September 17, 2015 CAB Minutes

Community Advisory Board Meeting Thursday, September 17, 2015 – 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Ron and Linda Yanke Family Research Park 220 E. Parkcenter Boulevard, Room 700 Board Members in Attendance: Emily Walton, Chair Shelby Zepeda, Vice Chair David Lombardi Dave Fotsch Staff in Attendance: John Hess, General Manager Paul Stribling, Programming Director Tara Cooper, Recorder

Maria Trebby Cornelia Sprung Kay Alspaugh Tony Shallat

Shikhar Sarin Vicki Lawson Leta Neustaedter Dede Ryan

Mark Wheeler, Dean of Extended Studies Kelly Palmer, Development Director

***************** Call to Order – Emily Walton Chair, Emily Walton, called the Boise State Public Radio Community Advisory Board (CAB) meeting to order at 6:02 p.m. The group had a general discussion about summer adventures and reading suggestions.

Approval of June 2015 Meeting Minutes – Emily Walton Motion: Dave Fotsch made a motion to approve the minutes; seconded by Kay Alspaugh. The motion was passed unanimously.

New Board Member Process – Shelby Zepeda The committee has only received two nominations, both within the last week. The committee felt we should wait on review and election of candidates to give a little more time for additional candidates to be submitted and then the committee will meet to discuss nominations and put forth selections to the larger group.

The group discussed additional information regarding the process.  According to our bylaws, we need between 20-30 individuals on the board  We currently do not need to have additional members; wanted additional members to continue to diversify group  Specifically want additional members who have availability to volunteer with the station

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Additionally, we want to have people who are connectors, active at events, know a lot of people, active Facebook accounts, ambassador within their friend circle, active in talking about programs and getting feedback.

Maria noted that attendance at board meetings is very important. She has been disappointed at attendance from some other members, and new candidates need to know the importance of being present. Also, actively volunteering at station events is a huge eye-opener and it is a great opportunity to hear from other listeners. She also requested that there be a portable radio in the box for those working at events that still want to listen in.

NOTE: Maria mentioned the printed station bookmarks have incorrect schedules. John/Tara will follow up with Adrienne Zachary about this.

Next steps – Shelby will re-forward the email with all the nomination information and dates will be extended for submission. The committee will meet prior to the November meeting and will bring nominations to the November meeting for discussion and elections.

Code of Ethics Update – David Lombardi The committee has met and exchanged a lot of emails. We now have a very workable, concise Code of Ethics that is a good guideline. The process is really in the hands of the university at this point, as the document is now being reviewed by legal counsel. Ideally, we would have the university-approved document sent out for review prior to our November. Then, at the November meeting the group can vote on the document.

Sub Committee Reports Programming (John Hess): CAB Trivia was a very good event. We ended up with about 30 teams (approximately 100 people). Cinder was really pleased with it. The station would like to continue on with these with CAB help. We would like to possibly put another one together in January. We could definitely go back to Cinder and do again. The event drew a younger demographic.

Advocacy (Tony Shallat): Tony has relationships with a lot of elected city officials, he will be asking them to sign letter supporting public radio; all six have agreed to sign on. He has not brought up with mayor yet; need a final draft to submit to city council for signature first. After that, it would be appropriate time to submit to the mayor. When he does sign it, we could send out press release announcing it. This will probably happen in the next month or two. Then we can start looking at other elected officials in listening area. Tony asked the group to offer suggestions for next steps: Other city councils in the area?

Kay suggested the Meridian city council. Maria noted that the mayor may not want to sign off until after election. Tony will work with mayor’s office to get everything arranged.

It is good for the station to get all different kinds of elected officials; Tony said that it is fun to continue to reach out to different communities because it is a good time to sit and talk with people about what we do. It will be beneficial to expand out of the valley.

The group discussed approaching legislators and asking for support. Emily noted that decision was made to not approach legislators and this would have to be done via the president’s office liaison.

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If anyone has additional ideas, please contact Tony; he’ll create a running list and start the process of checking off people off.

Sustainability (Kelly Palmer): The station has developed a kit for listening parties (at the request of the CAB). It contains brochures, inserts with the list of call signs and dial spots, and a template for the party.

Kelly provied copies to share with the group. We also have the option to hold a listening party at the station, available dates are from mid-October to before Thanksgiving. There could be 3-4 hosts who invite guests and it culminates here at station.

- Shikhar suggested hosting listening/watching party at station during debates.

Biggest priority item right now is coordinating with the university and internal team to write a grant for a possible $250K. - Shikhar suggested looking into Merril Lynch regarding possible grand funding for education topics.

We have also transitioned membership manager position; Eric Jones’s last day was today (9/17), he had been with the station for 23 years. Kristin Jackson is our new membership manager and is a great asset.

Next fund drive date is October 8, it will be a one day drive.

BSPR Yearly Plans – John Hess Refer to the June 2015 for yearly plans.

Here is an update on a few projects:  Sage Grouse – This was the first time we used more freelance reporters than internal staff as we were short staffed over summer in newsroom. Julie Rose (works for BYU radio network) was really great help. Using the freelancers, we were able to get a broader, more regional, understanding of the situation. We were able to accomplish a civic, civil dialogue on hot button issue; exactly what we are trying to do. Freelancing gives us high quality journalism, at lower cost. o Vicki – great discussion regarding sage grouse; it needed to be longer because the discussion felt cut off o Dave – There was no follow up coverage of community conversation the day after; there were comments that should be shared with public.  This will be played Sunday (9/20) night; played during documentary slot.  Will also be available via podcast.  Murdock grant – grant focuses on backfilling infrastructure; these kinds of grants mean a lot to help keep our infrastructure up to date as we have 19 signals to support around state.  Live Saturday hosting – Saturdays 8a-12p – going to bring in live host, George Prentice. We are very excited about this as he will help to bring in information about the arts and what is going on around the community.  Podcasting – planning to push out the most reasonable/easiest way for us to do it within our capacity.  Promotions - Like us/share on Facebook. Please continue to help us with ideas to help us promote without promoting.

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John will give more information to the CAB about underwriting and trade at our next meeting.

Adjourn – Emily Walton The next meeting will take place on November 12, 2015 from 6:00 – 7:30 p.m. at 220 E. Parkcenter Boulevard, room 700.

The meeting was adjourned at 7:39 p.m.

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