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Board of Directors Meeting September 28 – 29, 2006 Great Wolf Lodge; Minutes of the WPRA Board Meeting Members
Present: Rosewall,
Lichtenberg, Donoghue, McCormick, Kubale, Sigman, Taft, Lorman, Sebranek, Bock,
Rudnitzki, Steele, Hildebrand, Eckels, Gilmore, Members
Absent: Egan,
Good. Staff
Present: WPR/UW Extension: Gasper,
Stockdale, Kallenbach, Sherer, Reyer, Nalbandian, and Johnston ECB: Wink, Purcell, Others
Present: Malcolm Brett, interim
director of Broadcasting and Media Innovations, UW-Extension, John Gaddo, newly
appointed regional manager for Southwest Region based in Thursday,
September 28, 2006 Call to order: President Rosewall called the meeting to
order and recognized Jack Taft. Jack
announced that he would be resigning from the Board, effective at the end of
this retreat, due to poor health. President
Rosewall, on behalf of the Board, expressed our deep regret to lose Mr. Taft as
a Board member and thanked him for his valuable service to the WPRA and
accepted his resignation. President Rosewall and Phil Corriveau introduced Malcolm
Brett, the interim director of UW-Extension Broadcasting and Media Innovations. John Gaddo, the newly appointed regional manager
for the southwest region based in President Rosewall appointed an informal group of the Board
to begin work on further development of the WPRA website. The group was charged with determining the
answers to the following three questions over the next few weeks and months:
What could we do with the website? What
should we do with the website? Can we do
it? Phil Corriveau then gave a presentation entitled WPR 101
which included the five strategic goals for WPR. Other areas discussed were background on the
budget and fundraising. He also
described the Arbitron rating system, reviewed some audience numbers and
explained how WPR uses the other detailed data provided. Dean Kallenbach and Gene Purcell gave a broad overview of
the history of the WPRA Board. Anne Katz, Executive Director, Arts Wisconsin gave a
presentation on advocacy and how constituents can approach legislators on
issues of concern to the viability of Wisconsin Public Radio. Mary Kay Sherer, WPR Development Director, discussed the formation
of a WPRA Development Committee. Joan
Rudnitzki made an inquiry as to whether or not WPR seeks corporate dollars for
actual production of The afternoon ended with a goal setting exercise wherein
Board members brainstormed goals for the 2006-2007 year. President Rosewall said that she would take
the results from this exercise and condense them into a document that would
outline the direction for WPRA for the upcoming year. Gilmore and Sigman agreed to serve on a
subcommittee to review this document before distribution to the full board. Friday
Sept. 29, 2006 President Rosewall called the meeting to order at 8:30
AM. Phil Corriveau and Dean Kallenbach reported on the work
being done on the Signal Improvement and Protection: More Channels More Service
project. A committee of staff from both UW
Extension and ECB has been working to identify gaps in WPR network coverage statewide
and how to go about filling those gaps. Corriveau
and Kallenbach presented many details of the project including specific gaps
across the state as well as a list of priorities for establishing public radio
coverage. Dave Hildebrand commented on the fact that it is a laudable
goal for all citizens to have access to both Networks on Wisconsin Public
Radio. Full
Board Public Meeting Board reconvened after committee meetings and President
Rosewall recognized two members of the public in attendance. Both members (Dr. Michael Gengler and Fred
Milton Olson) were allowed approximately five minutes each to speak to the
Board. Director’s
Report Phil Corriveau discussed the programming changes made on
both networks. The changes that have been
made were entered into only after much thought and research and were made with
the best intentions. Corriveau noted
that any programming changes that are made will generate groups of unhappy listeners. We need to wait for data from the Fall
Arbitron survey ratings to judge the impact of the changes. The negative comments received are 3 to 1 to the positive
comments. Half of the negative comments
received have been from the classical listeners and revolve around the
extension of NPR News for one hour each morning and Fresh Air extension for one
hour in the afternoon. There have been
110 complaints about the dropping of Le Show and 65 complaints about the
elimination of Pipe Dreams. The next
phase of the program review is going to center around the regional programs,
maximizing on-air messaging, and doing more air checks of WPR produced
programs. Currently, four WPR stations have been converted to digital;
two more are in the final stages of completion; one station has gone out for
bid. All of these conversions have been
completed using State and Federal money.
