April board meeting minutes

Posted on May 16, 2012
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April 9, 2012, board meeting minutes

Attendance: Sarah Mills Bacha, Eric Lyttle, Phil Rudell, Barbara James, Julanne Hohbach, Sharon West, Tom Borgerding, Chuck Nelson, Beth Gianforocaro, Andrew Welsh-Huggins, Kevin Kemper, Karen Kassler

Call to order: 12:07 p.m.

Minutes approval: Barbara James made a motion to approve March’s meeting minutes; Eric Lyttle seconded the motion, vote passed on voice.

Financial: Phil Rudell reported that, as of the end of the year, the index fund was up $2,700.

Membership: Eric Lyttle noted there was nothing to report.

Programming:

A)   Ethics: The board decided to hold an ethics and pizza event at Planks on Parsons with Dan Trevas, chair of the Ohio State Bar Association’s Media Law Committee in two weeks. No attendance fee.

B)   Founders: Beth reported she is making progress on Founders and that WBNS anchors will put together a list of funny moments from Andrea Cambern’s career. Board went into executive session at 12:30. Board left executive session at 12:35. Chuck made a motion that the attendance fee for Founder’s be $35 for members and $40 for non-members. Eric seconded. Motion passed on voice vote.

Old Business:

A) SPJ High School Essay Contest: The winner for Ohio is Scott Remer of Beachwood High School. The board will award him $150.

B) Scholarships: The board decided to vote over email to award this year’s scholarships.

C) Regional Conference: Julanne reported that the chapter has received a waiver from attendance this year, since no board members can attend.

D) Board vacancies: Jennifer Monnin and Kevin Kemper will re-up. Nicole Kraft is coming onto the board. The board discussed two other open board positions and decided to vote over email.

E) Appreciation: Julanne made a motion that the board award Appreciation Awards to Sharon West, who is leaving the board. Chuck Nelson second. Motion passed.

F) Brick Wall: The board could not come to a decision and decided to vote over email.

G) Distinguished Service: Chuck Nelson made a motion that the board vote to award Distinguished Service Awards to Sarah Mills Bacha and Julanne Hohbach. Barbara James seconded. Motion passed by voice vote.

H) First Amendment Award: Board could not come to a decision and decided to vote over email.

Board Adjourned.

E-mail Votes

April 10 – Julanne Hohbach makes made a motion that the chapter vote over email to fund an Ethics event at Planks on Parsons. Barbara James and Beth Gianforcaro agreed. Julanne made a motion to have the chapter cover the cost of the event, approximately $300. Dan Cat seconded. Motion passed with 11 votes.

April 11 – Kevin Kemper made a motion that the chapter vote over email to award Dan Gearino this year’s First Amendment Award for his coverage of the AEP and PUCO rate change decision. Phil Ruddel and Julanne Hohbach agreed. Phil made a motion to give the award to Gearino and Eric Lyttle seconded. Motion passed.

April 27 – Julanne Hohbach made a motion the chapter vote over email to bring Doug Haddix onto the board. Barbara James and Chuck Nelson agreed. Chuck Nelson made a formal motion to appoint Doug, which was seconded by Eric Lyttle. Motion passed.

May 1 – Chuck Nelson made a motion the chapter vote over email to bring Liz Lane onto the board. Julanne Hohbach and Beth Gianforcaro agreed. Eric Lyttle moved that the board appoint Liz Lane to an open board seat. Chuck Nelson seconded. Motion passed.

May 1 – Chuck Nelson made a motion the chapter vote over email to appoint the last two officer spots on the board, Vice President of Programming and Vice President of Membership. Julanne Hohbach and Beth Gianforcaro agreed. Phil Rudell nominated Beth Gianforcaro to be Vice President of Programming and Nicole Kraft to be Vice President of Membership. Julanne seconded. Motion passed.

May 4 – Julanne Hohbach proposed we vote online to award the Jacob A. Meckstroth scholarship to Alexis Preskar. Eric Lyttle and Dan Caterinicchia agreed. Julanne made a formal motion to award $2,000 to Alexis, which was seconded by Dan Caterinicchia. Motion passed.

May 8 – Julanne Hohbach proposed the board vote online to award the Dohn and Faulkner awards. Chuck Nelson and Sarah Bacha agreed. Julanne made a motion to award the Sandhya Kambhampati for the Dohn award. Chuck seconded. Motion passed. Eric Lyttle made a motion to award the Faulkner to Ally Marotti of Ohio State. Julanne seconded. Motion passed.

