Online Voting Open For Region 4 Candidates

 

DURHAM, NC (December 1, 2006) – These are the candidates for Director and Associate Director in Region 4’s online election, which takes place during the entire month of December. The candidates have provided their own statements and biographies (below) for voter consideration.

Balloting for Regional elections takes place through the member’s only area of the NPPA Web site. Voting for Region 4 officers may be done at any time starting December 1 and going through the end of the month. Region 4 election results will be announced early in January.

Region 4 members who log in to the NPPA Web site may vote online here.

Eligible voters who want to request a paper ballot may do so by calling the NPPA national office at +1.919.383.7246, extension 14.

In this round of voting, Region 4 members will vote online to elect a director (who serves on the NPPA’s board of directors) and an associate director (who acts as regional membership officer and as a stand-in for a board member who is unable to attend the annual June meeting).

Here are the candidates:

Candidates for Region 4 Director

Denny Simmons

It's been nearly two years since I started this gig and now it's time to see if you and I want to give it another two years. The only promises I made when I asked for your votes last time were that I'd get a Region 4 Web site up and I'd try to answer folks' questions and deal with their concerns quickly. Well, the first part was accomplished after about 14 months. The second part was easier since it is rare I hear from any members about their concerns.

On the national level, the Board of Directors and Executive Committee have tried to get the NPPA back on solid financial footing by cutting as much waste from the budget as possible. We tried to keep from cutting so drastically that we'd be diluting members' benefits such as workshops, publications, or any of the many services our association provides. It's been a real challenge. As "W" says, (and I paraphrase) it's hard. It's really hard work.

Back in "The Day," the NPPA had many big sponsors who would throw money at us hand over fist. Many of those sponsors were dealing in film and photographic paper, so we know why they left. The other sponsors were more careful with their money after 9/11, so the NPPA wasn't getting nearly what it once had in the way of "free" money. It got to the point where we cut our regional budgets to nearly nothing. About 25-cents per member. Well, this year we decided to bump that up to $3.00 per member. Five years ago it was somewhere around $7.00 per member. We felt the regions needed to be able to fund some of their own projects for members.

So that's where we stand. I'm looking for your votes again, but more importantly I'm looking for members to get involved in the NPPA. I've gotta tell you the most frustrating part about this job is the seeming lack of interest in the region. We are an association. We are all part of this thing. We all have a say in how the money is spent and what direction we want to take photojournalism.

I suppose it's alright if you don't mind paying your dues every year so you can get the magazine and enter the many contests each month/quarter/year, but I know there's more to NPPA than those perks. But you've gotta get involved to reap the full benefits. Mentorships. Workshops. Portfolio critiques. Judging. The opportunities are there to share your expertise with the next generation of photojournalists. I've been a member since 1993 and have volunteered in different capacities for 10 of those years. Trust me, I wouldn't still be volunteering if it was a terrible experience. I've got to warn you up front ... if you do vote for me, you can bet you'll continue to hear my calls to volunteer. And, while I'm at it, give me a call at (812) 464-7457 if you'd like to volunteer today.

(Simmons is a staff photographer at The Courier & Press in Evansville, IN.)

Drew Cook

My primary goal as Region 4 director is to gather thoughts, suggestions, concerns and complaints from members and smack the EC in the head with them.

(Cook is with WAVE-TV in Louisville.)

 

 

Candidates for Region 4 Associate Director

Andrew Laker

My name is Andrew Laker and I’m a staff photographer at The Republic newspaper in Columbus, Indiana. A still photographer for seven years, I previously worked in video production in Los Angeles. I’ve recently found myself working with video again (like many still shooters) due to the rise in web-based news multimedia. In addition to being a journalist in Indiana - my home state – I’ve been a staff photographer for newspapers in Oklahoma and Wisconsin, and have worked as a freelancer for a period as well. These experiences have shown me a good deal about our profession across the country and have opened my eyes to what is great about photojournalism. It has also shown me the challenges we face in coming years as work-for-hire contracts continue to threaten not only the livelihoods of freelancers, but also staff positions. It is my wish to be given the opportunity to help still and video photographers in Region 4 succeed, and I hope to help this organization evolve as the needs of its members change. I ask for your vote.

(Laker is with The Republic in Columbus, IN.)

Rodney Curtis

The magic is still with me. In high school I saw it for the first time when I slipped a piece of blank white paper into the developer tray and somehow, through the miracles of chemistry and physics, an image popped up under the glow of a red safe light. Sure, the magic has changed. After a couple of decades I found it within pixels and megabytes as I sadly, slowly parcelled out my darkroom equipment to family, friends and eBay. And now I believe the magic is being transmutated into moving images and frame grabs and, shudder, AUDIO! But for each of these steps along our evolution in the field, I've looked forward to seeing how we could push the envelope and yet hold true to the moral and ethical guidelines of our past.

Region Four is a fantastic, multi-layered bastion of photojournalism in the NPPA. It always has been. I have worked for and with many of your organizations that call this four state region home. I would be honored and happy to serve as Associate Director but only if you, as members, write, call or email me with ideas, thoughts or suggestions. This latest magical phase that we're going through won't be the last, but it does call for a re-thinking about what we as journalists care about. I care about telling stories. How about you?

(Curtis is a features picture editor for the Detroit Free Press)

 

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