Meeting Summary Spring 2008

The AAJA National Board (Advisory and Governing) convened for the annual spring meeting, in San Francisco on March 7 and 8. At the meeting, the following action was taken:

Summary

The Advisory Board elected a new Governing Board to serve a two-year term:

Cheryl Tan-New York represents Large chapters (those with at least 100 full members).
Ameet Sachdev-Chicago represents Medium chapters (those with 50 to 99 full members).
Abe Kwok-Arizona represents Small chapters.
Elected at large to the Governing Board:

Sharon Chan-Seattle
Don Chareunsy-San Diego
Matt Dunn-San Francisco/Bay Area

Advisory Board members will be seeking input from chapter members on the following issues. Discussions began at the spring Board meeting, and votes are likely on some issues at the summer Board meeting, set for July 26 in Chicago during UNITY:

Chapter cash flow (having enough on hand to pay for programming expenses while accounting for fundraising and overall bank balance).
National Awards Committee formed. Athima Chansanchai-Seattle, Matt Dunn-San Francisco/Bay Area and Cheryl Tan-New York will be identifying high-profile judges for the various awards categories.
Members in Las Vegas have petitioned for pre-certification status as a chapter. The Board was informed, and the issue will be formally taken up at the summer Board meeting.
Increase in membership dues was revisited. The Membership Committee will draft a proposal to be formally taken up at the summer Board meeting.
Each chapter is required to designate a fundraising chair to be at UNITY to help meet the $2 million goal of the Endowment Campaign.

Your chapter’s national board representative(s) should be providing a summary of the discussion on these issues and asking for your feedback.

At the upcoming summer Board meeting, the Board will accept bids from chapters to host the 2011 convention (the 2009 convention will be in Boston, and 2010 will be in Los Angeles). If your chapter is interested in hosting, please ask your national board representative or the national office for the criteria and guidelines.

If you have questions, please contact me at aajadoris@yahoo.com.

All best,
Doris Truong
AAJA National Secretary