Minutes

of the Kansas City Press Club Board Meeting

June 19, 2007

The Kansas City Press Club Board met at 7 p.m. June 19, 2007, at the offices of Sun Publications, 4370 W. 109^th, Overland Park. Present were Jack “Miles” Ventimiglia, president; Bill Grady, vice president; Mary Rupert, secretary; Dick Nelson, treasurer; Donna McGuire, immediate past president; board members Steve Kaut and Debra DeCoster; and C.J. Janovy, contest chair.

Dick Nelson, past secretary, presented the minutes of the April meeting. After a motion by Nelson and a second by McGuire, the minutes were approved.

Programs: Ventimiglia presented six proposed programs for the coming year: the awards banquet in June ; “Probable Cause in Kansas,” an access topic, for August; “Clips Editors Want” in September; “Diversity: Immigration Issue” in October; “KPA/MPA Outlook” in December; and “Ethics: The Line Between News/Entertainment: in April.

Nelson proposed a tour of the Kansas City Star’s new printing plant, and Ventimiglia said it could be held in conjunction with one of the programs, perhaps with the access topic. McGuire said she would check on the availability of the facility.

Kaut proposed a change in the April program to “The Ethics of Blogging,” with local bloggers as guests.

The September and October programs were switched so that students would be able to attend the clips program.

Board members who will work on the programs include Ventimiglia, access; Nelson, clips; DeCoster and Janovy, diversity; McGuire, tour of the printing plant; and Kaut and Grady, ethics of bloggers.

Contest and Awards Program: Janovy reported that she has some volunteer help for the contest. The chapter still needs help finding other chapters to swap contest entries. Judges will need to send all winning entries back, not just first place entries. A guest speaker, Kevin Helliker, Chicago bureau chief for the Wall Street Journal and a Pulitzer Prize winner, has been lined up for the awards program. The Marriott has been reserved for the event. This past June’s program had an attendance of about 133.

The board discussed the question of weekly and daily writers competing against each other in the same category, and decided to have the contest committee discuss the topics, seek comments, and make a recommendation.

Membership: Bill Grady and Steve Kaut agreed to be membership chairs. The committee will send letters and dues information to area journalism schools; let schools know about the “clips” program; line up speakers for journalism schools; and send letters and dues information to area media outlets.

Records: Mary Rupert agreed to be the records chair. The records chair will attempt to gather information about scholarship recipients, Lifetime Achievement Award winners, Journalist of the Year Award winners, past board officers and members; contest winners; keynote banquet speakers and possibly past programs. The records may be compiled electronically.

National Conference: Ventimiglia discussed sending a representative to the SPJ National Conference Oct. 4-7 at the Hyatt Regency Washington. He asked board members to think about going.

Treasurer’s Report: Nelson reported a checking account balance of $9,834.31.

Old Business: Nelson said it would be good to wait a month for more information before discussing how much to give to the scholarship program.

New Business: The board set its next meeting for 10:30 a.m. Saturday, July 21, at Panera’s at I-435 and Metcalf.

Ventimiglia said he plans to ask another member to join the board.

The board discussed items for a basket to donate to the silent auction at the SPJ National Conference.

Nelson noted a thank-you for a donation in memory of Betty Fivecoat.

The board briefly discussed a name change from “Kansas City Press Club” to another name, such as “Kansas City Media Club” or “Kansas City Professional Journalists,” but took no action. The question may be discussed at a later date.

Nelson moved to adjourn, McGuire seconded the motion, and the meeting was adjourned.