MINUTES
Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2012 • 7 p.m.
Room 201, Witherspoon Student Center
Members Present: Henry Allen, Michael Biesecker, Kathryn Glaser, Cordera Guion, Alanna Howard, Molly Matty, Victoria Melbourne, Ronilyn Osborne, Dean Phillips, Jim Rothschild, Paul Ruddle, Chandler Thompson, Laura Wilkinson
Members Absent: Siddharth Gandra (unexcused), Kenneth Hertling (excused), Paul McCauley (unexcused), William Stronach (unexcused), Katherine Trapp (unexcused)
Others Present: Martha Collins, Jamie Lynn Gilbert, Maurizo Lewis (Wolf TV), Krystal Pittman
CALL TO ORDER at 7:02 p.m. by Vice Chair Henry Allen.
NEW BUSINESS
- Approval of minutes from November 2011 board meeting. The minutes were approved with no objections.
- Budget update (Patrick)
- Technician did not print on Friday, Nov. 18 due to a complete server failure, resulting in $0 revenue for that issue. Krystal reported that day’s paper had about $4,000 worth of advertising, as it was the day before Homecoming. Some of the ads were able to be rescheduled.
- Nubian Message has sold more than $2,000 in advertising, far surpassing its $500 annual goal.
- Technician launched a new classifieds system this month that allows users to select print, online or combination options. Online users can also add pictures and maps. The system made about $800 in its first week.
- Recruitment and Retention Report (Jamie Lynn). While not that impressive from a quantitative standpoint, three of our top editors came to the staff from one of our recruitment efforts.
- Academic Progress Report (Jamie Lynn). Only two student leaders were impacted by 11.55.6 and six by the Student Media Academic Progress Policy.
- Update on hiring of Director of Systems Administrator and Production Assistant (Patrick). The systems administrator position has been posted and the search committee team is reviewing candidates. A tentative start date of March 1 is still feasible. Patrick will be taking over production assistant duties until at least the end of the spring semester.
REPORTS
Agromeck (CLICK HERE)
Business Office (CLICK HERE)
Nubian Message (CLICK HERE)
Society for Collegiate Journalists (CLICK HERE)
Technician (CLICK HERE)
Windhover (CLICK HERE)
WKNC (CLICK HERE)
Wolf TV (CLICK HERE)
REPORT UPDATES
Kathryn hired Tyler Andrews as Agromeck assistant photo editor. There was confusion over the total page count for the book, which is being finalized this week.
Alanna updated the Board that she may not use Mag+ for the Windhover iPad app, as other options have become available.
EXECUTIVE SESSION
The Student Media Board of Directors may adjourn into executive session to discuss matters of litigation, potential litigation or personnel.
ADJOURN at 8:15 p.m.
TEXT OF REPORTS
Agromeck
submitted by Kathryn Glaser, editor
Personnel — Sharon Eshet our Fall 2011 designer resigned to study abroad in Israel. One of our new staff designers has been hired to replace her. Jordan Moore will continue to be the photo editor for Spring 2012.
We are in the process to look for more writers. I posted on Facebook groups at State about the position. I have heard back from several people already.
Training — No training has been done since the last board meeting, I hope to do some this month.
Coverage — Coverage this month will focus less on events and more on groups and people on campus. This is happening because such few events are going on. The month of January is a little slow on campus with the start back to school.
I hope to cover a few more sport teams before the book ends. We have really lacked on sports coverage, beside the monthly recap of sports.
Deadlines — We had a deadline in December and it was brutal. With most of the staff gone or held up with exams, I, the editor, had a lot of work to do. There were several unfinished spreads from the semester, which needed to be finished.
We will have a miniature deadline in January because in February we will be sending around 50 pages. The official February deadline is the 17th.
Marketing — Senior Portraits are January 17-21. A PSA on WKNC has already began to run, ads in the Technician are being run during and before the portraits are being taken. A banner will also be hung outside of Witherspoon to show students where they can get their portrait taken.
We have also sold several books. I will need to begin my advertising campaign for selling books soon.
Business Office
submitted by Ronilyn Osborne, business office manager
Revenue — Due to three new apartment complexes opening this fall we are anticipating our spring revenues to be on target from the extra advertising we are receiving from the housing market.
Technician — I have set new goals for the sales reps in regards to Technician – they must actively work on securing two new clients per week. I hope this will increase revenues and get a new variety of clients in the paper. We have several specials to promote in the coming months as well – Spring Break, Valentine’s and our Spring Living Guide.
