Members in attendance: Bill Hirschman, Ron Levitt, Darcie Lunsford, Alana Roberts, Michael Koretzky, Jaime George, Sergy Tabuteau.

Several board members had met with Tim Dodson and he had prepared a written proposal to act as chapter administrator (proposal in full attached), a 12 months contract.

It was moved by Levitt, seconded by Lunsford to hire Tim Dodson at $1,000 per month, starting November 1, and that a committee would be named to meet with him to go over the duties outlined in his proposal to determine a final contract. Hirschman suggested amending the motion to include “for a period of one year.” The motion as amended passed unanimously. President Kay will name a negotiating committee.

Program chair Koretzky reported on two programs and received unanimous approval to go forward with them.

1. REGION THREE CONVENTION; The Region 3 convention will be held Friday and Saturday, April 3-4, 2009, with headquarters at the Ramada Hotel, downtown Hollywood. It will include members of the Florida College Press Association, The weekend (at $40 per person registration fee) will include charter bus service, a Friday ethics poker tournament, an event at Dave & Buskers, and a Saturday evening dinner at a homeless shelter and publication of Homeless News by participants in the convention. Complete details will be on the SPJ website as well as www.spjchapters.org/southflorida

Koretzky also reported that nearly 50 Ethics Hold’em decks, funded by an emergency SDX grant, will be mailed to chapters around the country with “SPJ South Florida Chapter” on the envelope.

2. Koretzky reported that “we applied for a $500 grant to hold a blogging program at UM. If we get it, he is requesting a matching $500 from the chapter. Motion to approve was made by Hirschman, seconded by Levitt. Approved unanimously. It will be scheduled for a Saturday in February.

Hirschman suggested that the governor be invited to speak at one of our meetings.

It will require more information, scheduling, etc, but will be looked into.

Treasurer Hirschman reported there is approximately $82,000 in our accounts.

Roberts reported that we will be sponsoring a pre-Halloween event at Tobacco Road in Miami on Oct, 30 along with several other media groups. Lunsford and Kay said SPJ would accept financial responsibility. However, there is a possibility of a 3-way split of expenses with the Assn of Black Journalists and the Asian-American journalists. Here is the event information as received foe posting:

Hello all. Come join the South Florida chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, the Asian American Journalists Association-Florida and the South Florida Black Journalists Association this Halloween for a chance to network and have some spooky fun at Tobacco Road on Thursday, Oct. 30 from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. The event includes free appetizers, a cash bar and door prizes at Tobacco Road’s outside patio.

Tobacco Road is located at 626 S. Miami Ave in Miami. Valet parking is available in Tobacco Road’s lot and costs $2, but there also are parking meters along S.W. Eighth Street and S. Miami Ave.

Please RSVP by Wednesday, Oct. 29 to Alana Roberts at aroberts27@gmail.com.

So come on, bring a friend and network with other journalists this Halloween at the Media Monster Mash!

The meeting adjourned at 9:30 p.M.

*Minutes Recorded by Ron Levitt, Secretary*

Come join the South Florida chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, the Asian American Journalists Association-Florida and the South Florida Black Journalists Association this Halloween for a chance to network and have some spooky fun at Tobacco Road on Thursday, Oct. 30 from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. The event includes free appetizers, a cash bar and door prizes at Tobacco Road’s outside patio.

Tobacco Road is located at 626 S. Miami Ave in Miami. Valet parking is available in Tobacco Road’s lot and costs $2, but there also are parking meters along S.W. Eighth Street and S. Miami Ave.

So come on, bring a friend and network with other journalists this Halloween! Costumes optional.

For more information, contact Alana Roberts at aroberts27@gmail.com.

If you plan to (or hope to) attend the mixer, please RSVP to Alana Roberts (aroberts27@gmail.com) by October 29th (AM).