AAJA-D.C. Board Conference Call
March 13, 2011

PARTICIPANTS: Elizabeth Jia, Seung-Min Kim, Kathy Park, Cecile Oreste, Peggy Hu, Sherri Ly

BOOK READING BY CHERYL TAN APRIL 2

Christine Chen of OCA asked if AAJA-D.C. would like to co-sponsor an event featuring former AAJA-D.C. President Cheryl Tan reading from and taking questions about her new book, A Tiger in the Kitchen. OCA has already secured a venue and date: Café Asia in Rosslyn on Saturday, April 2, from 2-4 p.m. Event would be free for registered OCA and AAJA-D.C. members; non-members would pay $3. The board took a vote and agreed to contribute $100 toward food and drink for the event. Peggy and Cecile said they will attend. Peggy will get a copy of the AAJA-D.C. membership list from Antonio Salas so we know who to charge admission. We can refer people to the Huffington Post's "top reads" to learn more about the book. (We've linked to the Facebook event page through the chapter website.)

MAY GM-SPONSORED EVENT CANCELLED

Kathy Chow says D.C. is NOT one of the target markets for GM. We could still hold an event in May for Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, but it wouldn't be sponsored by GM. The board decided not to do anything at this time; we have plenty of other events we are planning.

J-CAMP EVENT IN BALTIMORE

The tentative date is Saturday, October 1. The Annie Casey Foundation will fund the event, but the D.C. chapter is responsible for organizing and running it. It must take place in Baltimore. Kathy will ask former AAJA-D.C. President Hanah Cho to see if the Baltimore Sun will allow us to use their community room and maybe some office space. Sherri is looking over the J-Camp handbook to see what activities have taken place in previous years. The board talked about organizing mentoring opportunities and providing briefings for students on what it is like to work in the industry. In general, though, the event has involved very well-known industry names, and we should try to recruit speakers of similar caliber. These VIPs do NOT need to be Asian-Pacific Americans.

TRIVIA BOWL

We're now looking at Friday, November 4, or Friday, November 11, for Trivia Bowl. Peggy asked if having the event on Veterans Day would be a problem, but the rest of the board didn't think it would be an issue. Kathy said Tejinder Singh (who wasn't on the conference call because he was covering a story) was looking into some possible venues; she will get in touch with him. Some possibilities may be hotels. We also could try using the NPR space again if they will donate it, but we were pretty much at capacity last year. Since this is our main fundraiser each year, we want to get as large a space as possible at minimal cost so we can have more participants. Now is the time to reach out to potential sponsors. Sherri will share the Google docs we set up for Trivia Bowl last year. Peggy said the last two years we have had trouble with Acteva, the company we used to process credit card payments, and she strongly recommends not using them again. She will look into what payment services other organizations use; National Press Club uses EventBrite, for example. Peggy said that since she has to set up a special website for Trivia Bowl every year anyway, she might as well officially be one of the organizers for the event.

OTHER FUNDRAISING POSSIBILITIES

The board discussed other fundraising possibilities. AAJA New York, for example, has held fancy dinner events - "East Meets West." K Street Lounge might be willing to work with us. We could have a fancy dinner, at $30/person or $45/couple. People can bring friends and partners. Since we no longer have the GM event in May, maybe we could have a big social event then. We could work with other APA organizations. We've worked with the Mei Wah restaurant before, and they might be willing to donate food again. The disadvantage with co-hosting a fundraiser, though, is that we would have to split the proceeds with other organizations. It is probably better for us to hold our own fundraiser event, but invite other groups to attend. May is probably a very popular month for APA events, though; we will need to coordinate with other groups, or we may want to think of doing an event in June instead.

On a smaller scale, perhaps we can sell merchandise with the AAJA logo. It's always fun to have hats, shirts, buttons and that sort of stuff. We can bring stuff to our events, along with membership forms and Power of One envelopes. AAJA National has a link through which people can buy merchandise. Kathy said she would find the link. Proceeds go straight to National, though, which doesn't help local fundraising efforts. Maybe we can have chapter-specific merchandise; can anyone suggest a nifty slogan for AAJA-D.C.? How about a cookbook? We also have professional photographers in our membership; maybe some would be willing to donate use of some pictures for notecards to sell?

