Region One Director's Report - July 2004
from the NPPA Board meeting and annual convention:

The NPPA Board meeting continues and concludes Sat. July 9, 2004 at the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Florida. (Sean D. Elliot/photo)

Region One Director’s Report from the NPPA Board Meeting, July 8-10, 2004, Poynter Institute for Media Studies, St. Petersburg, FL.

Complete slideshow of meeting photos

While I traditionally write this report in strict chronological order I’m going to break with the past and cut right to the end. One of the last orders of business of the board is the election of national officers. Effective with my election as National Secretary, I am no longer a member of the board of directors and therefore no longer Region One Director. I leave you in the capable hands of Michelle McLoughlin as the new director for the region. Michelle will now be in the market for an associate director to complete the term she started. With that, back to the beginning.

The NPPA’s board of Directors, comprised of the directors and associate directors from the 11 regions, the chapters representative, the four members of the Executive Committee and the non-voting Student Delegate met July 8-10, 2004 at the Poynter Institute for Media Studies in St. Petersburg, Florida. Special thanks go to Kenny Irby and Al Tompkins of Poynter for so generously hosting the meeting and the awards events that followed on Saturday evening. With the cancellation of the Annual Convention and the awards banquet that are usually part of that event it was a boost to morale to be able to acknowledge the winners in both the Still and TV Best of Photojournalism competitions as well as the winners of many special honors in the Sprague Awards.

Region 5 Dirctor Ron Stover speaks as the NPPA Board meets Fri. July 9, 2004 at the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Florida. (Sean D. Elliot/photo)

The meeting convened at 7:05 p.m. on Thursday and after the routine seating of the board, roll call of recently deceased and other procedural matters, we set to the business at hand. The board faced a host of weighty issues and starting the meeting on Thurs. night would prove a good move, as we needed all the time we had to get the business done.

On the first night the board discussed and passed resolutions to designate funds donated to the NPPA Legal Defense Fund as restricted funds. Prior language in the bylaws was ambiguous. The board passed a series of amendments to the bylaws and standing rules as recommended by the association’s Parliamentarian to clean-up redundancies and overly restrictive language that reduced the board’s ability to govern. The proposed resolutions to the bylaws and standing rules are still viewable as a PDF on the NPPA web site if you want to read them and ask any questions.

http://www.nppa.org/news_and_events/news/2004/05/04_annual_resolutions.html

Region 1 AD Michelle McLoughlin, bottom, talks with ED Greg Garneau, top, and VP Bob Gould about budget issues as the NPPA Board meets Fri. July 9, 2004 at the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Florida. (Sean D. Elliot/photo)

The board heard from Advocacy Committee chair Alicia Wagner Calzada and then approved a bylaw amendment to make her committee a permanent standing committee of the NPPA. The Advocacy Committee’s biggest success of the year was lobbying the Miami (Florida) City Council to drop a plan to make it illegal for photojournalists covering riots and disturbances to wear gas masks and/or body armor. The committee also spoke out against the proposed ban on photography in the NYC subway and most recently filed a Friend of the Court brief asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review a false arrest case.

By the way, all of this news has been available on the web at: http://www.nppa.org/news_and_events/news as NPPA Publications Editor Don Winslow has worked with the NPPA’s webmaster to make the association’s web site a source for live news of the industry.

The board approved a new marketing slogan for the association; “Ethics – Education – Excellence” should start appearing on NPPA letterhead and other materials in short order. We heard reports from NPPA Chapters rep. Dennis Tennant and Student Delegate Denise Mangen. Mangen presented a resolution to change the dates of elections for the student delegate to reflect the academic calendar and start the nominating process in February instead of waiting until April. In the old schedule it was difficult to get a delegate elected before the school year was over. The amendment was tabled to give the board time to consider and then passed during Friday’s meeting. The board passed a resolution to lower international membership dues for overseas members not receiving their magazine via airmail. There was some concern that lowering any small group’s dues a year after increasing overall dues might be difficult to explain. Region 4 Director Scott Utterback, the resolution’s sponsor, explains that the change actually brings international dues back in line with the current dues structure, they were already disproportionately high. The hope is that by making the international dues more equitable that perhaps more photojournalists overseas might join the NPPA.

