Hoffman Residence, Dallas. 75220
Thursday, January 23, 2020
Attending: Paul Wahlstrom, June Owens, Hugh Aynesworth, Zane Harrington, Barry Hoffman.
By phone: Keri Mitchell, Matt Thomas
Meeting Called to Order 4:14 pm
4:15 p.m. – Hugh Aynesworth moved to accept the minutes of the November 21, 2019 board meeting, June Owens Seconded. Approved unanimously.
4:16 p.m. – Financial Report discussed. Focus on retrieving any outstanding sponsorship monies owed to the club. Discussed creating a committee of members and board members to focus on Corporate Sponsorships for fundraising purposes and underwriting future events, scholarships etc. Barry Hoffman discussed a sponsorship lead he has and will follow up on immediately. In the coming weeks the board will draft an outline of current fundraising priorities, proposal template for corporate sponsorships and underwriting of awards events. Matt emphasized need to make contacts with corporate PR and corporate giving officers of potential sponsors.
4:25 p.m. – Financial Report approved unanimously.
4:27 p.m. – Discussion of what type of solicitation model would be the most effective based on historic review and recent solicitation outcomes. Keri Mitchell proposed asking past and potential sponsors for feedback on what are the most appealing benefits we could offer in return for their financial support so the Club will be more appealing to sponsors in the future.
4:40 p.m. – Discussion of partnering with Local Collaborative Journalism organizations like IRE. One of the goals of IRE is to formulate a business model for sustainability of local journalism in the Dallas area. Keri Mitchell discussed her involvement with the recently formed Dallas Free Press journalism collaborative.
4:55 p.m. – Paul Wahlstrom motioned to vote on participating with the Advocate Foundation. June Owens and Matt Thomas seconded. Vote passed unanimously
4:56 p.m. – Membership report presented by Zane Harrington. Discussion of ways to attract new members and increase current member participation in events and happy hours. Education and training discussed as possible avenues to improve membership and emphasize attracting more journalist to become members.
5:02 – Matt Thomas proposed raising awareness of the Clubs benefits with full time journalists. Proposed creating a sales pitch of the benefits of joining PCD including asking members to reach out to their friends and colleagues. Asking for feedback from current members on what they feel the benefits of joining PCD are for them professionally and personally.
5:10 p.m. – June Owens discussed future trainings and workshops. Barry Hoffman proposed public forums focusing on “What do you want to know about the Press.” Keri Mitchell discussed media literacy for citizens to better understand local journalism and how it can work to improve the lives of Residents of the North Texas area. Focus would be on the process from start to finish of a specific story, from sourcing to writing and editing to real world impact of the story. Barry brought up the need to get feedback on what the public likes and dislikes about the current state of the Press and correcting any misconceptions they may have by providing real world examples of the journalistic process.
5:25 p.m. – Student Press Conference discussed. Potential subjects and locations determined. Board will begin to solicit potential sponsors. June Owens suggested asking the schools that participate to suggest some future speakers they would like their students to interview
5:30 p.m. – Scholarship announcements with the goal of sending nomination solicitations to more schools in the area was agreed upon. Qualifications for the PCD Scholarship discussed. Internships discussed with late March early April as a beginning point.
5:45 p.m. – Communities Foundation of Texas discussed with a focus on journalism students receiving awards from the fund.
5:55 p.m. – Checking the availability of KERA for the Fed.20th board meeting.
5:57 p.m. – Meeting adjourned
