Fifteen people—a dozen Press Club of Southwest Florida Board Members and three members—spent five hours together on a Saturday, planning for the future of our 22-year-old organization.
L-R: Rachel Pierce, Carole Greene, Jeff Margolis, Ann Cardamone, Tom Marquardt, Rhona Saunders, Mark Young, Karla Wheeler, Connie Kindsvater, Marqueeta Curtis-Haynes, Mike Sheffield, Bob Orr, Frank Cipolla, Soni Dimond
Following introductions, including an ice-breaker question (why did you join the Naples Press Cub), we aggressively attacked our ambitious agenda with enthusiasm and a diversity of perspectives. The discussions were lively and productive.
A few of the highlights include:
• Formed a committee to review the name of our organization and its mission statement. If we wish to attract working (and young) journalists who work and live in Fort Myers, is “Naples Press” Club the right name? Also, isn’t it important to mention free speech and fair exchange of information as part of our mission?
• To grow our NPC Journalism Scholarship Fund so we can help more students, we developed a list of ways to raise funds at lunch meetings and other NPC events, and came up with an event idea that was enthusiastically embraced by everyone around the table. Watch your email box for exciting news about this special event.
• Several months ago, our NPC Membership Chair Karla Wheeler strategically invited Rachel Pierce to assist her with the committee, and recently asked her to serve as co-chair. This dynamic duo has recommended several tactics to help grow membership, especially among young (under 30) working journalists. A new membership category was approved to allow journalists and others who are in their 20s to join NPC for $30.
• In addition to discussing topic ideas for upcoming programs, we also explored hosting a series of special programs, starting with an event with the Collier County Public Library System featuring a panel of experts willing to share ideas with freelance writers/bloggers.
Additional information about the results of the planning retreat will be shared over the course of the next few months. If you have questions or wish to become more involved in NPC, please let me know.
Once again, I ask members to take a minute to review your information in the Members section of our website and provide updated information (title, company, address, phone number, email address, etc.) to NPCBioPage@gmail.com.
Our next NPC lunch program is scheduled for Thursday, October 4. In the meantime, if you are in SW Florida for the summer, let’s stay in touch. Please watch for announcements for monthly Media Mixer Socials which will be scheduled throughout the summer.