The Ethics Committee has had a busy year. With the addition of Steve Raymer and Peter Southwick we now have an actual committee. Both Steve and Peter bring years of experience as exceptional photographers and as two of the best professors of photojournalism in the country today. The Ethics Committee is now a conversation instead of a monologue.
The Education Committee saw a change of leadership this year with Mark E. Johnson taking over the chair’s position. Johnson is the Senior Lecturer of Photojournalism at the University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication. Mike Borland, Scott McKiernan and Mindy Hutchinson continue to serve on the committee.
The Business Practices committee recently convened its first meeting, establishing a set of goals for the upcoming six months. These goals have two primary areas of focus: the Business Blitz and content related to the blog. As of January 1st, the committee is comprised of myself, Greg Smith, David Walter Banks, and Avi Gupta of U.S. News & World Report. We are currently seeking at least one more member, preferably one who brings an area of expertise to the table beyond that of working photographers. This could be an accountant, entrepreneur, marketing/sales person, etc.
To say it has been a busy year for the Advocacy Committee would be an understatement. NPPA has been involved in numerous access issues around the country on what seems like a daily basis. We have been able to travel and meet with many organizations and participate in a number of programs – raising NPPA’s visibility through personal contact, interviews, published articles and news stories where NPPA has been quoted or referenced.
The Advanced StoryTelling Workshop celebrated its 14th anniversary at our new home at Texas State University in San Marcos, TX. In addition to the workshop, our faculty interacted with over 500 students in nine different classrooms.
This year we continue to evolve from a team based workshop (reporter/photographer) to a solo- journalist based workshop. In the coming years the workshop will need to continue to adjust and evolve to accommodate the changes in the news industry.
In addition to participation in the NPPA board meetings in January and July, my activity was primarily centered around the efforts to find and engage a vendor for the web revitalization project.
As a member of the web committee, I played a central role in developing an RFP for the project and researching potential vendors who might be a good fit for the work. Before the July meeting, I submitted a list of more than a dozen agencies.
January 2011 I attended my first NPPA Board meeting in Durham. After being an NPPA member from 1964 (with a brief time off in 1975) this was certainly eye-opening.
I was asked to recruit a director for Region Four. Jim Bye, from Western Kentucky University, accepted the challenge and later agreed to be the Regional Rep. All at my urging.
I also encouraged Region Five director Phil Greer to take up the torch and lead his region. He's been active in pushing the SIU photojournalism students with their student chapter.
Convene at 9 a.m.
call to order
Roll call – Secretary Denise McGill – Roll call of Board of Directors and certification of the presence of a quorumBoard Introductions
