Our first NPC Board of Governors meeting of 2016 reinforced my earlier belief that the newly elected officers will enhance the club’s leadership. VP/Programs David Silverberg introduced his goal to “build toward making NPC the center of intellectual life in Naples.” He suggested some ideas for special “newsmaker” events and an even closer mentoring relationship between NPC and FGCU journalism students. Ted Epstein, newly elected governor, stepped forward to say he would snap photos at all the events he attends. Soni Diamond, another governor, who had a conflict on board night, has verbally committed to working with David on programs. I can hardly wait to see what these newbies will add to the leadership of your club throughout this year and into the future.
Marisa Cleveland is hard at work to make sure all members’ contact information has been posted in our “members” section of the club naplespressclub.org. When we had some FGCU interns working with us in 2014, we started the process of adding 100-word bios plus a photo to each member entry. If you haven’t submitted your bio and photo, email it to Marisa right away at marisacleveland@yahoo.com.
To save money for the club, this year we plan NOT to print an annual directory but to put all the usual directory information on the website. We want it to serve as our primary place for member information. If you have forgotten the password to access the “members” section, any board member will be happy to whisper it in your ear. I can’t supply it here, as that would compromise the “members ONLY” aspect — privacy we want to protect.
Another money-saving action we request is for you to pay your $50 annual dues on the website. Printing and mailing dues notices gets expensive — and consumes many hours of time. You’ll find all you need at naplespressclub.org. Click on “annual dues.” PayPal or credit cards accepted. If we don’t have your dues payment by March 15, we will interpret that to mean you don’t want to remain a member. I’ll try not to sob in public.
While you’re on the website, you may notice that we’ve updated it. The home page should have information on the next luncheon. We’ve eliminated some old — really ancient — articles but retained profiles on some fascinating members. Big improvement!
We also discussed the Feb. 23 Edwin Black “Insider Breakfast” event. Look elsewhere in Scoop for details. Be a Press Club of Southwest Florida “Insider” and share an up-close-and-personal time with this award-winning New York Times journalist.
Also, look for a report on the fundraising effort Phil Beuth championed called “21 More,” to provide money for our current and future scholarship kids. Helping the next generation of journalists is one of the best things NPC does.
That’s it for this month. See you at our Feb. 15 luncheon. Reserve your space immediately at rsvp@naplespressclub.org.