FUNDRAISER FOR JAPAN EARTHQUAKE AND TSUNAMI SURVIVORS

The Conference on Asian Pacific American Leadership (CAPAL) is organizing a fundraiser Saturday, March 26, for survivors of the recent earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan. AAJA-D.C. has been asked to be a co-sponsor. Sherri said we need to check with National if we're allowed to do this, as CAPAL may be a government organization and AAJA generally is not supposed to work with government groups or use government facilities. (NOTE: Kathy Chow said it is ok for us to co-sponsor the fundraiser, and we've advertised the event through the newsletter. There is a Facebook event page.)

CHAPTER FINANCES

Cecile summarized the chapter finances. At the start of the year we had $7,640.96 in checking and $6,179.62 in savings ($13,820.58 total). Our only expense since then has been reimbursing Peggy for renewing the aajadc.org domain name. We've gotten a few checks since the start of the year. Sherri asked if we have received a check from National for this year yet. Cecile said we received our portion of the 2008 dues but nothing for 2011 (Because of a problem with National's finances, we did not receive dues for 2009 and 2010). The chapter will likely receive something at the end of this year. Most people become members just before the national convention in the summer, which will increase the amount of funds available to share.

Kathy said that if you plan to spend more than $100 on behalf of the chapter, tell her and Cecile in advance so they can account for the expense in the budget. Do not just spend the money, then ask for reimbursement. Peggy mentioned that Sherri should be reimbursed at least in part for her travel expenses as a National Board Representative. Sherri said that last year her travel costs were around $1,000. She said that there are two National Board meetings a year, plus one governing board meeting the representative must attend. We should also keep in mind that the chapter treasurer and president also must attend meetings at the national convention every year. She suggested that we budget $500 total for the president and treasurer to attend those meetings.

The board discussed what kind of financial cushion we should keep. Sherri reminded the board that the chapter must make a payment to National at the end of the year. She said we should set a budget at the beginning of the year. We can ask National to share their budget to alert us to the kinds of things we should account for on a yearly basis. We do not want to hold on to too much money in our accounts because we are a non-profit organization.

STIPENDS

People are already making arrangements for summer internships, and we should get out the word ASAP about the chapter stipends. Last year we gave out a $2000 stipend and a $1000 stipend to help some students with local, unpaid journalism internships. In the past we have also given stipends for ELP, convention, board member training, and J-Camp.

The board suggested that this year we offer three $1000 stipends. Seung-Min will put together the stipend application form. Deadline will be May 1 (Note: later changed to April 29). We need to get the word out ASAP to local universities. Sherri said she has a list of contacts. Peggy said she has copies of forms from previous years that she will forward to Seung Min to use as a template. (The 2011 application form is now on the chapter website in PDF (74KB) and Word formats, and we've sent out an announcement through the mailing list.)

As a condition of receiving a stipend, winners must give back to AAJA in some way. In the past, we have asked people to volunteer a set amount of time - about 10 hours - at events like Trivia Bowl or the National Convention. Someone suggested winners also do a short write-up of their internships for the chapter newsletter so we know what the funds have helped accomplish.

COMMUNITY OUTREACH

The board discussed ways to improve community outreach. Perhaps we can establish a weekly blog? Perhaps we can hold a "career day" event at local schools?

VICE PRESIDENT FOR BROADCAST

Patranya, who moved to Las Vegas last year, told Kathy that she is vacating the board position. Since the remainder of her term is more than six months, we are required to hold a general election to fill the position. Peggy will ask Antonio Salas for the latest membership roster and send out a call for candidates. (Both done; candidate statements due by March 27. Ballots will go out the following week.)

NATIONAL BOARD MEETING NOTES

Convention

Sherri said that National is in good financial shape. The convention in Detroit this summer will be amazing. GM is a big sponsor and may have cars available for test drives. The hotel is fantastic; it's near GM headquarters on the river. There is a boardwalk in the summer; very family friendly. It's across from Windsor-Ontario. There are also casinos.

UNITY in 2012

As those who have read Richard Price's columns know, there is some controversy about UNITY 2012. AAJA's position on UNITY in Las Vegas is that we will go through with it no matter what.

Fundraising

Remember to set aside the chapter assessment funds for National. Also, encourage people to contribute through the Power of One campaign. Bring donation envelopes and membership forms regularly to events. Sherri said that National is doing the $20 challenge again. Apparently there is an iPhone app out now that enables people to swipe their credit cards for donations.

Membership

AAJA National is looking at their qualifications for full membership. Many people are experiencing career transitions. Should those who were full AAJA members in the past be eligible to vote, and for how long?

Calendar Events

AAJA National is re-establishing its calendar. We should notify National whenever we have events scheduled so that members visiting the area can attend them and so that we can show sponsors all the sorts of things we do.