Agromeck — One of our office assistants, Abby Howe, is helping the Agromeck staff with marketing and promotions. They will be meeting soon to discuss the new “buy a book” campaign.
Nubian Message — Our Nubian sales representative, Melinda Brewer, graduated in December and is no longer working with the business office. However, I have found someone who is interested in picking up the position as the new Nubian sales representative. We have been discussing her availability to ensure that she is able to devote a sufficient amount of time to the business office, and so therefore has not yet been hired.
We are promoting the four issues in February for Black History Month and have a special out to our clients to run ads in all four papers.
Wolf TV — We are still trying to figure out the best approach to bring revenue to Wolf TV since we can’t place ads on their site.
WKNC — We have seen a slump in sales recently but will be making a push to increase. We are also going to work to increase our sales for spots during the women’s basketball games and the baseball games as well.
Personnel — This semester the business office has two new office assistants, Sydni Collins and Jesse Higgins. We also hired a new delivery person, Drew Klahlo, who has so far been doing a wonderful job getting the papers out each morning in good time. We have lost one sales representative, Matt Keller, due to graduation in December.
Training — Since it is the beginning of the semester, I have training scheduled in place for the office assistants and the sales team separately. The office assistants will have their training on Tuesday, January 10 at 4:30 pm and will cover the new classified ad procedure, how to close the Technician issues every day, tear sheets, and also a lesson on secretarial duties for Martha.
The sales team will have their training on Wednesday, January 11 at 6:00 pm and will go over sales techniques, new sales goals for the semester, and will also include dividing up Matt Keller’s sales accounts. We also plan to have Mike Hartel, from Curtis Media, come as a guest speaker to another sales meeting later this month.
Updates — The new online method of scheduling classified ads has proved to be a very positive switch. It has been generating more revenue for the business office than the previous method. Customers can now post, pay and manage their ads online with new options like posting pictures and Google maps. We are considering doing a week of free classifieds in print for faculty, staff and students to help introduce this new system. Currently with the new system anyone with an @ncsu.edu email address can post online ads for free.
Also since the start of the new semester Patrick has certainly proved to get along very well with the business office staff. He has even offered to accompany the sales representatives on any sales meetings if they would like.
Nubian Message
submitted by C.J. Guion, editor
Revenue — Nubian Message has surpassed the budgeted revenue projections for the entire year by almost triple the number that was set last year, and I believe that we can continue to increase revenue in the second semester. We have increased revenue by creating special editions such as the African American Symposium edition which took place before the beginning of the fall semester and the special Anniversary edition which took place at the conclusion of the semester.
I believe that we can continue to increase revenue in the second semester by taking advantage of upcoming events such as the Pan Afrikan Festival in April as well as Black History Month in February.
Expenditures — The only expenditures that may be out of the ordinary is that the 19th Anniversary edition was produced in full color, but was paid for with money from ads and anniversary messages that were placed in the paper.
Personnel — There have been no significant staff changes.
Training — There has been no training since the last meeting
Technology — Technology works pretty well for the most part and we are taking advantage of our website, Facebook, and Twitter to increase readership.
Coverage — We have been doing a pretty good job of covering news and events that are pertinent to the N.C. State community.
Deadlines — In the fall semester, we released the paper on time every single week that we were supposed to come out and the paper was on the stands by at least 11 a.m. each week.
Ethics/Legal issues — In the last board meeting, we discussed the editorial that was placed on the front of Nubian Message in November targeted towards the Technician. In the issue following the board meeting, a response from the Technician Editor Laura Wilkinson was placed in the paper. Other than the discussion that took place in the meeting, that was pretty much where it ended. However, a discussion was introduced about the responses at the last AASAC meeting of the semester which Nubian Message is a part.
Society for Collegiate Journalists
submitted by Sarah Tudor, president
NO REPORT
Technician
submitted by Laura Wilkinson, editor
Personnel — I fired former News Editor John Wall in November for several reasons. He failed to show up to work twice without letting anyone know ahead of time and without finding a replacement. His style of management was abrasive and we were losing staff members because of his attitude toward them. He hid a cooler of beer on the patio one night, which I did not know about until close to deadline. He was fired the next morning. Elise Heglar, former Deputy News Editor, is the new News Editor and I have not had any problems with her performance so far.
There are a few students who no longer meet minimum requirements for working at Technician. Patrick Neal and I have been talking to all of them and figuring out their future status with the paper.
