Soni Dimond, President
Hello to all from the Press Club of Southwest Florida Board of Governors! Kindly allow me to extend my sincere appreciation for our recent actions throughout February, the Month of Love. Perhaps I am just a romantic, but I have been feeling particularly fond of the NPC board.
Our Feb. 7 meeting was an indicator of how truly ambitious and kindhearted we are. We love all of our members and we continuously keep our eyes on membership growth. Therefore, we are pleased to report we approved two new membership applications, bringing our membership to 157. And we’re constantly growing.
Our generosity kicked into high gear in February, as the board decided to show our “good faith” to our current members. We decided not to charge a penalty for any dues received past the deadline of Jan. 31. This benevolent gesture has been well received by our membership, especially those who have meant well but have just missed our dues deadline.
Have you not yet paid your 2017 annual NPC dues? No worries, we will accept your payment without penalty. If you have not renewed by March 31, we will remove your name from our membership. We’ll be sad, but we’ll do it. We have two suggestions:
1. Pay online through PayPal: Just click here and go to bottom of page – or—
2. Pay by check, made payable to Press Club of Southwest Florida, mailed to:
Iris Shur
NPC Treasurer
1022 Spanish Moss Trail
Naples, FL 34108
It will help the club if you pay those dues soon, since we have a list of dynamic events on the horizon, and renewing your membership will ensure you’ll get the NPC MEMBER RATE for most events:
Reservation Deadlines are upon us!
On March 2, 11:30 a.m. -1:30 p.m., our monthly luncheon will feature David Goldstein, American Civil Liberties Union Collier County Chapter President. Mr. Goldstein will provide a perspective on the role of the ACLU, civil liberties and press freedom.
Deadlines for reservations are 9 p.m. Feb. 27 for Eventbritehttps://www.eventbrite.com/e/naples-press-club-march-2-luncheon-program-tickets-31972524682 and 9 a.m. Feb. 28 for our rsvp@naplespressclub.org reservations email.
On Wednesday, March 22, starting at 11 a.m., we encourage our members to support theHONOR THE FREE PRESS luncheon event, hosted by the Marines of Collier County. The honoree and speaker will be Jeffrey Fager, executive producer of 60 Minutes. That event will be held at the Naples Hilton, 5111 U.S. 41 North, Naples. All tickets are $45, and you may find more information and full details of this particular event, on this website: http://www.honorthefreepress.org/2017-event.html
There’s something for almost everyone in the weeks to come.
Our commitment to scholars continues to move forward. We have planned a panel discussion for FGCU journalism students on Tuesday, March 28 at FGCU. The theme is “Journalism/ Media Trends,” and Connie Kindsvater already has two panelists committed: Mr. Chris Cifatte (WINK News anchorman) and Ms. Cary Barbor (Gulfshore Business Editor and NPC Board member).
The Scholarship Committee (Connie Kindsvater, Rhona Saunders, Phil Beuth, Jeff Margolis, Oscar Santiago, Debra Meade) is proceeding full steam ahead with action items, including:
1. Continued attention to fundraising;
2. A commitment to enlarge the pool of applicants;
3. Development of a task force to interview our NPC scholarship recipients to determine if they have done anything outstanding that would make them eligible for a special monetary award recognition;
4. Development of a task force to choose nominees for a monetary Outstanding Young Journalist Award (five years or less as a working journalist). Board members Bob Orr and Cary Barbor volunteered to be on that task force.
5. Attention to our NPC program (The Future is Now) that features the Scholarship Students, organizing them to produce a video explaining why our scholarships helped them; that could be a kick-off for the Outstanding Young Journalist Award; and
6. A possible theme for future luncheons, i.e.: “The Future of Journalism is Now!” or “What Has the Scholarship Meant to Me?”
We are truly a board in perpetual motion.
Eager to see what actions we’ll report to you after our March 14 meeting… I have a feeling March will come in like a LION!