SAAHJ
General Meeting
June 17, 2006
Tito’s
Mexican Restaurant
Members and guests in
attendance, per sign-in sheet: James Benavides, Alison Beshur, Mary Anthony, Elaine Rodriguez,
Ernie Villarreal, Danny Sanchez, Luis Mercado, Vincent Bosquez, Javier
Rodriguez, Ed Tijerina, Marybell Martinez, Victor Reyes Romero, Ariana
Romero, Edward Leal, Joe Sandoval, Rafael Saenz
Call to
Order/Welcome/Introductions
Joe
Sandoval called the meeting to order at 10:35 a.m., and announced that it
was the second to last meeting he would be presiding over since new
officers would be elected at the July meeting. Introductions by all
attendees followed.
Approval of the May minutes/Secretary’s Report
Carol
Schliesinger was not present to give a secretary’s report, but Joe
Sandoval asked if there were any corrections or additions to the May
meeting minutes. Ed Tijerina made a
motion to accept the May minutes as submitted; Javier Rodriguez seconded
the motion; all members present voted to approve the minutes as submitted.
Treasurer’s Report
Nora Lopez was not present to give the account
balances. Joe announced
the balances.
Old Business
Distinguished
Speakers Series Update
Ernie
announced that the Distinguished Speakers Series (DSS) is postponed until
after the SAAHJ Scholarship and Awards Gala has concluded, since he is
chairing both committees and is focusing all efforts on the upcoming Gala.
Ed Tijerina asked Ernie to provide a description of the DSS for new
attendees at the meeting. Ernie gave a detailed description of the history
and purpose of the DSS. Mary
asked Ernie to submit a DSS financial report to the board.
2006
Scholarship Gala Update
· Ernie gave an update
on the status of the SAAHJ Scholarship & Awards Gala planning. Bromley
Communications has purchased a table, Munoz Public Relations has purchased
4 reservations, and Kelly USA has expressed interest but has not sent a
check. A “Save-the-Date” card will be created and sent by
Guerra, De Berry & Coody. Ernie asked members for their help in
acquiring more table sponsors for the Gala, and said that now is the time
for everyone to step up and make their contributions to ensuring the Gala
is sold out. Mary asked Ernie to
send a copy of the donor letter to the board members.
· Rafael gave a brief update on
the status of the silent auction. Items that we’ve recently received
include a “Wine Tasting & Tour for 10” at the Dry Comal
Creek Vineyard, a “Dinner for Two” at L’Etoile French
Restaurant, “Admission for Four” at the San Antonio Museum of
Art and “Golf for Four” at Tapatio Springs Golf Resort. Rafael
encouraged everyone to think about their clients, employers and friends who
they can approach to request donated items for the Silent Auction.
· Joe said that Lionel Sosa has
requested an opportunity to sell/sign copies of his new book, Think and
Grow Rich, before the gala begins and opened this idea for discussion. Mary
and Elaine said that we need to wheel and deal with Lionel before we agree
to let him do so, and at the very least get confirmation of a table
sponsorship in his name.
· Ernie brought up the
idea of collaborating with Luna Glass Works to create an original award
that is more reflective of SAAHJ’s mission. Mary said that this will
be the sixth year we present an award at the gala, and it has been the same
award for 5 years. Ed T. said that he liked the idea of getting an award
custom-made with SAAHJ in mind, but he suggested we focus on this task for
next year’s banquet since we’re less than two months away from
this year’s gala. The group was in agreement with Ed’s
proposal, so Joe said that we’ll go keep the same award for this
year’s honoree and request that the new board and officers to look
into other options after they are elected. Ernie asked Mary to order the
award.
High School Writing Contest
Update
Elaine
said that the deadline for accepting applications has been postponed and
she’ll contact Lorraine Pulido-Ramirez to get more information.
National Writers’ Workshop
Update
Mary thanked all the volunteers who helped out at the SAAHJ information
table at the event. She said that we handed out bookmarks and membership
applications, but so far we haven’t received any completed
application forms from that weekend. Mary suggested that we check into
these opportunities and get more details on the benefits and type of
exposure we’ll receive before agreeing to be a sponsor. She also suggested that if we sponsor this
workshop again we hold our monthly meeting on-site so we can use it as a
networking and membership recruitment opportunity.