Training — Spring Retreat was held at the Museum of Natural Sciences in downtown Raleigh. I believe we had a total of 21 in attendance, give or take a few. We spent a lot of time talking about ethics and investigative reporting, so hopefully we’ll see some improvement in those areas this semester.
Patrick Neal has already begun filling our training calendar with available training opportunities. Former Deputy News Editor Chris Boucher will be coming up to the office on Tuesdays and Thursdays during January and February as part of his graduate studies to work with staff as a writing coach.
Coverage — It’s the beginning of the semester, so spring coverage has been fluffy this past week. No problems to report in any specific section.
Deadline — Due to a few late sports games and limited, new design staff, we have missed deadline approximately once a week, which will be brought up at the budget meetings.
Ethics/Legal Issues — For once, I can’t recall any specific ethics/legal issues. Yayyyy!
Technology — On the night of Thursday, Nov. 17, multiple servers crashed a couple of hours prior to deadline. Friday’s paper was cancelled and I cried due to frustration and stress. Thankfully, Fred Eaker spent the weekend getting the servers back up and running. Moral of the story: We need an IT person as soon as possible.
Windhover
submitted by Alanna Howard, editor
Revenue — We have had no changes in revenue though Krystal Pittman and I have met to discuss obtaining sponsorships this semester. We’re currently compiling a list.
I’m in the beginning stages of applying for a grant from the Raleigh Arts Council. More info on that at the next board meeting.
Events — The November Open Mic Night was very successful, again with over 100 people in attendance. The programs we made for the event were beautiful and the designers got several compliments. The third and final Open Mic Night will be on February 19 (Sunday) at Irregardless Cafe at 6 p.m. Most of the slots for reading or presenting have already filled. There will be a cash bar and a $5 menu, possibly small appetizers like mini burgers, quesadillas, etc. but I’m still in talks with the chef at the cafe. We will be raffling off gift cards donated by The Pit, Raleigh Times and Gravy, with the proceeds probably going to a fund for next year, or for the release party.
Expenditures — We haven’t spent any money recently. We’re about to buy typefaces, which have a budget of $450. The designers were recently excited to learn the original specs for the book gave us a quote that allows for an extra $2000. The quote came back at $14,130 for the full count of 2,500. That leaves $2,170 to play with.
Personnel — There have been no staff changes.
Training — Britt Freeman, the 2006 editor, had coffee with the designers during exams last semester to talk about their plans for the book.
Technology — No new technology, though Josh, the audio editor, is in talks with Fred Eaker about reserving ncsu.edu/windhover/audio for part of the audio release for the book. More details closer to the March board meeting. Jamie ordered a new computer last fall, no word on when/if that will arrive.
Coverage — We’ll put up posters all over campus for the Open Mic Night and the Release Party, and we’ve been using Facebook and Twitter to remind followers of the final deadline on January 20. I’m tracking where people learned about submitting to Windhover as we receive submissions so at the end of the year I can pass on that data to the next editor.
Deadlines — The final deadline for submissions is January 20 though we will keep accepting audio submissions past that date. Josh is working with bands to record on his own time with his personal equipment, so we’ll keep accepting submissions until the middle of February before sending off the final tracks for duplication.
Other — For an independent study I will be creating an iPad app for Windhover using Mag+ software. It’s a plugin for InDesign that requires no coding on my part or upfront costs. I use the same InDesign file the designers use to create the book, export it into the plugin, and reformat it to fit on tablet screens, and add audio files. Many major magazines are using Mag+, including Popular Science, Photography, and Macworld. For more information: http://www.magplus.com/.
To publish an issue it’s $200. This would be a one time fee, and each year the new edition of Windhover could replace the previous year’s. I learned about the software from an article in Science magazine about students at NYU’s J-school who used Mag+ to publish one of their science feature inserts on tables. The article is attached.
Each month at the board meeting I will report my progress and show updates. Once the app is complete in April, I will ask the board to approve $200 out of my budget to publish the app.
WKNC
submitted by Molly Matty, general manager
Revenue — Non-fee income as of December 31, 2011: $17,994.92
- Regular donor announcements — $7,410
- Tir Na nOg — $6,000
- Promotions/Live Nation — $1,790
- Benefit Concerts — $1,019
- Wolfpack Sports — $900
- Merchandise Sales — $857.86
- Other — $18.06
Expenditures — Jamie discovered an error in our personnel budget, which resulted in about $1,800 being credited back to WKNC. We were paying a student employee’s work in another department. The issue has been resolved and we were refunded. We have maxed out our current services line item due to a $3,000+ tower repair bill from June being paid in December, as the bill was sent late.