Hands are raised for votes as the NPPA Board meets Fri. July 9, 2004 at the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Florida. (Sean D. Elliot/photo)

The board went on to vote down a resolution requiring the Executive Director give twice-monthly reports to the board. The ED already reports monthly to the EC and those reports are shared with the board. It was agreed that requiring this level of reporting qualified as micro-managing the ED. A resolution to create the position of Treasurer on the Executive Committee was withdrawn because a similar resolution with greater detail was on the agenda for the next day. A resolution to change the granting of life memberships to a granting of half-price memberships was tabled. A resolution to create a means for the board to meet and vote electronically was sent to committee for further review and later consideration. This is an important issue to resolve. One of the problems that has plagued the association for years has been the inability for the board to meet and make decisions during the year between annual board meetings.

The board heard a report from Mentoring Program chair Ron Stover, who encouraged the association to make the program more visible. If you haven’t heard of the mentoring program go to the web site and see what you’ve been missing: http://www.nppa.org/professional_development/mentoring/

We recessed for the night shortly after 10 p.m.

The NPPA Board meets Fri. July 9, 2004 at the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Florida. (Sean D. Elliot/photo)

Friday morning started with a quick tour of the Poynter facilities with Ken Irby before we reconvened at 8:30 a.m. with the report from the Structural Committee. NPPA Past Presidents Tom Hardin, John Cornell and John Long presented the findings of their committee for about two hours. The committee was formed last year after Cornell was elected to serve the remainder of the term of past president Mike Sherer after Sherer resigned from the EC in protest over the decision to seek a $100,000 line of credit to use in case the association fell short in paying bills. The line was never used. The Structural Committee was created to take an in-depth look at a number of the governance and financial problems facing the NPPA and suggest solutions. The committee’s report is too long to even summarize here. The recommendations included the creation of a treasurer to improve financial oversight, the full funding of the reserve fund in the annual budget, a reduction in the size of the board, opening the nominations process for the EC, permanently ending the National Convention as an educational event until it can be reevaluated and reconstituted in a way that does not lose money every year. The committee also suggested changes in membership and re-districting of regions, by the end of the meeting the board had addressed several of the key suggestions. New committees were created to further consider other recommendations and make proposals to the board next year.

The next resolution considered by the board has a long history. For as long as I’ve been on the board there have been proposals to remove the position of Associate Director as a voting member of the board. The size of the board is frequently cited as a hindrance to efficient proceedings and the number of board members represents a considerable expense annually to fly everyone in and house them for the board meeting. While previous incarnations of the resolution have failed, the difficulties of the last year served to finally convince the board that this was the time. Reducing the size of the board was also one of the recommendations of the Structural Committee. It was agreed to wait until after the board meeting for the resolution to go into effect. The resolution passed by an 18-8 vote. The resolution was amended prior to the final vote to require that the associate director be the designated alternate to the board meeting should the director be unable to attend.

Region 9 director Ray Meints examines the proposed budget as the NPPA Board meets Fri. July 9, 2004 at the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Florida. (Sean D. Elliot/photo)

The next order of business was the resolution to create a Treasurer position on the EC. The NPPA had a treasurer for many years but the position was eliminated when the Executive Committee Board Rep. Position was created to keep the EC at an odd number. There was initial concern over adding a treasurer and making the EC an even numbered body, but NPPA’s parliamentarian Travis Barrick pointed out that the odd number was an artificial contrivance. A tie vote defeats a measure, so having an even number does not actually create a problem. The board debated the exact duties of the new position setting the term of office at four years, to be elected in odd numbered years.

