Minutes
Western State Public Radio Board of Directors
Conference Call
April 1, 2008

In attendance: Jon Schwartz, Karen Holp, Paul Stankavich, John Hess and Beth Warren

1.. WSRP Conference-Hotel Update:
Points to cover:
    1. Need to sign contract within a week or so with the Alexis Hotel in Seattle.
    2. Room rate guarantees- Wednesday-Friday, 11/5-11/7/2008.
    3. Conference room rates at $169.00/$179.00 set three days before and after the conference.
    4. Cut-off date for changes to block of rooms with the hotel is 10/03/08
    5. The hotel will take all reservations for rooms.
    6. Hotel will direct bill WSPR for banquet fees.
    7. No-shows will be charged for first night’s stay plus tax (need to inform all participants)

2. Conference Break-out sessions:
    1. Howard Wollner, former Senior VP Starbucks and his wife Barbara, member of the NPR Foundation, may be available as speaker for the conference.
    2. Sally Perkins, planning consultant, is interested in speaking at the conference on strategic planning.
    3. Wayne Roth from KUOW is contacting Luke Burbank regarding addressing the conference as a luncheon speaker.
    4. John Crigler has confirmed his participation in the conference.
    5. Beth Warren is working on several sessions they include; succession planning and new revenue.
    6. Karen Holp is working on a session regarding using the Meyers Briggs survey with your staff.
    7. John Hess has secured John Stark and Mike Riksen for a session on working with legislators in Washington, D.C.
    8. Jon Schwartz is working on a session with the NPR news division, looking at where NPR is going from the standpoint of news and a possible overview of the just concluded 2008 Presidential race.
    9. Paul Stankavich has invited Howard Stevenson, interim NPR Board Chair, and opportunity to address the conference and to provide an update on NPR’s CEO search. 
    10. Harris may again provide financial support to the WSPR conference. We have set aside a spot in the conference agenda for Harris to present an update on HD Radio or other technology developments they would like to discuss..

3. Conference budget, annual dues discussion:
    1. Conference budget; Karen Holp shared that this year’s conference budget will be approximately $26, 277. Conference cost cutting could be implemented in several areas. We might save about $5000 in overall costs for the conference.

4. WSPR FY 2009 budget review: Where do we want to set WSPR membership dues for 2009? Karen has prepared financial reports with recommendations. We need to ask the membership about how the board should proceed in regards to dues, conference fees, and other issues. The membership dues have remained the same at $300 per year for several years. For the coming year the dues will remain the same and dues will be on the agenda of the annual meeting – and a survey of membership will be conducted.  It was decided to set registration for this fall’s conference at $175 for members and $250 for non-members.

5. Localism comments to the FCC: 
    1. Do we pay the extra money to DL to file comments on behalf of the WSPR membership? The board agreed that DL should file the comments, but the board would put together the questionnaire regarding this issue to be sent out to the WSPR membership. John Hess and Jon Schwartz will be heading up this initiative.

6. Candidate Questionnaire:
    1. One survey has been returned from prospective candidates running for the NPR board of Directors. All questionnaires should be returned by 4/15/08. Karen is continuing to update the WSPR website regarding this and a number of other issues.

7. NPR A-Reps mtg. and CPB Leadership Conference:
    1. The board discussed their impressions of the recently concluded NPR A-Reps and CPB Leadership meetings held in the Washington D.C. area last month. 

The next meeting of WSPR board has not been set. Chairman Stankavich will send out an email to board members to coordinate schedules.

Respectfully submitted: John Hess- Secretary, WSPR