Meeting/Speaker Committee
Ed T. explained what the meeting/speaker committee does, which is to
recruit guest speakers relevant to our group and have them attend our
monthly meetings and present to the group. Joe said that we’d like to
recruit TV anchors and reporters
to have more involvement,
and give them a chance to learn about what we do and entice them to become
members, such as Sarah Lucero with KENS-TV and others. He said that this
was Dino Chiechi’s suggestion, but so far we haven’t been able
to bring the idea to fruition.
New
business
New
Board Member Nominations
Before nominations started, Mary Anthony
reminded everyone that nominees must pay their 2006-07 membership dues now
in order for their names to appear on the ballot.
Ed T. nominated Elaine Rodriguez for President.
Elaine accepted the nomination. Alison nominated Joe Sandoval for Vice
President. Ed T. nominated Nora for Treasurer. Alison nominated Danny
Sanchez for Treasurer, Danny accepted. Joe nominated Carol for
Secretary. Joe nominated Ed Leal for at-large broadcast board member.
Elaine nominated Ed T. for at-large print board member. Elaine nominated
Mary for at-large communications board member. Joe nominated Vincent for
at-large communications board member, because of the work he’s been
able to accomplish with the Latino Writer’s Group organization that
he’s a member of. All nominations are as follows:
President — Elaine Rodriguez
Vice-President — Joe Sandoval
Secretary — Carol Schliesinger
Treasurer — Nora Lopez, Danny
Sanchez
At-Large Print — Ed Tijerina
At-Large Broadcast
— Ed Leal
At-Large Communications
— Mary Anthony, Vincent Bosquez
SAAHJ Latino Forum Committee
Javier Rodriguez brought up an
idea he came up with while listening to an NPR discussion on how Latinos
are covered in the press. This issue was discussed in great lengths at the
NAHJ Conference in Florida, and he proposed that SAAHJ host a community
forum discussion on hot-button issues affecting the Latino community in
order to initiate debates and fulfilling discussions. Joe said that
he’s supported this idea in the past, but the board has not been in
agreement. This time around, Joe said that we get involved in the community
as Javier suggested and get this idea off the ground. Luis Mercado offered
for the group to use a video that Palo Alto College helped produce with one
of their students titled “How Texas Media Portray Chicano Men.”
Ed Leal said that most of us do not agree with how things are currently
being handled in respect to Latino portrayals in the media and stereotypes
of Latino immigrants, etc. Ed Tijerina suggested we set this forum up as a
“town hall meeting” style and host it at a politically neutral
site. Ed Leal volunteered to chair the committee and have Texas Public
Radio sponsor it as a “Us talking about us, covering us”
discussion. He also said that it’s important, because the debate on
immigration has been overshadowed by stereotypes and buzzwords and our
people will be affected by the ways that the media continue to portray us
for the next several decades. Elaine said that it’s important for
both the general public and the media personnel to have these discussions,
because most reporters don’t purposely mess up their portrayals of
Latinos on camera and they can easily be corrected on their delivery of the
news, but it’s our job to inform them on the right way to portray
different elements of our culture especially when it comes to word choice
and pronunciation. In addition, the general public should understand the
value of positive media relations, e.g. – sending press releases in
more advance than the day before, and misrepresenting the number of people
they estimate to show up at an event. Ed T. suggested we invite all area
news directors to the forum and have a mediator, but start off with a small
crowd to test out the format. Javier suggested that we don’t record
the first few forums so that people may feel more comfortable to speak
freely, and see them as just conversations. Ed T. made a motion to start a
new committee with Ed Leal as the chair. Volunteers who joined the
committee include Mary Anthony, Alison Beshur, Elaine Rodriguez, Luis
Mercado, Javier Rodriguez, Joe Sandoval and Rafael Saenz.
Announcements
Alison
said that the Saturday, September 16th, 2006 SAAHJ general meeting will be
hosted at the UTSA downtown campus and Jesse Zapata will be the guest
speaker.
Next meeting
Our
next meeting is scheduled for Saturday, July 15, 2006 at inHOUSE PR, 1007
S. Alamo St.
Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 12:10 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Rafael Saenz
SAAHJ member who took minutes in
Carol’s absence
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