NPPA Board Adopts $1.5M Budget, Elects New Officers, Does Not Change Name
LOUISVILLE, KY (May 29, 2008) – During the final day of their annual two-day business meeting at Convergence '08, NPPA's board of directors today approved and adopted a $1.5 million budget, elected new national officers, and did not pass a resolution to change the organization's name. They did, however, take the first step in assessing whether a re-branding of NPPA – an organization founded in 1946 – is in order.
At the end of the board meeting today, Region 6 director Bob Carey from Gardner-Webb University in Boiling Springs, NC, was elected as NPPA's new president, and NPPA's national secretary Sean D. Elliot of The Day in New London, CT, was elected vice president.
Freelance photojournalist Denise McGill, who also teaches at the University of South Carolina, was elected secretary, and Region 3 director Tom Costello of the Asbury Park Press in New Jersey was elected as the executive committee board representative. The new national officers were sworn in at the end of the board meeting at the conclusion of all other business.
The election of president was a vote between Carey and John B. (Jack) Zibluk, and the election of vice president was a vote between Zibluk, Elliot, and Merry Murray.
The most widely discussed resolution proposed this year was a "re-branding" of NPPA, which included a possible change in the organization's name.
Board member and NPPA treasurer Jim Sulley, who proposed Resolution IV, did so because the demographics of NPPA's membership has changed as the technology and evolution of photojournalism changed with the move into the digital era, and because some believe that the words "press photographers" in the group's name discourages some people who should be members of NPPA from joining because it's perceived as a group solely for photographers.
Sulley told the board the spirit of his proposal was not just about changing the group's name, but about making the organization one that all visual journalists (editors, Web, video, designers, producers, etc.) would be compelled to participate in and join.
"This is about branding," NPPA executive director Jim Straight told the board. "It's not just about the name. It's about the image you present to the consumer. Our brand is our image. Maybe changing the name isn't the answer, but finding out what our image is – the image we project – is worth the initiative."
Straight asked, "Is the pool of prospective members, and our current members, more diverse than our name reflects?"
After lengthy discussion, and reviewing some proprietary information presented by Straight that was the result of his preliminary investigation of the topic with some outside firms, the board decided that the issue is important enough that the organization should take the next step.
Resolution IV was amended and passed by a vote of 9-6 so that it directs the executive director to engage a consultant to find out whether re-branding is necessary by doing an assessment and determining, after that, if any next steps are necessary. The resolution states that the cost of a professional assessment of potential re-branding is not to exceed $10,000.
Thursday morning as the meeting started, the board heard a report from the new Student Chapter Representative, Mark Malijan, prior to voting on a resolution that was proposed by Region 11 director Russ Kendall that called for increasing the annual stipend to NPPA Student Chapters from $100 a year up to $400 a year.
After discussion, the resolution was amended to read that Student Chapters in good standing, with a minimum of five (5) NPPA members, shall be awarded a stipend of $100 plus $20 per member up to a cap of $400 per chapter annually, upon receipt of a satisfactory annual report by the National Student Chapter chairperson. The funds will be distributed by the chair. After a reading of the amendment and discussion, the amended resolution was passed.
Merry Murray, the Best Of Photojournalism contest Television Contest chair, gave a report to the board on the annual BOP's DVD of winning TV entries. In the past the DVD has been distributed only to NPPA members who identified themselves as "television" members when they joined. After last year's December issue of News Photographer, which carried the DVD bundled with the magazine, many NPPA members who are not "television" members called for distribution of the DVD to all NPPA members.
Murray suggested to the board that NPPA should create a 3 DVD set of the winning BOP TV entries that would be bundled annually with the December BOP issue of News Photographer magazine. Because of the additional cost it would entail, the board decided to wait until later in the day to see how they would adjust the annual budget before making a determination about whether to fund the distribution of 10,000 discs instead of 2,000, and the possibility of corporate sponsorship to underwrite the increased cost. In the end, the proposal to make the DVD into a 3-DVD set was referred to the executive committee for action in the hopes that a corporate sponsor for the effort can be secured.
Before the lunch break Region 6 director Carey gave a report on what the Web Site committee is recommending for additional development and improvement of the site, including possible partners for links to NPPA-created editorial content in Blogs, readers, discussion boards, site design, RSS feeds, and developing an online "community." The committee is made up of Carey, Seth Gitner, Will Sullivan, and Damon Kiesow.
From NPPA's Advocacy Committee, Alicia Wagner Calzada and NPPA's general legal counsel Mickey H. Osterreicher gave a report on the committee's advocacy efforts, representing photographers' interests and press freedoms, over the last year. In the last 12 months, NPPA's Advocacy Committee was involved with the NFL vest issue; MLB credential language concerning rights and use; the conflict between the Illinois High School Association and the Illinois Press Association over credential terms, tournament access, and photo sales; the National Park Service and Department of Interior's revisions to park rules regarding photography fees and permits, which included NPPA president Tony Overman testifying on Capitol Hill; the attempt to pass a Federal Shield Law; cameras in the courts; intellectual property rights; and media access to government.
Today the board also heard a report from Colin Mulvany on NPPA's new monthly Multimedia Contest. The board expressed their thanks to NPPA members Brian Immel and Joe Barrentine for the development, launch, and running of the contest, and the board's commitment to make the contest even better. The contest is for photojournalists who produce multimedia for the Web, and in addition to being a monthly contest another goal of the contest is to become a great learning tool for NPPA members.
And the board also voted unanimously to make the NPPA Multimedia Committee a permanent, standing committee.
Included in the budget the board adopted today is the authorization for the executive director to hire an event coordinator for about three-quarters of the coming fiscal year. The time period was based on executive director's belief that it will take until approximately September to find and hire someone for the position.
Resolution III, a proposal that board members be allowed to audit NPPA educational events in Regions outside of their own without paying registration, was voted down with a board consensus that every board member should be encouraged to seek out event chairs and ask for the opportunity to volunteer at programs.
The new members of NPPA's Judiciary Committee are Damon Kiesow, Pete Soby, and Kendall, with Kendall appointed as chair. The board meeting adjourned at 5:37 p.m. EDT.
NPPA's Convergence '08 begins Friday at the same location, the Downtown Marriott hotel in Louisville.
Read about the board's action during the first day of their meeting
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