The final order of business for the day was the presentation of the proposed budget by the Finance Committee. In years past the board has opted to adopt the budget as presented by the finance committee in one vote. Thanks to the many difficult lessons of the past year the board this year opted to reject the budget as a whole and instead go through the budget section by section (and line-by-line in some sections) to reach an agreement on the association’s financial plans for the year. This was primarily done because the budget as presented lacked a full funding of the Reserve Fund as mandated by the bylaws. As presented the reserve fund needed to be $72,000, but to do that the board had to find places to trim expenses. The first thing to go was the $44,000 to print the Best of Photojournalism book. $10,000 was left in the budget to allow printing of a special issue of News Photographer as was done last year. Nobody on the board was happy with this decision, but the budget is extremely tight and there was no place to get that amount any other way. In the end, the board still had to work line-by-line, cutting many proposed expenses to finally fund the Reserve Fund appropriately. The board finally voted to pass the budget at 12:27 a.m. Saturday. The motion to adjourn for the night passed unanimously.

The NPPA Board meets Fri. July 9, 2004 at the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Florida. (Sean D. Elliot/photo)

The new proposed code of ethics for the NPPA was the first order of business for Saturday. Committee chair John Long of the Hartford Courant, who also served on the Structural Committee, presented the code to the board and took questions. Ken Irby and Al Tompkins of Poynter, who consulted with the committee, were also present to answer questions. The new code is considerable more comprehensive that the old code, but it still does not address specifics. John is drafting a document he’s calling “Lines in the Sand” which will be a teaching document designed to address specific issues and be updated as technology or other events need to be addressed. Al and Kenny both spoke to the quality of the new code and specifically said this code could become the industry standard. The board voted unanimously to adopt the new code. I served on the committee that wrote the code along with John, J. Ross Baughman of the Washington Times, Jon Menell and frequent News Photographer ethics columnists Deni and Paul Elliott (no relation). Please let me know if you have any questions about the new code.

The board debated and approved new language for the bylaws regarding the reserve fund. A clause that would create separate bank accounts for regional reserve funds was narrowly defeated.

Best of (still) Photojournalism competition committee members Harry Walker, Joe Elbert, Kenny Irby and Clyde Mueller addressed the board. BOP continues to thrive two years after Missouri split with the NPPA over POYi. The competition took in over 30,000 entries. Sponsorships continue to cover the costs of running the contest but the book is not yet funded. All agreed that the book enhances the contest and finding a way to fund the book would be better for the NPPA and for BOP.

Region One Associate Director Michelle McLoughline, left, Region Three AD Jim Caiella, right, Region Two Director Jim Sulley and Business Practices Committee Chair Greg Smith, standing, look over budget numbers as the NPPA Board meets Fri. July 9, 2004 at the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Florida. (Sean D. Elliot/photo)

A resolution that would change the future status of Life Members of the organization failed. The “lost” dues to Life Members are around $40,000, but there is no guarantee that changing the status would bring in any concrete amount. The board decided that the cost savings of giving life memberships to past national officers as well as long-time retired members was not worth the negative message it would send to those members.

Business Practices Committee chair Greg Smith gave his report next. Greg took over from Region 2 director Jim Sulley in the middle of the year after Jim stepped down to spend more time on his new business as well as to have time for her regional and family responsibilities. Greg has been involved with many organizations, ASMP, EP and APA but has decided to put his energies into helping the NPPA address the issues around freelance photography because he believes the NPPA is in a good position to make a difference. Greg cited the new Independent Photographer Toolkit and Cost of Doing Business Calculator on nppa.org, a soon to be launched “Find a Photographer” database and his role helping the NPPA draft a statement on Work For Hire as some successes of the last year.

Region Two Director Jim Sulley speaks as the NPPA Board meets Thurs. July 8, 2004 at the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Florida. (Sean D. Elliot/photo)

After Greg’s presentation the board debated and voted on a change in the bylaws regarding labor relations. The subtle language change proposed by President Todd Stricker allows the NPPA to take stands on specific proposed contracts as they would apply to our membership while still requiring that the NPPA cannot get involved in a specific dispute between an individual photographer (or group of photographers) over the terms of a signed contract. The nuance may be lost on many, and for some it’s nowhere near enough, but this will move the NPPA into a position to be more active on freelance issues while still preserving the historical mission of the NPPA as an educational organization.

