|
Board tackles tough issues for ’02 By David T. Thompson It’s been eight or nine years ago that a couple of Board members mentioned they never really got the chance to know other Board members. The Board meets only four times a year, usually for just a couple of hours and truly it doesn’t give the members a time to get to know those with whom they serve. So I suggested we change the meeting process and for the Fall meeting, we’d have a retreat. We’d go to someplace that allowed us to concentrate on KPA and KPS for two days, have a couple of meals together, all with the idea they would be able to spend more time with each other and more importantly, more time talking about KPA and KPS and what it should and could be. Shakertown provided the first two venues. Other retreats have been at Natural Bridge, Cumberland Falls, Lexington and the last two at one of the best kept secrets in Kentucky — Green Turtle Bay in Grand Rivers. That sits on Kentucky Lake and if a vote were taken the Board members would probably say it’s the best place we’ve been. Thursday afternoons at retreats are spent in committee meetings with about three hours of the staff presenting various topics and issues. In some cases it’s just to educate the board of what KPA and KPS is and does, and in other cases, more detailed discussions and things we’d like to do. On Friday mornings, the Board spends about three hours with more detailed discussions about programs for the coming year and reports from the committees. The 2001 Fall Board Retreat was held October 25-26 and set the tone for KPA 2002 and beyond. None of the decisions made by the Board came without a lot of discussion in committee meetings and then even more discussion by the full Board. Some were not easy to make at all and when a possible action affected newspapers, especially smaller newspapers, the board took that into consideration. 2002 KPA and KPS Budgets The Board approved the first drafts of the KPA and KPS budgets for 2002 and voted to freeze all staff salaries at the 2001 level for at least six months. The Board will look at staff salaries again in June, 2002, and decide then to either continue the wage freeze or give staff increases. Obviously, the economic conditions across the newspaper industry played into this decision. Some Board members noted that their companies had imposed salary freezes for at least portions of 2002 and that it was appropriate to do the same for the KPA/KPS staff. For the past couple of months, I have tried to prepare the staff for this possibility, hearing that financial constraints are forcing newspapers to lower normal raise increases or impose a freeze. This move did not come unexpectedly. Summer Conventions KPA is already under contract to have its 2002 Summer Convention in Gatlinburg, TN., but that probably will be the end of summer conventions for KPA. Many state press associations that have had traditionally had two conventions have made the move to one convention in recent years. The KPA Board did the same in 1993, voting to end summer conventions after 1994. But the blizzard of 1994 put that year’s Winter Convention program into the Summer Convention so the Board put off disbanding the summer convention. Although two conventions in Gatlinburg (1995 and 1998) attracted nearly 300 people, other summer conventions since the mid-1990s have seen less attendance. The 2001 Summer Convention in Northern Kentucky was one of the smaller summer convention crowds and the Board felt this will trend probably would continue. Dr. Tech Hotline Inaugurated in 1998 as a way to give smaller newspapers access to a computer technician to help solve problems, the Board looked at the decreasing use of the hotline and voted to discontinue this service as of January, 2002. The decision did not come without a lot of discussion about various ways to keep the hotline in operation. Tim Jones had operated the hotline for KPA since its inception and at the Board’s urging agreed to a renegotiate monthly fee 18 months ago to keep the hotline operating. The Board looked at offering the service through a “subscription,” meaning newspapers would have to pay for the privilege of using the hotline. After a motion on that was defeated, the Board voted to discontinue the service as of January, 2002. We will offer Tim Jones an opportunity to keep the hotline going by himself and allowing him to charge newspapers a fee but KPA will no longer fund the operation as a free member service. Better Newspaper Contest With the decision to discontinue the Summer Convention after 2002, that will mean one less contest for KPA. Presently, KPA has three contents — Fall Newspaper Contest, Better Newspaper Contest and the KPA Ad Contest. Awards for the Better Newspaper Contest have been presented during each Summer Convention. The Board set up a committee to look at categories in the Better Newspaper Contest -- traditionally categories recognizing layout and design — and seeing which categories could be incorporated into one of the other two contests. KPA District Alignments The Board voted to renumber some districts. The present numbering system stemmed from combing four districts into two and splitting one other district back in the mid-90s. That lead to two districts being labeled 15A and 15B while all others were strictly numeric. The Board altered the numbering to reflect the total of 14 districts. KPA/KPS Officers The Board voted to recommend Sharon Tuminski of the Winchester Sun as the 2002 KPA/KPS Vice President. That came as a recommendation of the Nominating Committee to the full Board. Her appointment as Vice President will be taken to the full membership at the Jan. 25 Business Meeting. The Board also voted to name David Thornberry, publisher of the Somerset Commonwealth-Journal, as KPA/KPS treasurer for 2002. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