Submitted by Kevin Kemper

Don’t miss this year’s Founders Day silent auction

Posted on May 15, 2012
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Don’t miss this year’s Founders Day silent auction. Some of the offerings including sports tickets, a whitewater rafting package and tickets for a Thurber House picnic, CATCO productions and the CAPA Summer Movie seires. Bring your checkbook and take home one of the great items. It’s fun and the proceeds help fund our scholarships.

Time is running out to register for Founders Day 2012 with featured speaker Andrea Cambern of WBNS-10TV.

The deadline for reservations is midnight, May 16.

Tickets are $35 for member; $40 for non-members.

Join your fellow journalists May 17 at the River Club Restaurant, 679 W. Spring St.

The evening starts at 6 p.m. with a cash bar and networking, followed by dinner and the program at 7 p.m.

Don’t miss this event!

Register for this event 2012spjfoundersday.eventbrite.com

2012 board of directors ballot

Posted on May 8, 2012
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This is extremely short notice, but we need your help to wrap up a bit of housekeeping before next week’s Founders Day event. We’re asking all chapter members in good standing to download the pdf ballot, print it, vote and return it by the end of the week in order to ratify the board’s new slate of directors.

The slate of directors for the three-year term ending in 2015 include:

Ballots will be tallied at Monday’s board meeting.

Ethics and pizza

Posted on April 30, 2012
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Dan Trevas, Chair, Media Law Committee, The Ohio State Bar AssociationThanks to Dan Trevas, chair of the Ohio State Bar Association’s Media Law Committee, for sharing his time, talent, opinions and insight at the chapter’s ethics program last week at Plank’s. The event covered a wide-ranging list of ethical issues facing journalists, bloggers and those using social media. The conversation among students and pros working in journalism was at times serious, funny and always fascinating. Thank you to all who attended.

High school essay winners announced

Posted on April 17, 2012
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A Beachwood High School student has been named winner of the chapter’s 2012 essay contest.

Scott Remer, a 12th grade student at Beachwood High School, Beachwood, Ohio, will receive the chapter’s $150 prize and will be honored at its Founders Day banquet on May 17 at the River Club (Registration).

Runners-up were: second place, Victoria Slater, a 12th grade student at Upper Arlington High School; and third place, Amy Wu, a 10th grade student at Orange High School in Pepper Pike. They will receive certificates in recognition of their accomplishment.

The students were participating in the first phase of a national essay competition conducted by the Society of Professional Journalists and the Sigma Delta Chi Foundation. They wrote on the topic: “Why is it important that we have news media that is independent of the government?”

Prizes in the national competition are a $1,000 scholarship for the first-place winner, a $500 prize for the second-place winner and a $300 scholarship for the third-place winner.

The national SPJ winners will be announced in May.

March board meeting minutes

Posted on April 17, 2012
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March 12, 2012, board meeting minutes

Attendance: Julanne Hohbach, Barbara James, Eric Lyttle, Kevin Kemper, Sarah Mills Bacha, Chuck Nelson, Phil Ruddell, Tom Borgerding, Beth Gianforcaro, Dan Caterinicchia

Call to order: 12:07 p.m.

Minutes approval: Barbara James made a motion to approve February’s meeting minutes. Eric Lyttle seconded the month; vote passes on voice.

Financial: Treasurer Phil Rudell presented the chapter’s current finances. There has been little change since February’s meeting. Phil noted he planned to deposit a dues check from national. He will write a check for $507.01 to pay for the February Ethics event. Phil and the board also discussed the possibility of getting a debit card linked to the chapter’s checking account. His inclination is not to do it. No decision was made.

Membership: Julanne noted that national is asking chapters to hold a March membership drive, but the board agreed there was not enough time to put one together.

Programming:

A) Newsroom Training:
In February, the board discussed the topic for a newsroom training event. One suggestion included having it center on FOIA and pairing it with a membership happy hour. Over email, the board decided to make the training session about social media and is partnering with Debra Jasper of Mindset Digital to run the event. The event is tentatively scheduled for June 27.

B) Founders Day: Andrea Cambern from WNBS is confirmed as the featured speaker. Several locations were discussed. Over email, the board decided on the River Club as a location and the date is set for May 17. Beth asked that everyone gather two to three items for the annual silent auction (proceeds go towards local scholarhip funds).

Old Business:

A) SPJ 2012 High School Essay Contest:
Barbara reported that she has received 22 entries for the high-school essay contest. Chuck Nelson and Eric Lyttle volunteered to judge. The winner of the local contest will receive from Central Ohio SPJ $150, a certificate and an invitation to Founders Day.

B) The Marty’s: Julanne reported that she has received 56 entries and that the process was well under way.

