WSPR Board Meeting
12/11/08
Conference Call
In attendance: Jon Schwartz, Karen
Holp, Paul Stankavich, John Hess and Tom Mara
I.
WSRP Conference-Location- 2009 WSPR Conference:
1.
It’s clear that the
board was favoring
Portland
by vote.
2.
In past years WSPR board has looked at moving the conference back
and forth between states in the Coast Region and the
Rocky
Mountain
region. And there has been strong
opinions expressed to keep the conference at regional hub airports.
3.
Consensus of the board is to look at
Portland
as a first choice.
4.
The board agreed to look at a webinar series as a cost effective
alternative to this year’s annual conference due to budget constraints that
WSPR stations are facing.
5.
If the board chooses to go forward with an annual conference, the
board would begin to look at conferences expenses and the overall WSPR budget
in later meetings this winter.
6.
Next steps: Talk to Steve Bass at OPB and if OPB agrees to host,
check on hotels downtown.
7.
Look at
Las Vegas
as a back up for
Portland
. Look at
Houston
for next year’s conference site.
II.
Conference Dates:
1.
Looking at 1st
week in November- 2009, Tuesday the 2nd, Wednesday the 3rd,
fly back home on the 4th.
2.
Pre-conference reception: Look to hold hospitality suite in hotel
instead of full blown reception the night before the conference.
III.
FY 2008 Conference budget:
1.
Reimbursement for
non-attendees: The board granted refunds to those members who requested them,
due to scheduling conflicts. It was
decided that going forward, there will be no refunds granted after a certain
cut-off date for future conferences.
IV.
Web Discussions:
1.
Vivian Schiller wants
to move forward on a “coalition of the willing” to collaborate on
a new NPR.org. Now is an
opportune time to move forward on this project. Chairman Stankavich has asked
if the Board would support paying the registration for
Jon Schwartz
to represent WSPR at the IMA conference.
He has asked for WSPR to pick up the cost (approximately $600) for his
attendance at IMA. After review of
the current WSPR budget, the board approved the expenditure. Jon Schwartz will
check with the IMA to try
and get a discount on our WSPR registration (Subsequent to the meeting
he was able to register at the member rate of $400).
V. Reactions
to NPR budget cuts:
- Is
there anything that we could say or do as a regional organization regarding
the recent cuts from NPR? Going
forward can NPR create a framework so local stations can plan for future
cuts? (Best case scenario vs.
worst cast) Stankavich will
contact NPR leadership to see if they can tell us more about NPR financial
future.
Respectfully
submitted: John Hess- Secretary, WSPR