President Mike Ewing called the meeting to order around 9 a.m. Also present: Olivia Obineme, Howard Dubin, Gregory Karp, Amanda Vinicky, Molly McDonough Carson, Catherine Larkin, Veronica Harrison, Jillian Melero, Suzanne McBride, Taylor Moore, Mary Hall and Susan S. Stevens.
Minutes from the last meeting were approved as submitted by Susan.
President’s report: Mike noted that the SPJ conference last weekend rejected the one-person one-vote proposal. A tie meant the change failed. We voted for it. What did pass was a move for more transparency for bylaws changes and resolutions, requiring them to be submitted earlier. Next year’s conference, slated for Las Vegas, could be remote at a cost of about $20,000. Mike said a lot of the development sessions were student-focused. Project Veritas, a rightist group, was asked to close its information booth.
FOIA: Olivia said she is negotiating with GoogleLabs for space for FOIAFest. Other possibilities are Discover and Loyola University Chicago. She wants to finalize the site by the end of November. She is asking for funding from the McCormick Foundation and MuckRock. The Driehaus Foundation is already a major contributor.
The plan: a hybrid event with an estimated 150-200 people in-person. We are averaging 300-350 annually. This year, the plan is for two collaborative sessions and 12 breakout sessions.
BootCamp: Taylor said the plan is to give $500 stipends to 15 mentors and $200 to 15 fellows, a total of $10,500. She and Jessica Villagomez are reaching out to mentors now; applications for mentees will open in January.
Total cost of FOIAFest and BootCamp estimated at $30,000 to $50,000, Olivia said.
Treasurer’s report: Greg said CHC has $94,049 banked, with $90,226 available. CHC Foundation has a $66,013 balance, with $13,489 unrestricted.
The Media Meetup Oct. 20 cost $113, with us buying drinks for the first10 people who arrived. Mike said about 30 people attended.
Membership: Mike said Tulsi Kamath is finding herself too busy to be membership vice president. Would anyone else volunteer?
Lisagor: Cathy said the committee is finalizing categories. Contest entries will be accepted as of January.
New business: Mike asks for volunteers to join a committee to finalize a sponsorship policy that Alejandra Cancino has sought for years. He hopes to see it at our next meeting.
Next meeting: 9 a.m. Fri. Dec. 2.
Respectfully submitted,
Susan S. Stevens, secretary