C) Local Scholarships: Julanne reported that entries are coming in slowly. She hopes the board can vote on winners in April.

D) Ted Scripps Leadership Conference: Chuck Nelson made a motion that the board submit Eric Lyttle as the chapter’s representative to the conference, as well as approve his expenses. Barbara James seconded and the motion passed on voice.

E) Chicago Headline Club Judging: Beth, Barb and Jennifer volunteered to judge entries.

New Business:

A) Board Member Replacement: Several board member candidates were discussed to replace Jennifer, Barb, Sarah and Meredith Heagney. Further discussion would take place over email.

B) Officer suggestions:
The following people volunteered to be officer for the 2012-2013 year:

C) National Conference: Eric cannot attend this year’s conference. Julanne said she would send an email seeking a volunteer.

Adjournment: Chuck mad a motion for adjournment and Kevin seconded. Motion passed by voice vote.

Social Media: Do Old Journalism Ethics Apply?

Posted on April 12, 2012
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Dan Trevas, chair of the Ohio State Bar Association’s media law committee, will lead a discussion on journalism ethics on April 26 at 5:30 p.m. at Plank’s Cafe and Pizzeria on Parsons Ave. Come for free pizza and stay for a lively discussion of topics such as:

The event is free, but please RSVP by April 25 at 2012spjethics.eventbrite.com.

WBNS-10TV anchor Andrea Cambern to be Founders Day keynote speaker

Posted on April 2, 2012
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Andrea CambernWBNS-10TV anchor Andrea Cambern will be the featured speaker at this year’s annual Founders Day event on May 17 at the River Club in Columbus.

Cambern, who has been with the station since 1991, is stepping down on May 23 to spend more time with her family. Her husband, Brett, is an executive director with JPMorgan Asset Management in California.

Well known to central Ohio audiences, Cambern has anchored 10TV’s 6 p.m. newscast with Jerry Revish since 2006. She has been honored with six Emmy awards, was named Female Anchor of the Year by the National Association of Television Journalists and has received honors from the Associated Press for her broadcast writing, spot news coverage and medical documentaries.

The chapter’s annual meeting also will feature the presentation of college scholarships, high school journalism awards and the group’s First Amendment, Brick Wall, Distinguished Service and Appreciation awards.

UPDATE: Tickets for the event are $35 for chapter members, $40 for non-members. Registration is limited, so sign up early. Go to 2012spjfoundersday.eventbrite.com for registration information.

Nominations sought for chapter’s annual awards

Posted on March 29, 2012
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Chapter members are once again being asked to submit nominations for the group’s annual awards. The board of directors will review the nominations and select winners in each category, with the awards handed out during May’s Founders Day event.

The First Amendment Award: This award recognizes significant contributions to the First Amendment rights of freedom of expression. Individuals and organizations both inside and outside of journalism are eligible.

Distinguished Service Award: This award is for a member of the chapter who demonstrates professional excellence and dedication to SPJ.

Appreciation Award: This award is presented to an individual or organization that has made a notable contribution to journalism in central Ohio.

Brick Wall Award: Started in 2001, this dubious distinction is presented to the individual or organization that, according to chapter members, did the most to block citizen access to public records and proceedings or otherwise violated the spirit of the First Amendment during the past year. Anyone is eligible, but special consideration will be given to public officials and tax-funded agencies that fail to follow the law.

Send your nominations and supporting information to Julanne Hohbach by April 9.

For prior award winners, see the listing on the chapter’s Web site.

Kraft appointed to chapter board of directors

Posted on March 22, 2012
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Nicole KraftNicole Kraft, a multimedia professor at Ohio State University, has been appointed to the chapter’s board of directors to replace departed director Meredith Heagney.

The board approved Kraft’s appointment Wednesday via an online vote. She will serve the remainder of Heagney’s term, which expires in 2013.

Kraft joined Ohio State full time in the Autumn 2010 quarter after serving six years as an adjunct professor of magazine writing.

She has worked for the United States Trotting Association as executive editor of Hoof Beats magazine and director of communications. She also was a newspaper editor and reporter in Philadelphia and the Napa Valley of California, and served as press secretary for Pennsylvania Congressman Jon D. Fox. She also worked in publicity for the Philadelphia 76ers basketball team and Domain Chandon Winery.

In addition to her classes, Kraft is an active freelance magazine writer, contributing to publications across North America, and speaks frequently before groups on feature writing, magazine publishing, social media tools and their use in personal branding.

She holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Temple University and a master’s degree in communication (with a focus on journalism) from Ohio State University.

Her website is www.nicolekraft.com and her blog is www.kraftofwriting.com.

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