January 8, 2014, San Mateo Daily Journal Offices

PRESENT: Peter Cleaveland, Darryl Compton, Laura Dudnick, Antonia Ehlers, Jon Mays, Kristy Blackburn. Absent: Melissa McRobbie, Dave Price, Ed Remitz, Marshall Wilson

WHAT’S WORKING? WHAT’S NOT WORKING?
Board members brainstormed about ways in which to improve the board’s effectiveness. It was a unanimous decision to meet every other month, instead of monthly. We also debated whether to meet at a restaurant or the Daily Journal offices. The decision was to stay with the Daily Journal offices, as restaurants can be a bit loud and distracting. We agreed to refresh our mission, if needed, and to possibly host a spring social at Chevy’s to attract more members.

FINALIZING THE CALL FOR ENTRIES: The board discussed the new deal this year – with a $40 membership, each contestant’s first entry is free. This will hopefully generate more members and more entries. We also might need to find a new partner in the future for this contest. Right now, RTNDA charges $3,000. Board members discussed sharing this fee with another club, such as Bakersfield.
Another financial decision approved by the board was to make second- and third-place plaques the same size this year, which will save several hundred dollars.

CHANGING THE BY-LAWS TO ALLOW THE PAST PRESIDENT TO VOTE: All were in favor of this amendment to the by-laws.

NEWSLETTER STATUS: Board members offered to assist Laura Dudnick with her duties, and we discussed sending shorter issues more frequently (every two to three weeks).

FINANCE AND MEMBERSHIP: Darryl provided an update on the state of the club’s finances. We are looking good, except we all agreed that we need to make an effort to gain more members. The decision to increase individual membership from $35 to $40 was a sound decision.

HIGH SCHOOL JOURNALISM CONTEST: The deadline for entries will be March 14, 2014. We are hoping for more entries from more schools.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:30 p.m.