Soni Dimond, President
Happy spring from your Press Club of Southwest Florida Board of Governors.
Our board blossomed this season! At our meeting on March 14, we quickly discovered spring was a perfect time to launch a whirlwind of NPC activities.
Spring 2017 kicked off with our March 2 monthly luncheon, featuring David Goldstein, American Civil Liberties Union Collier County Chapter President, who provided his perspective on the role of the ACLU, civil liberties and press freedom.
Additionally, Press Club of Southwest Florida members were absolutely delighted to be invited to an exclusive Newsmaker Breakfast, which was designed to feature the U.S. Representative for Florida’s 19th congressional district, Republican Congressman Francis Rooney, on Friday, March 24. Although we were thrilled at the prospect of meeting Rep. Rooney in person, we were totally not surprised when the congressman had to cancel his breakfast presentation just days before it was scheduled. Congressman Rooney’s presence was mandatory for the historic Health Care vote, slated March 24 in Washington, D.C.
What a tribute to the extraordinary efforts of our prolific NPC VP/Programs, David Silverberg, who constantly delivers a wide array of news-making speakers to the NPC events lineup, from the national to the local media scene.
The NPC applauds the impressive work of board member Connie Kindsvater, NPC Scholarship Chairman, and her entire Scholarship committee for planning and preparing the Press Club of Southwest Florida/FGCU Journalism Program, which highlighted a panel discussion on “What are the recent TRENDS in Journalism/Media?”
This March 28 event featured four local professional media panelists: Cary Barbor, senior editor of Gulfshore Business magazine; Chris Cifatte, evening news anchorman at WINK-TV; Jigsha Desai, digital editor at Naples Daily News; and Amy Tardif, station manager & news director at WGCU-FM. David Silverberg, NPC VP/Programs served as the panel moderator.
On Wednesday, March 22, the Press Club of Southwest Florida enthusiastically supported the Honor the Free Press luncheon, hosted by the Marines of Collier County. Thanks to NPC member Mike Trephan for working diligently to plan and emcee the luncheon affair and related events. The honoree and speaker was Jeffrey Fager, the executive producer of “60 Minutes.” Elsewhere in this issue of Scoop, board member Jeff Margolis has a complete write-up of the memorable affair.
Our ambitious Spring 2017 calendar continues to be dynamic, with an April 6 Luncheon. Barbara A. Zdravecky. President and CEO, Planned Parenthood, Southwest and Central Florida, will discuss the current status of that organization.
The Press Club of Southwest Florida is honored to join other notable organizations that can increase our knowledge of the breadth and depth of talent in our diverse and growing community.
We appreciated board member Julie Pedretti’s recent invitation to join her and her Public Relations Society of America members for an event, which expanded our reach with other like-minded organizations. During the upcoming months, NPC will return the favor and invite members of PRSA to attend one of our upcoming events.
I am so pleased to see Press Club of Southwest Florida is changing with the seasons, and broadening our horizons, jumping into new and exciting opportunities.
Come visit one of our meetings and grow with us.
We’ll be offering more to come your way…in the merry month of May.