CHICAGO HEADLINE CLUB
Board of Directors meeting
Fri. Jan. 5, 2018
President Ben Meyerson called the meeting to order at 9:04 a.m. Also present: Brandis Friedman, Patrick Boylan, Flynn McRoberts, Alejandra Cancino, and by phone Rob Elder, Stan Zoller, Evan Moore, Mike Ewing, Kristen Schorsch, Suzanne McBride, Dann Gire, Richelle Rogers, Britt Julious, Howard Dubin and Susan S. Stevens.
December minutes were approved as submitted by Susan.
Ben said nine of 40 tickets have been sold for the job-hunt night Jan. 17. He urged board members to promote it. Presenters are good ones. DNAinfo’s ex-employees will be contacted and urged to attend. Event will be free for non-members unemployed since 2017. Five free memberships for unemployed will be raffled at the end of the evening. We’ll pay SPJ HQs the total of $375 national dues.
Treasurer: Patrick submitted the treasurer’s report and copies of the tax return he filed. Total assets on 1-1-18 were $83,843.69, He noted early Lisagor entries were above the last two or three years.
Programs: Alejandra thanked Dann for his help on Movie Night. 25 people attended.
FOI: Stan said we didn’t get a McCormick Foundation grant for this year’s FOIAFest. McCormick said they received too many requests. However, the Howard and Ursula Dubin Foundation is donating $10,000. Thank you Howard!
Ben finished a FOIAFest flyer, which should be in the mail by the middle of next week. Ben said though PR has not started , we can start letting people know they can buy tickets. Still locking down panelists for a total of 15 panels. Deadline Jan. 20 for panelist enlistments for the Feb. 24 event.
Richelle said her students will do a 1-day video shoot for about $1,500.
Lisagor: Ben said about 100 entries are in. The first deadline for regular pricing is one week from today. Staggered rates have helped get entries earlier. Some overpaid because of a problem with Eventbite. They will get refunds. Promote!
Board voted to re-hire Kathy Catrambone to run Lisagor for more or less the same contract as last year, which was $3,500. Ben said her knowledge is great but she needs help, especially the day of the event. He suggested hiring an event planner. Seating remains a problem. Suzanne and Brandis will research ways to do that better electronically.
Watchdog: Jason Martin has emailed various shops to promote the award.
Website: Mike added a newsletter signup to the site. Google Analytics is on the site now, showing most traffic goes to the Lisagor entry signups. High opening rate on emails, about 20 percent, which is good.
Scholarships: Dann has received four enquiries and sent application forms. He’s about ready to start a PR campaign. April 1 deadline.
Regional conference: Ben said a lot is happening. Former board member Sheila Solomon is our main emissary to the committee, doing a great job working with Regional Director Michele Day. Conference will be Fri. April 6 at Northwestern and Sat. April 7 at DePaul, each at their downtown campuses. Brandis is working on sponsorships.
Meeting adjourned at 10:15 a.m. Next meeting Fri. Feb. 2.
Respectfully submitted,
Susan S. Stevens, secretary