Minutes from July 12, 2020, CTSPJ board meeting

CT SPJ board meeting

Sunday, July 12, at 11 a.m., via Zoom

MINUTES

 1.         Call to order – Called to order at 11:02 a.m. by Viktoria Sundqvist

Present: Lindsay Boyle, Viktoria Sundqvist, Bruno Matarazzo, Mike Savino, Jordan Fenster, Ayah Galal, Jackie Stoughton, Aaron Johnson, Jodie Mozdzer Gil, Cindy Simoneau

2.         President’s report

-Viktoria runs through her priorities of increasing membership, putting on the regional conference and finding someone new to own the contest

-Bruno Matarazzo is awarded a plaque for his two years of service as president

3.         Treasurer’s report

-Bruno discusses the balances of the board’s accounts (checking, savings, scholarship) as well as the checks that were cashed since last meeting. Checking balance is up a bit because the board did not have its annual dinner as an expense.

4.         Committee assignments

·   Jordan: Dinner, ad-hoc website redesign, FOI

·   Bruno: Contest, membership, finance

·   Ayah: Communications, programming, dinner

·   Mike: FOI, contest, programming

·   Lindsay: Scholarship, ad-hoc website redesign, charter revision

·   Jackie: Communications, programming

·   Aaron: Programming, communications, contest

·   Vik: Membership, contest

-Notes: Treasurer Bruno is chair of the finance committee, Communications Vice President Mercy Quaye is chair of the communications committee and Programming Vice President Mike is chair of the programming committee.

5.         Conventions update

-The board discusses the national conference, which will be held virtually Sept. 12 and 13, and whether to allocate some money to help people cover registration costs as there will be no need for travel stipends.

-The regional conference is slated to happen virtually April 9 and 10 next year, with Roger Williams University serving as the hub of activity.

-Board agrees to watch the national convention closely and learn from the things people do and don’t like.

6.         Scholarship update

-Board discusses whether to hold a virtual event for the winners and what to do with the donations that came in on behalf of late local journalist Jack Kramer.

        -Board will offer a one-time $1,000 scholarship in his name in the spring.

7.         Contest update

-Board discusses what was spent for website fixes related to the contest and votes on the clerk’s pay for next year.

-Bruno makes a motion to set pay for the contest clerk at $2,200, to be paid out in two installments ($1,000, $1,200)

-Mike seconds the motion

-Motion passes unanimously

8.         Racism discussion follow-up – Aug. 20 virtual panel is still on and will feature Quinnipiac University’s Don Sawyer and Connecticut Mirror reporter Jacqueline Rabe Thomas as well as board members Mercy and Jordan

9.         Programming ideas for the year – Board discusses ideas; Mike agrees to ask the national organization whether there is a shared Zoom account CTSPJ can join

10.    Adjourn – Meeting adjourned at 12:02 p.m.