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To further communication about the work being done on behalf of the membership by your Board of Directors, we will regularly issue highlights from full Board and Executive Board Meetings. As always, members can get more details about Board business by viewing the ASMP website Board Minutes posted following each meeting.
Board members attending: Kate Baldwin, Kimberly Blom-Roemer, Jenna Close, Blake Discher, Mark Green, Shawn Henry, Bruce Katz, Richard Kelly, Kevin Lock, Ed McDonald, Gail Mooney, Irene Owsley, Barry Schwartz, Thomas Werner, Steve Whittaker.
Others attending: ASMP staff members Eugene Mopsik, Victor Perlman and Elena Goertz.
President Shawn Henry chaired the meeting.
New President Shawn Henry said that he would like this meeting to emphasize broad policy discussions and be forward looking. He stated that the major issue the Board needed to discuss would be the effects of the economy on ASMP members and the Society.
ASMP Executive Director Eugene Mopsik said that he was looking forward to the future of ASMP under the leadership of the new ASMP president and board members. He said that it was his hope that the meeting discussion would deal with important issues and be a first step towards resolving the direction to be taken by ASMP.
Shawn Henry raised several big picture questions: what does ASMP need to do in order to carry out its mission, address the needs of its members, and deal with the Society’s financial needs? He said that the important thing for photographers today is to determine their value to their clients, just as ASMP has to assess its value to its members, many of whom have differing needs. He asked that the board try to ensure that those needs are met as we go forward. There followed a broad and wide ranging discussion in which the board recognized the need of both the Society and its members to embrace new markets, take risks and make educated guesses in order to stay relevant in the new economy.
There was a discussion about using virtual chapters and digital communications to increase the benefits of membership. The possibility of using the Western New York chapter as a pilot project was discussed, and the sense of the board was to move forward with it.
ASMP General Manager Elena Goertz reported on finances and membership renewals. There was discussion of the fact that economy has driven many photographers out of the profession this year. There were related discussions of how best to retain and grow membership, the use of funds from the Authors Coalition of America for educational materials and programming, and possible fundraising.
Susan Carr and the other presenters gave an update on the new book project, the fall symposium set for September 27, 2012 at The TimesCenter in New York, and the iPhone release app. There was also a discussion of Shawn Henry’s proposal for a future program and/or webinar(s) on pricing, as well as for a proposed program to be presented in conjunction with Chase Jarvis.
The Board thanked former ASMP President Jim Cavanaugh, and former Board Member Chris Hollo, for their years of service and many contributions to ASMP.
The Board thanked Susan Carr, Judy Hermann and Richard Kelly for their contributions to the development and production of the ASMP/CCC webinar series. They also thanked webinar speakers and panelists: Susan Carr, Richard Kelly, Jim Cavanaugh, Fred Haber, Vic Perlman, Jeff Sedlik, Eugene Mopsik, Joe Wikert, Michael Bilberry, Patrick Donehue, Allen Murabayashi, Rog Feldman, Linda Burman, Leila Boujnane, Henry Oh, Rob Haggart, Robert Levine and Tom Kennedy for volunteering their time and expertise.
The Board appointed Kate Baldwin, Bruce Katz, Richard Kelly and Jenna Close to the Board of Directors of the ASMP Foundation.
For more information about the April 2012 Board meeting, click here to go to the full Board Minutes.