Board Re-Elects President, Passes Budget, Approves New Web Project

 

By Donald R. Winslow
© 2012 News Photographer magazine

DURHAM, NC (January 22, 2012) – The National Press Photographers Association's board of directors ended their two-day annual meeting Sunday by electing national officers, passing a $1.3 million annual budget, and approving an ongoing re-branding and Web site redesign project.

President Sean D. Elliot was re-elected president to his second one-year term, and vice president Michael Borland was re-elected to his post. And board member Michael P. King was elected national secretary, a two-year term. Earlier this year national secretary Denise McGill announced that she had no intention of running for re-election or other national offices. Treasurer Sarah Evans is mid-way through her two-year term; her post not part of the election process this year.

Because board member King has been elected to the national office of Secretary, his board seat will be filled by the candidate who received the next highest vote total in the most recent election. That candidate is long-time NPPA volunteer James Michalowski, who will now serve out the remainder of King's elected term.

NPPA's proposed $1.3 million budget was passed Sunday by a unanimous vote, and the board praised the Finance Committee, treasurer Evans, and executive director Mindy Hutchison for their cost-cutting and money-saving measures during the past fiscal year. In the executive director's report to the board, Hutchison detailed how a reduction in expenses over the last year boosted cash reserves to an improved level. The approved budget for the coming year is budgeted "to zero," so that NPPA is spending exactly as budgeted and spending all of its allocated funds without dipping into the organization's financial reserves.

"We may still have some work to do in convincing visual journalists that we have moved beyond print," NPPA president Elliot told the board during his annual report, "but the mission of the NPPA is not tied to the printed page. As the production and distribution of visual journalism evolves, the mission of the NPPA in advocating for the rights, educating, and raising the visual and ethical standards of visual journalists will remain all the more important."

The biggest issue facing the board during this year's meeting was NPPA's ongoing re-branding and Web site redesign project, which captured much of the board's discussion time and attention given the impact the project will have on the organization's future and its members. This effort started in the summer of 2011 when RFPs (requests for proposals) went out to several corporations, and in November members of NPPA's Web Site Committee – chaired by past president Bob Carey – narrowed it down to two finalists. The Executive Committee was informed of the two finalists, then the Web Site Committee met to do due diligence on the selected vendors. In the end, the committee unanimously recommended the Journey Group of Charlottesville, VA.

During the board meeting on Saturday, Journey's chief creative strategist – Ron Londen – presented their project research as well as some of their initial branding concepts. Londen is one of three NPPA board members who was appointed by the president in January 2010. The board gave reaction and feedback to several of the concepts during a GoToMeeting conference call with Journey's team back in Virginia, giving the communications firm a better idea of the expectations and concepts NPPA envisions for the project outcome.

To move forward with the Web project, it was necessary for the board to approve funding in the Finance Committee's proposed budget, and upon the board's acceptance of the Journey Group's proposal.

On Sunday, before the budget was examined and approved, Londen informed the board of his intention to resign from the panel so as to avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest. Londen said he wanted any decision by the board to be completely transparent to the organization's membership, and that he was concerned that some might question the board's decision to grant a contract to a firm where one of board members is a key employee.

NPPA executive director Hutchison told the board that having anticipated this question in advance, in the course of due diligence she had checked with NPPA's auditors. Hutchison reported that the auditors assured her that contracting with Londen's company was perfectly ethical "as long as there was no excess benefit transaction involved." Which means as long as the contract was within the range of market value and consistent with the value of a similar project in the open market, there was no conflict.

Board member Kennedy agreed with Hutchison, saying that he believed the project's "chain of events" had been "laid out clearly" and that he didn't perceive any conflict.

President Elliot, past president and Web committee chair Carey, and other board members assured Londen that they each believe the bidding and approval process had been carried out in a fully-visible and transparent manner, and that the board was satisfied that there was no conflict of interest. Despite their continued reassurance, however, Londen stated emphatically that he felt it was absolutely necessary that any appearance of conflict be avoided. To that end, he said, he was resigning his board appointment immediately, in advance of the board's vote on the budget.

"I'd just like to say that you are one stand-up guy," board member Smiley Pool told Londen. "We have been fortunate to have you in this room."

Londen's unexpected resignation leaves an opening on the board which will be filled when president Elliot selects a replacement director. There is no time-table on the replacement, it is not tied to the election cycle; an appointed board seat can remain vacant until the president decides to fill the post.

In addition to Londen the other two appointed board members are Thomas Kennedy and Melissa Lyttle. Appointed board members serve at the pleasure of NPPA's president for terms of an undetermined length.

NPPA's other board members are elected by the membership and serve for staggered three-year terms. When the new governance was implemented, two directors served one-year terms, two served two-year terms, and two served three-year terms until the cycle could be established. Now that the cycle is in place, elected directors will each serve three-year terms.

The board's make-up had already changed on Saturday, at the beginning of the meeting, when two newly-elected board members were sworn in – Mark Dolan and Todd Maisel.

The board considered and voted on several resolutions on Sunday. In a move that's a clear signal to visual journalism students of their importance to NPPA, the board passed a resolution to change their standing rules in order to give NPPA's Student Board Representative voting rights. The Student Rep is annually appointed to the board for a one-year term by the Student Chair, Bettina Hansen, and up until now the Student Rep had a board seat but no vote. On Sunday, the directors voted 11-3 to give the Student Rep a full vote on the board.

"Giving the Student Rep a voting seat on NPPA's board sends a clear message to the students that they matter," new board member Maisel said when speaking in favor of the resolution. "They are the future of the organization." The current Student Board Representative isMaddie McGarvey.

During a board session devoted to future possibilities, the directors moved to form an Educators' Network to bring visual journalism instructors into NPPA's educational efforts, and a Foreign Relations Committee to reach out to similar visual journalism organizations in Asia, Europe, and Africa.

In other resolutions considered, the directors passed a resolution to change the wording of the language in NPPA's Policy & Procedures to read that the nomination period for national officer elections be open for at least 30 days before the board meeting and elections, and that nominations for a board member can be made from board members, Life, or student members who have at least one year of membership in good standing, and that a minimum of 30 minutes be set in the board meeting's official agenda for discussion of candidates before the board votes. The resolution passed 13-2.

In a resolution proposed by board member King, the board voted to amend language in the Policy & Procedures in order to make it easier for state photojournalism organizations to re-connect with NPPA and to support and encourage NPPA professional chapters.

The board also voted to allow Regional chairs to be able to elect an Associate Regional Chair Representative, and in another resolution they voted to re-affirm the board's ongoing commitment to supporting NPPA's various contests by taking a consistent approach to awards for each competition that we host.

In other board business, the panel heard annual reports from NPPA's Best Of Photojournalism contest committee chair Terry Eiler, of Ohio University's School of Visual Communication (VisCom), about this year's contest progress, and from Advocacy Committee member and NPPA general counsel Mickey H. Osterreicher. As of this weekend, contest entry numbers are up over the same time period last year, Eiler said. And the Advocacy Committee is making plans for how to help journalists who may face problems with police and protest groups on site at this summer's national political conventions in Charlotte, NC, and Tampa, FL, Osterreicher reported.

At the end of the board meeting Sunday, president Elliot honored McGill's years of service to NPPA in her various capacities as a volunteer and elected officer by presenting her with an NPPA Life Membership.

 

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