2000 News: Call for 2001 Board of Governors Nominations and Elections

November 15, 2000

Fellow members of SABEW:

SABEW wants you.

The future of the SABEW is determined not by past presidents like me but by people who want to join the board, roll up their sleeves, and seize the opportunity to move the organization forward.

So, regard this as a solicitation, and you don't have a lot of time to act.

Under SABEW's constitution, members of the board of governors serve staggered three-year terms. Starting at next spring's convention in New York, we will elect six people to the board for three-year terms.

Under the society's constitution, the nominating committee comes up with a slate of six directors, but the board has encouraged the committee to seek at least nine people to run for the board. So, we want all members interested in getting involved to apply for the slate. If you don't make the slate, think about running anyway. We like and encourage competition because we believe it ensures the vitality and health of our organization.

That's the key reason we want more candidates than openings.

As one who has been involved with the SABEW board since 1994, I can tell you the job is fun. You get to work with really great people on committees ranging from planning the convention or the various SABEW conferences (Personal Finance, Technology, Reporting and Writing, and, we hope, Small Business). Or you can help manage the annual Best in Business contest or help us plan a better and more useful website. There's work to be done vetting candidates for SABEW membership. And perhaps most important, you can be part of the process of shaping the SABEW chair at the University of Missouri.

What we need from you is:

· Commitment to work and get the job done
· Two weekends a year to attend board meetings and three workdays during the week of the annual convention.
· The ability to get on conference calls.

To view a more detailed job description for the SABEW Board of Governors, please click here.

The five current board members whose terms expire next spring are: Becky Bisbee of the Seattle Times; James Mallory of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution; Floyd Norris of the New York Times; Craig Schwed of Gannett News Service; and Alicia Swasy of the St. Petersburg Times hold the seats that come up next spring. The five were chosen by straws at the mid-year board meeting in Tampa.

The sixth opening was created by the increase in the number of non-officer board members to 18 from 17. The number of officers, who are also voting members of the board, was reduced to three from four under bylaw changes approved at our Atlanta convention last spring.

If you're interested in running for a board seat, here are the procedures:

To be considered for the nominating committee slate

Please contact me or other committee members by December 1. I am easy to find at cblaine@microsoft.com or 425-705-9688.

The other members of the committee are:

· Susan Wells, president, 1998-99. E-mail: swells@ajc.com.
Phone: 404-526-5322
· Henry Dubroff, president, 1997-98. E-mail: hadubroff@aol.com.
Phone: 805-560-6950
· Frank Brill, governor. E-mail: allbiz@aol.com.
Phone: 914-694-5021
· Bill Barnhart, vice president. E-mail: webarnhart@aol.com.
Phone: 312-222-3599

When the slate will be chosen?

Our deadline is December 15.
If you don't make the slate, the key date is January 5.

You may nominate yourself or another member to be a candidate for the board anytime up until January 5. After January 5, no further nominations will be accepted for the ballot that will be used in the voting at the convention. The ballot will have a space for write-in votes.

By January 5, you also need to have sent me a head and shoulders picture and a 200-word biography. (Yes, we will edit.) Meeting that deadline will ensure that your materials will be included in the two issues of The Business Journalist preceding the convention and onto our website,
http://www.sabew.org.

March 1

If you miss the January 5 deadline for submitting materials, you can get
materials to me by March 1 to make the last issue of TBJ and get on the SABEW website.

My address is:
Charley Blaine
MSN MoneyCentral
5600 148th Avenue NE, RedW B3309
Redmond, Washington, 98052.

March 15 and materials for the convention

A packet containing one page of information about each of the board candidates will be provided to everyone registering for the convention.

Information for this sheet -- picture, bio or other materials -- must be provided to the SABEW office in digital form no later than March 15. Each candidate's materials and picture must fit on a single 8 ½ by 11 sheet.

For details on transmitting digital images, contact executive director
Carolyn Guniss at 573-882-7862 or sabew@missouri.edu.

How does the election run?

Simply. Printed ballots will be given to each individual and a representative of each institutional member when they register at the convention. The ballots can be put in the ballot box anytime during the convention. But all ballots must be submitted by 2 p.m. on Tuesday, May 1. Remember that SABEW votes by member. Individual members get one vote. Institutional members get one vote and should decide beforehand how to cast that vote.

Thanks for reading this, and I hope to hear from you. And I hope to see as many of you as possible at the convention. The dates, by the way, are April 29 through May 1 at the New York Marriott World Trade Center.

Charley Blaine
Chairman, 2000-2001 Nominating Committee
President, 1999-2000