Personnel — Recent hires include:
- Assistant Promotions Director: Cameren Dolecheck
- Deputy Promotions Assistant for On-Campus Affairs: Bri Aab
- Daytime Music Director: Anatassia Treitakova
- Public Affairs Director: Nick Savage
It has come to our attention that a student DJ has been self-promoting her own work through our airwaves. She has also being partaking in plugola and potentially payola with a local business, which constitutes employee theft. I am meeting with the student on Friday, Jan. 13.
Training — We recently held two interest meetings for spring employment and DJ training. Because of feedback from the last semester’s training class, we will be incorporating an element of group work and a more interactive class. Each student will select a “concentration” (even those not selected to be DJs), allowing them to meet with a department head and learn how to get involved. This, along with more collaborative groupwork , will hopefully increase involvement and retention.
After compiling results from the departmental meetings last semester, a managerial meeting will be held going over a strategic plan for all departments with Patrick Neal and Jamie Lynn Gilbert.
Technology — Phew. WKNC is a technological nightmare. On Dec. 24, 2011 the library performed maintenance requiring the power to go off. This turned our transmitter off and thus, turned off our signal. When the power was turned back on, our signal was essentially “scrambled” between Witherspoon and the library-based transmitter. Due to the quick work of student engineer, Austin Page, a temporary connection was made with the Comrex to basically remotely broadcast from our own transmitter. This quick-fix is still in effect. Our engineering staff is ordering parts to replace the line that was ruined on Christmas Eve. The Comrex is not a permanent solution, as it occasionally requires reconnection and cannot be used for other purposes when in use at the library.
The morning of Jan. 12, AudioVault paused on a cart for many minutes, turning our signal off yet again. AudioVault has been causing a few errors recently as it plays two tracks at once. Troubleshooting for this begins Jan. 12.
Legal — Our FCC license was renewed until Dec. 1, 2019. There is no indication of FCC action with respect to our admitted discrepancy in the public file. The discrepancy is/was: WKNC must place a quarterly issues and programs list in our public file every quarter. From our 2003 license renewal until Jamie’s hiring in summer 2006 this was not done. That violates FCC rules, which we freely admitted in our renewal application. We are subject to a fine, should the FCC choose. The alternate was to lie to the federal government.
Coverage — This is an extremely busy time of the year for us as Double Barrel Benefit 9 approaches. DBB9 is the ninth annual fundraiser, featuring eight local artists over a two night concert. The event will be February 3 and 4 at the Pour House Music Hall in downtown Raleigh. For the first time, DBB will feature a Day Party and Market, which will host about 20 local artists and businesses as well as three local bands. I’m personally really excited to open up our coverage to not only local music, but also local art.
WKNC will be working UAB in the spring months to present music-related movies at the Campus Cinema. These movies planned are: Almost Famous, High Fidelity, August Rush, The Soloist, Once and O Brother, Where Art Thou?. WKNC is also collaborating with UAB to assist with the Red and White Ball, All Knight Bash, and the Earth Day festivities. While nurturing this relationship, we will be working with them to present another Fridays on the Lawn in late March or early April.
Deadlines — We have a lot of personal deadlines related to DBB9, but no issues to discuss here.
Wolf TV
submitted by Kenny Hertling, station manager
Revenue — Are we meeting revenue projections? Why or why not? How many books/ads/sponsorships have we sold? N/A
Personnel — Significant staff changes- None. How many people are on staff? Around 20 people come to the meetings, but only a few have actually turned in paperwork
Training — What training has the staff undergone since the last Board meeting? No, but we will be having training on Jan. 22. Was the training effective? Why/why not? N/A. Who conducted the training? N/A
Technology — Are there any problems with technology? None. Is the hardware/software being used adequate? If not, why not? And what would be better? Yes.
How are we working to function in a technologically sophisticated environment? We have Twitter, Facebook, and a website that is updated as often as possible.
Coverage — What is the staff doing to cover campus activities or to maintain its focus on the N.C. State campus? They are asked to email me with any ideas that they have and I usually look through the campus events list before each meeting for ideas.
Deadlines — What challenges has the staff had meeting deadlines? The staff do not exactly have a challenge meeting deadlines, but I do set responsible deadlines for the amount of work that they have to do. In a quantifiable manner, how is the staff doing meeting deadlines? The staff is meeting their deadlines usually.
Ethics/Legal issues — None