AAJA Minnesota--It's Hotter Than You Think!


	July 2007 AAJA meeting minutes July 22, 2007 In attendance: Emma Carew, Tom Lee, Lewis Leung, Nancy Ngo, Mary Tan and Nancy Yang Absent: NEXT MEETING: Grant proposal: § Tom briefed us on a meeting he attended for a grant that could be available to us. Grants up to 10K are available to AAPI groups through Community Engagement Funds. § Deadline is Sunday, July 23. § The organization wants to see how we use the money to help benefit our organization and the AAJA community. How would it further our mission? § We could use for media access workshops. § Money must be used within six months; the organization will evaluate how the money has been used. § Does not have to be one event. We could hold two or more events. § Nancy N. said we could use a media access event to develop better relationships with AAPI nonprofits. They could serve as a watchdog for us and they would be encouraged to join the organization. § Mary suggested a mini ELP for our members, how to get ahead, etc. § Lewis said we could make it a one-day event but different workshops throughout the year. § Tom: Maybe a weekend retreat. Goal would to be advance career. § Lewis: One day is easier to schedule versus taking a weekend. § Grant decisions will be announced by Oct. 15. So if we got the grant, we would have to do something by April 15. § Emma: We could have a big speaker and make that our keynote with dinner. The dinner would be free to members but nonmembers would then pay. § Tom will write the grant proposal. § Tom: As a side note, we will need to get more grant-writing experience. As our traditional sources of funding dry up, we will need to explore outside options. Convention grant discussion: § Two applications: Michelle Ma and Eileen Yang. § Michelle is from Bloomington, just graduated from Northwestern, now interning at the Star Tribune. § Eileen is a recent graduate of St. Cloud State University, several leadership roles at the university. § Michelle is not a MN AAJA chapter member, which disqualifies her. (This is inaccurate, upon receiving an updated membership list July 23 dated July 20. Board voted again July 23; four in favor of Eileen, Lewis Leung did not cast a vote) § At the last meeting we approved a grant for Boaz, a Portland chapter member. At the time (late June), nobody had applied for a grant. This raises the issue of how we will approve “special” cases in the future if outside members want support. § Tom: Shall we give to national or to individuals? We have said we would consider helping national programs on a case-by-case basis. § Tom: We need a discretionary fund that would be flexible. We have to budget appropriately. 6-0. § Nancy N. Move to grant Eileen Yang the $300 grant: 5-0 § Tom: We need to talk about whether students should be allowed to apply for the grants? § In the past, our professional members wanted something for themselves that would help them develop their careers. § Lewis: We could add another grant just for students. § Tom: Four maximum grants, one is geared toward students. § Emma: If no students apply, then we can give it to a professional. § Tom: We need a deadline. We should shoot for the first registration deadline. § Deadline next year for UNITY: May 15, 2008. Deadline will change each year depending on when convention starts. Convention presidents and national board rep meetings: § Nancy Y. will attend the presidents meeting for Tom, Nancy N. will attend national board rep meetings. National Board Rep elections: § Nancy N. will not be running for re-election. § We need a candidate. Nancy Y. has agreed to be a candidate. If Nancy Y. is elected national board rep, there would need to be a special election for secretary. Remaining 2007 events: § We still have karaoke/holiday event in December and an ethnic media meet-and-greet. § Holiday mixer/karaoke: Early November. Maybe the Park Tavern? Or the U Garden? § Mary will be lead organizer. § Ethnic media mixer: Late September. NEXT MEETING AGENDA: Noon, Aug. 19, Nancy Ngo’s Ÿ