The board passed four more resolutions, one opening eligibility for any NPPA member to run for Executive Committee office in the future. Having removed the AD’s from the board, the pool of candidates for the EC would be rather thin if the offices of Secretary, Vice President and President could only be chosen from the members of the board. Another change to the NPPA’s Standing Rules was approved requiring all NPPA programs to budget for a 20% surplus instead of the tradition of merely breaking even. While the NPPA is a non-profit organization, that does not mean the NPPA cannot make money. In order to continue to grow and improve our programs we need to do better than breaking-even. There was some debate over whether or not 20% was too high an expectation, but the enforcement is up to the EC in any given year and a program continuing to succeed and make money, even if not exactly 20%, will get the benefit of the doubt. The board reached an agreement to bring the Northern Short Course into the status of a National Standing Committee for the next year while a special committee of board members works out a compromise that will allow the NSC to keep it’s regional leadership structure while also giving the NPPA better official financial oversight. A report at least as long as this one could go into the history of the NSC and why this is even an issue. Suffice it to say, the NSC has been a very successful program for many years, but recent financial struggles and leadership conflicts require that an official solution be reached at this time. Region 3 director Linda Epstein and Region 1

Region 9 Associate Director Eric Blumer addresses the board as the NPPA Board meets Thurs. July 8, 2004 at the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Florida. (Sean D. Elliot/photo)

director Michelle McLoughlin will serve with Region 5 director Ron Stover and Region 11 director Tony Overman on the committee that will report back to the board with a compromise solution. The board approved a change in the election dates for the Student Delegate to accommodate the academic calendar of most schools and named members to a series of new Structural Committees looking at Education, Governance, Finances and Membership.

The last set of resolutions to tackle were three offered by Mark Loundy, who many of you know from his column in News Photographer, Common Cents, about business issues. I’m not going to go into the details of the resolutions. They’ve been on the web for many months and many members have taken the time to e-mail or call me regarding them already. Alicia Wagner Calzada, chair of the Advocacy Committee and member of the Business Practices Committee offered an amendment to change some of the language of Mark’s resolutions. It has been clear from board discussions leading up to the meeting that the reactions to the proposals ranged from indifferent to outwardly hostile. Alicia’s amendments would soften the language, changing the wording to make advocacy a more prominent role of the NPPA in our mission statement, while not changing it to a “primary” role. The board actually voted in favor of Alicia’s amendment, but then voted down the resolution as amended. I was among only six board members to vote in favor of the amended language. Votes followed on additional resolutions to raise dues, hire a full-time advocate and create a standing Advocacy Committee, different from the current one that would deal exclusively with financial/business issues. Given that the board had just voted down the first resolution, which I believed was the impetus to pass the rest of the Loundy resolutions, I voted with the board against the remainder of the proposals. I have already personally e-mailed Mark to tell him that I believe in parts of his proposals and believe that the NPPA needs to find a way to be more active on these issues while still remaining a primarily educational organization that includes more than it excludes.

The NPPA Board meeting continues and concludes Sat. July 9, 2004 at the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Florida. (Sean D. Elliot/photo)

The last order of business was to elect new officers to the EC. Vice President Bob Gould was elected President, Alicia Wagner Calzada was elected Vice President, I was elected Secretary and Ron Stover was elected to be the board’s EC Representative. Outgoing Secretary T.C. Baker was elected to serve a one-year term as Treasurer, with a new Treasurer scheduled to be elected next year to a four-year term.

On a final personal note. It has been a pleasure for me to serve as your director these last few years. I appreciate all the support I’ve gotten, landside election win and all. I have to give special thanks to the volunteers who help make the region run; AD Michelle McLoughlin, Still Clips Chair Tim Cook, TV clips chair Joe Carroll, JIB chair Robert Eng and webmaster Robin Shotola. As I move now into my new role, I hope you will all give Michelle as much support as you’ve given me. For openers, she will need to appoint someone to finish her term as AD. If you have any interest in helping run the region and be Michelle’s chief operation officer, if you will, please contact her at: michelle@mlmimages.com

Respectfully submitted,

Sean D. Elliot
Former NPPA Region One Director
NPPA National Secretary