Press Club Year in Review 2015
Year in Review and A Look Ahead
By:
Niki McCuistion – President 2014-2015
Frank J. Librio, Jr. – President 2015-2016
Dear Press Club Members and Guests,
For those of you who attended our 2015 Annual Meeting on August 25 – thank you!
We’d like to see more members engaged and participate in club activities. We also know that we need to keep reminding and showing you through our activities and events that your membership is valuable and worth your time and financial commitment. We can tell you the board is committed to doing just that. If you were not engaged in club activities this past year, you missed a lot.
Under Niki’s leadership as President this past year, the Board of Directors and member volunteers produced some interesting and worthwhile events. Those events included a collaboration with the Video Association of Dallas for a special screening of the documentary “Killing the Messenger: The Deadly Cost of News”. Murder is the leading cause of work related deaths for journalists as censorship increases worldwide. In addition to those who have been killed, dozens have been attacked, kidnapped, or forced into exile in connection with their coverage of crime and corruption. After the screening, the producers of the film joined press club members via Skype to discuss the film.
In November, the Press Club partnered with Dallas Summer Musicals to produce a special event honoring Michael Jenkins as the 2014 Newsmaker of the Year. The Dallas Summer Musicals and the Press Club celebrated Mr. Jenkins international reputation as a theatre visionary, Dallas Summer Musicals producer, world-wide theme park developer, and Broadway impresario. Thank you to Pat Porter, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Gummer, Joanne Holt, Dallas Summer Musicals Staff, Liz Oliphant, Tony Pederson, Phyllis Hammond, and John “Doc” Strange for their assistance in producing that event.
The Press Club also partnered with the World Affairs Council to host the Chief Political Correspondent and Analyst of the Jerusalem Post. Gil Hoffman’s talk was titled: Peace, Politics and Plutonium: An Insider’s Look at the Mayhem in the Middle East.
The Press Club’s New Beginnings event was held in April at the Le Meridian | Stoneleigh Hotel – an event that unveiled the club’s new mission and website and the perfect time to present a $30,000.00 scholarship grant to the Press Club of Dallas Scholarship Foundation in the name of Michael Jenkins. The event was held in the Penthouse of the hotel, a long-time meeting place of the club. Mayor Mike Rawlings provided a special recognition to honor the club and the Stoneleigh Hotel.
Board members Cary Broussard and Hugh Aynesworth worked as co-chairs to produce the Excellence in Journalism – North Texas Legends Awards held at the Sixth Floor Museum. Thirteen esteemed journalists were recognized for their contributions to journalism over their long careers in North Texas.
The club also honored its long-standing tradition of granting scholarships to local college and university students. Niki was invited to sit on the 2015 scholarship selection committee at the Communities Foundation of Texas – the organization that administers the Press Club of Dallas Scholarship Foundation – separate from the Press Club of Dallas but the long-time beneficiary of the clubs work. The foundation recognized two local university students who were awarded the 2015 Press Club of Dallas Foundation Scholarships.
- Ricky Fumes (UNT – Commercial Arts)
- Clayton Youngman (TCU – Journalism)
Looking ahead to 2015-2016, the board is committed to continuing on that good work, to uphold the club’s mission and the pillars on which it operates – and to focus on efforts to keep the club relevant, financially stable, and retain and grow membership by providing interesting and engaging programs and events.
The board, at its meeting on September 1 interviewed three consultants to assist in the creation of a Strategic Plan and Implementation Plan to identify goals over the next 3-5 years and tactics on how to obtain them – in order to provide guidance for this board and subsequent boards. The board voted to work with Ann Ranson (www.annranson.com) to assist in those efforts. We will be sharing more information as the process progresses and there will be an opportunity for the full membership to provide feedback and participate in the process.
We look forward to seeing you soon at a special event we will announce later this week!
Until then,
Niki McCuistion, President 2014-2015
Frank J. Librio, Jr. President 2015-2016[/fusion_text]
