Chicago Headline Club Minutes
Noon Monday, Dec. 8, 2008
Bloomberg Offices
Attendance –
Attending in person – Dawn Reiss, Deborah Cohen, Kristen McQueary, Laura Putre, Susan Stevens, Tim Inklebarger, Beth Konrad, Steve Walsh, Kathy Catrambone
On the phone: Howard Dubin, Jane Hirt, Suzanne McBride
Minutes of the last meeting were approved.
Lisagor Update – Dawn, Kathy, Beth
Entry forms: Kathy C. says the forms are out on paper and up online on our Web site. A student designer produced the form for us for $100. We also have a poster to go with it to post in newsrooms. The student was paid $25 for the poster. The form includes all the new Lisagor categories and includes an insert that makes the entry process easier.
Awards Dinner: Dawn informs us that we’re promoting everything about the club on Facebook. She suggests that we call people one on one – each board member taking 20 or so names. We also really need to examine our e-blast and our membership list.
Member List: Kathy has found that our “bundled” list is really old and is working with Laura and other board members to cull and update it. Kathy is recommending a phone tree to help with the updating process.
Judging: Dawn is requesting that we have at least four out-of-state clubs engaged to do our awards judging, which would widen the pool from last year. New Jersey and Philadelphia have confirmed. Ft. Worth said they would take some of our applicants as well.
Sorting: Dawn is suggesting that the Tribune space might be too small. We are exploring some location in West Loop. Jane says she is looking at a larger room at the Tribune. And this year we will do sort on Saturday, Jan 31. We are considering two shifts running from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm.
Program: Kathy is going to try to get the program from the same student designer, but for a reduced price of $200. Dawn would like to reserve $100 for a student pianist for entertainment.
Broadcast attendance: Beth says she is going to make the rounds to the broadcast newsrooms to see if we can attract more broadcast media. She suggests going with a team of other CHC officers. We have a list.
Plaques:
Beth is going to organize an anteroom for the club to ready the plaques and smooth out the process from last year.
Gifts: After discussion, we agreed that coffee mugs make the best gift item.
Lifetime Achievement Awards (now incorporated into Lisagor event):
Beth informs us that Bernie Judge, retired editor of the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin, will once again chair our committee, which he has agreed to assemble. He’s not opposed to going with just a single honoree or a two at this point. Bernie and Beth will meet together in January to assemble the committee. Tim is going to “gently” publicize it on the Web site.
Program Committee report – Laura and Beth
Beth says that 80 people attended our “race and the presidency” program. She stresses the need for us to have a better working member list and suggest that we pull up a good current list from SPJ national to work from as a base.
She also suggests that we stay with the agreed-upon program lineup. We do not have a program in January. February is open. For March we have ethics. June is set to be a joint program with another organization.
Laura says she is working on the membership list and will try to enlist help from the board members for the updating, which will be an ongoing and time-consuming project. Laura still advocates working some kind of “how to pitch” program into the schedule.
Dawn reminds us that “burger nights” at the Billy Goat will be the first Thursday of every month – Jan. 1 (New Year’s Day) will be the exception.
Board Dates for 2009-
We’re going to try 8 and 9:30 in the morning on Mondays going forward.
The current dates have been slated: Jan. 12 at 8 a.m., Feb. 9 at 9:30 a.m., and March 9 at 8 a.m.
FOI Report – Sue Stevens
Sue tell us that Mike Anzaldi, the journalist who was arrested for crossing a police line, did get all his cameras back. He has surrendered the original videotape. Sue says it looks like police leaned on the state’s attorney’s office. He has used up the $2,000 that we provided to help with his legal aid. Sue wants to keep on this regardless of what the court outcome is. Tim has all fourteen pages of credentials rules to post on the CHC Web site.
Sue is also trying to get the fingerprinting requirements by the Chicago PD thrown out. She is looking for Obama PR contacts, including transition team and future White House team.
Respectfully submitted,
Deborah Cohen, Secretary