Julie Pedretti, President
Your organization is taking steps to become more relevant and responsive to working journalists by expanding programming into the Fort Myers and Bonita Springs areas and gearing up to host “newsmakers” as important announcements are made in Southwest Florida.
At its Saturday, March 30, strategic planning meeting, NPC Board Members employed a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis, a planning tool that has been used by businesses and organization for decades.
Strengths include having a core of dedicated volunteers who helped create and continue to nurture the organization, growing to more than 150 members. We’re financially strong, with $20,000 in the operating fund and nearly $12,000 in the Terrence J. Miller Renewable Journalism Scholarship fund to support the next generation of journalists.
Weaknesses include members simply not being available to attend lunch meetings and other events, and not having the time or the interest to be involved in assisting on committees, planning programs or organizing fundraisers.
Opportunities include the geographic expansion to North Naples, Estero, Bonita Springs and Fort Myers. The Media Mixers held last summer in these areas were well-attended and attracted working journalists and others who enjoyed and benefitted from the networking.
Threats include member apathy and burnout, as well as the consolidation of the industry, with fewer local reporters for print publications, for example.
With the SWOT analysis as the framework, we began to outline short-term and long-term goals and tactics which we will share in future communications. In addition, we established a vision to be positioned as the “go-to” organization in Southwest Florida advocating for the First Amendment, defending a free press to provide fair and factual reporting, and supporting current and future journalists.
At the April 18 NPC Board Meeting, we accepted the resignation of Ann Cardamone as secretary. With other commitments in her life, including expanded responsibilities at her employment, it has become difficult for Ann to attend board meetings. Thank you, Ann, for your dedicated and conscientious service as NPC secretary for more than five years! We’re glad to know that Ann will continue her membership and plans to attend lunch meetings and media mixers when she can.
The board also voted to name Sandra Dee, a long-time NPC member, to the Secretary position to complete Ann’s term. Welcome to the board, Sandra!
If you wish to become more involved in the Press Club of Southwest Florida, we have many opportunities, including serving on the program committee, becoming SCOOP (monthly newsletter) editor and writing summaries of the monthly lunch programs. Please let me know where you’d like to make your contributions to create a more vibrant and relevant organization.