July 18, 2010 The Orchid Metuchen

Present: Ron Miskoff, Jane Primerano, Eli Holtzman, Sue Livio, Barbara Reed

1. The NJ PAC was not exorbitant in its fees and below what IRE and NJPA get. The $20 price was low. The half-walls separated guests, and the speaker had to talk from a difficult space, with a large pillar between her and some of the guests. Paying $10 to park was seen as high, and we need to email attendees.
   Of less expensive places to park near the PAC.
   The Board decided to go with the PAC for next year, assuming fees remain the same, relatively.
   
2. Discussion occurred about the content itself. We’re a grass roots organization, and the entries reflect that. We are charging a reasonable fee, and nationally we were the lowest in pricing for entries. Multi-entries could drop to $17 or 18, some said, but that was countered by the fear of a flood of entries, which is never fair.
   Also, the entries are self-selected. We cannot claim the contest is clearly the best of NJ journalism. Possible collapsing of categories: the layout awards, those in photography, editorial and opinion writing—one category rather than weekly and daily. We may also want to combine the series category with investigative.
   The Awbrey Award category necessitates some action on the part of the winner; it is given for more than writing the story. Ron Miskoff will write new copy for the brochure for next year explaining that.
   *We were down in broadcast awards. Nothing came from My9 News, for example. Radio was undersubscribed. Sue Livio indicated that we need to contact the NJ Broadcasters, Gannett, various news directors, asking to encourage their submission on behalf of their staffs. Robert Bugai has been asked to send letters, as he has done in the past. Sue also pointed out the enormous amount of work the contest entails. She will be helped this coming year by Eli Holtzman, Jane Primerano, and Barbara Reed. Others may also be asked to help. The contest is the ONLY chapter fundraiser.
   *We need to make a list of news entities without any entries to the contest. Rutgers Magazine and Media General are two we should contact.
   *We agreed that a new category, tried for the first time this year, multimedia reporting, be promoted more.
   The O’Brien Award must be judged by out-of-state folks every year, Ron Miskoff pointed out. It is awarded jointly with FOG. We paid for the crystal plaque this year, so FOG will pay for it next year.
3. We talked about a program idea featuring local online news. Those that are flourishing should be invited to speak on a panel. Patch, possibly owned by aol, and John Ward of Redbankgreen would be invited.
4. Ron Miskoff gave a report from the Anniversary Event. He recommended the venue, The Crown Plaza in Edison (used to be Clarion on Rt. 1). It would be a buffet, on a weekday evening. A fuller report will appear online to the Board. We set the date as September 14.
5. The treasurer, Jane Primerano, gave a report. While all expenses are not yet in, we took in $10,805, spent about $4,000 on expenses and plaques. We also got $4,463 from the Deadline Club for our participation in the regional conference.
6. Ron has agreed to speak with the person Seth Mandel had located at Rowan. She wants to start another student SPJ chapter.

Our next meeting will be at The Orchid, on Sunday, August 23^rd.

Respectfully submitted,
Barbara Reed and Jane Primerano

Present: Fran, Eli, David and Barbara. However, we had additional conversation/input from Ron Miskoff and Sue Livio via cell phone

1. The Awards Luncheon: It was determined that the NJPAC was a good place to present the Awards.
   a) A complaint: insufficient dessert (fruit salad doesn’t cut it)
   b) Our speaker, Wendy Ruderman, was excellent, refreshing and not pompous.
   c) We need to build-in child prices: for instance, half-price for a child under 12.
   d) Parking prices of $10 seemed too high for some; others disagreed.
   If we use the NJPAC next year, we can scout out cheap-$5-places within walking distance.
   e) Food was plentiful, tasty.
   f) We need to get all prices nailed down, in writing, if we use them or any other place.
   g) FYI, in checking our bills, this year’s event was about $600 higher than last year’s but had about 20% more people in a nicer venue.
2. The Contest itself: Sue Livio did an outstanding job, again this year as Contest chair.
   Many of the big players, such as Gannett and the Star-Ledger, no longer support the contest and their journalists do not enter, so if our Contest is to reflect the best of NJ journalism in the state, that creates a big hole.
   a) We might want to consider giving individuals a break for multiple entries;
   our prices are too high, perhaps. We need to lower fees for individuals, again perhaps. (Barbara will attempt to learn what other chapters charge.)
   b) We need to consider what would be a better, more viable, and more credible contest.
   c) Issues to ponder about the Contest also:
   1) How can we be sure our contest entries are returned on time?
   2) Questions about the brochure occurred—not valid, more irksome.
   3) Judges’ errors about name of entry and reporter(s) create a problem at the end, when timing is critical. We need to automate our system somehow in this area.
   4) We need to find a way to close the gap between when entries come in and when they go out to the judges; it now takes about a month.
   5) We did not know how much the Contest brought in as Jane could not attend.
   6) Sue will deal with the last certificate, the final step in the Contest for this year.
3. The July Event:
   a) We learned from Ron that there is no pressure to have this event in July or August for that matter, because Guy is not leaving until October.
   b) While his leaving is not the be-all and end-all of the event, it is a relief to know we are able to take our time a little in planning it.
   c) Fran would like to try to find a church as a venue. She and Ron will continue to work on this project.
   d) I personally did not know any of this, and had I known, would not have called the meeting on such short notice. (We even came up with the dates of Sunday 25 or August 1.)

Our next meeting is for Sunday, July 18, 2010. Please put it on your calendar and try to be present. As you can see from the above, we need to make some important decisions then, about the above and other matters.

Warmly submitted,
Barbara Reed

April 28, 2010 The Orchid Metuchen

Present: Barbara Reed, acting president; Jane Primerano, Treasurer; Sue Livio; Dave Leavitt; Eli Holtzman; Frances Burns

1. President's report : Barbara Reed
   Conference call for previous meeting cost $78. If we do it again, Robert Bugai knows site for free calls. Jane says chapter made money on New York regional conference. Walter says there is no problem with access to e-mail list.
   PRSA (Public Relations Society of America and PRSSA) event at Rutgers University -- The faculty adviser to the student chapter told Robert not to display the SPJ chapter banner at the event. Ron to talk to chapter president. Eli makes motion that SPJ must get equal billing at any event chapter co-sponsors. Jane seconds the motion, which passes unanimously.
2. Jane on future regional conferences. The 2011 regional conference will be in Providence, and the 2012 at Stony Brook, sponsored by the Long Island chapter.
3. Ron and Seth have not yet talked to possible chapter adviser at Rowan.
4. The awards event is to be June 6 at the NJ PAC (now June 13). To be at 3 p.m. unless we find out that will make the food significantly more expensive. Decide on sandwich buffet menu for food. Fifty-first anniversary Guy sendoff to be in second half of July.
5. The next meeting is to be May 23, 5 p.m. at Orchid.

Frances Burns, chapter secretary

by conference call March 28

Present: Barbara Reed, Sue Livio, Ron Miskoff, Jane Primerano, Seth Mandel, Frances Burns

1. Regional Conference: New Jersey chapter put up $2,000. The Rutgers student chapter has $2,700 from university for conference, other expenses. Ron moves that pro chapter should contribute $700 to allow more students to attend. Passed unanimously.
   Upcoming student chapter events include the editor of the AP stylebook on April 20.
2. Rowan University student chapter. Seth has name of potential advisor.
3. Awards event: Barbara wants to invite Amanda Bennett of Bloomberg to speak. Motion to hold event at 3 p.m. passes.
   Robert to investigate venues.
4. Motion to distribute Walter’s list of names of contest entrants with contact information to Robert and others. Passes.

Barbara Reed, president