked if this could be addressed in future years. Crutchmer said the issue was being discussed by the Competition Committee. Crutchmer added that the issue of combining the two judging weekends – the general competition and world’s best – has been a topic in the committee. The board talked about potential cost savings and coverage benefits from holding the two simultaneously.
Dorsey asked to have the record reflect his request of competition chair Marshall Matlock for information about the Competition Committee – who serves on it, when meetings are held, how members can join. He asked Josh to collect this information and post it on snd.org.
Berlin said the book cover competition going on, with submissions being received through March 21. He said the digital competition was wrapping up, and that he and Schneider had attended the judging at Ball State and came away with several process improvements in mind. Berlin said he would be making a motion to create Digital Design Competition Committee, and to name coordinator each year. He also wanted an official thank you to Ball State University reflected in the record.
INTERNATIONAL
Edwards said he is supporting efforts by Lily in China, TK Sanjeev in India and Douglas Okasaki in the Middle East. He discussed board restructuring efforts that had been spearheaded by past International Director Hans-Peter Janisch, but said this conversation would have to go back to square one in some ways. He said the previously mentioned talk about schedule coordination was significant, that as a Society it’s important we showcase our year-round efforts and global status. He cited the need to engage, in particular, the Spanish and Scandinavian chapters in this effort.
He reiterated Kordalski’s call to reach out to TV and other forms of non-print, visuals intensive media outlets.
Berlin thanked Edwards for reaching out to international members, and said the leadership of SND wants to be sensitive and supportive of efforts in farflung places, and to follow through to give them what they need to succeed.
TRAINING
Lee Steele talked about his goals of reviving the Graphics Garage model (in which training is marketed to and opened up to the general public), and making it an SND entity.
He said he hopes to have a quick course in each U.S. region this year.
Berlin spoke of the need to have regular events to gain traction in key cities, such as Washington and New York and Chicago.
He also said there was a need to build and post a training calendar around the events SND has already committed, including SXSW, AAN in Detroit in June, and others.
Komives said there was a need to clearly market SND at these events and Dorsey said a good script and slideshow had already been prepared for AAN the previous year.
PUBLICATIONS
Neither publication chair was present. Berlin said confusion is widespread among members about the magazine publication schedule. He said magazine content should be made iPad friendly, and that there was a strong need for a web content editor, and that potential candidates would be brainstormed in the afternoon.
WORKSHOPS
Michael Tribble formally welcomed attendees to Cleveland. He said he had had discussions with St. Louis workshop chair Will Sullivan about lessons learned from last year, particularly in regards to social media use to promote the workshop and sponsorship possibilities. He said 12 of the 28-32 session slots had been filled and that a video track was in the works for Friday. Various logistical issues of the workshop were discussed, including the special Thursday sessions, the Foundation aspect and technical needs including wifi, translation and A/V, and the replacing of the traditional closing banquet with a gala party to be held in a downtown theatre.
He discussed an video project he called “My Favorite Page” an open conversation about that will build a tree of influences, to be presented at the workshop.
Dorsey mentioned the passing of design pioneer Lou Silverstein in December, and suggested a memorial tribute should be planned.
Ryan Hildebrandt, site chair for the 2013 Louisville, said he is in preliminary stages of identifying sites for seminars and special events. He said he has the support of all the Gannett design studios and sees the workshop as a joint project.
Lee Steele made a motion to accept the program reports. Michael Tribble seconded the motion.
The motion was tabled, pending review and online vote by a quorum of the board.
BRAINSTORMING
The last part of the meeting was spent brainstorming on ways to improve SND’s high-interest events and items – the competitions, the book, publications, training, workshops, office and administrative issues, membership the workshops and memberships.
Specific suggestions were compiled, and several programs were identified for which new funding sources can be pursued. Suggestions were divided into short-term and long-term initiatives, and Berlin then collected the suggestions with the aim of distilling them into action items for the board.
Tribble spoke of board member responsibilities, including expected service to the organization and, at a basic level, attendance at board meetings. Komives expressed disappointment that more non-attending board members did not avail themselves of the opportunity to attend virtually.
Tribble said that as a member of the official leadership group of the organization, it was a disservice to members to not attend.
At 5:28 p.m. Rob Schneider made a motion to adjourn the meeting.
Michael Tribble seconded the motion.
The motion was tabled, pending review and online vote by a quorum of the board.