The engineers are in the process of converting four regions to digital
and they are planning for more. We’ve
received Federal funding for approximately one-third to one-half the cost of
each transmitter for six more conversions. WPR is currently looking at adding a 24 hour classical music
service on the secondary audio digital channel.
WPR is also looking at partnering with local merchants to make HD radios
available. W300BM in Platteville with
its translator in Bernie Kubale requested that evaluation of program hosts be
a continuing process. Michael Sigman
inquired about the response from the staff to the program changes. There were also inquiries about the blogs of
some hosts and how those blogs are monitored, censored and reviewed. Committee
Reports Board Operations Committee David Steele will serve as the Chair person of the Board
Operations for the 2006-2007 term. David Hildebrand moved and Barbara Gilmore seconded that the
position on the Board vacated by the resignation of Jack Taft be filled with
the candidate from the South Central region that had the second largest vote
count, following Douglas Hamilton, in the April 2006 election. Mr. Dave Utley will be asked to accept
appointment to fill the vacancy created by Jack Taft’s resignation. If Mr. Utley does not accept the appointment,
the person with the next highest vote count will be offered the position. Vote in favor was unanimous. Dave Steele continued his report with a discussion of the
regions’ boundaries being determined by the zip code boundaries. Sheehan Donoghue moved to retain the voting regions as
currently determined by zip code. Lu Eckels seconded with a unanimous vote in
favor. A discussion of the skill grids followed with no action
needed by the board. Also discussed was
the appointment procedure for the four positions that will need to be filled
for the next term. A slate of directors
for consideration by the full Board will be presented at the January 2007
meeting. Finance Committee Teri McCormick will continue to serve as the chair of the
Finance Committee. The Finance Committee recommended for Board approval the amended
FY ’07 budget which includes an additional expenditure of $50,000 for a new membership
database. Moved by Teri McCormick and
seconded by Michael Sigman. Vote was
unanimous. A discussion then ensued regarding the consideration of the
WPRA creating a socially responsible investment policy. President Rosewall made a suggestion that an
ad hoc committee be formed to investigate this issue. The ad hoc committee members are President
Rosewall, Barbara Gilmore and Pat Sebranek.
Development Committee Bernie Kubale will serve as chair of the Development
Committee for the 2006-2007 term. Bernie Kubale moved and Dave Hildebrand seconded that the
Board adopt the charge for the Development Committee as presented: “To work with the WPR Development staff to develop
plans, systems and activities designed to support the fundraising activity of
the WPRA.” Vote in favor was unanimous. Bernie Kubale reported that the Development Committee recommends
that the regional managers discuss with potential board member candidates the
role of the board members in assisting in the fundraising. Kubale also commented on the need to educate
the Board on planned giving and what the members can do to assist in
fundraising. Other Business: Michael Sigman moved approval of the May minutes as
presented and Teri McCormick seconded.
Unanimous approval. David Steele reported on what the website ad hoc committee
had discussed in their meeting. That
discussion centered on fundraising and public relations. The committee would like to make available on
the website such options as surveys, frequently asked questions, volunteer opportunities
and lists of regional events. The WPRA website
may become the mechanism by which information can flow from the Board to the
members and from the members to the Board. 2007 Meeting Dates: Friday, January 12, 2007; Wisconsin Public Broadcasting
Center/Educational Communications Board, Monday, May 21, 2007; September 27-28, 2007; location to be announced Teri McCormick: Moved
Adjournment Pat Sebranek: Seconded ________________________________ |