Audio and Minutes: NCPR Executive Council Meeting, Thursday, May 9

North Country Public Radio’s community advisory board, the Executive Council, held its quarterly meeting on Thursday, May 9 at 1 pm at Heaven Hill, on Bear Cub Road, Lake Placid.

The meeting was open to the public.

To share comments with the Council, email [email protected], call 877-388-6277, or post questions/comments below in this post.

Audio of May 9, 2019 EC meeting:

Minutes of the May 9, 2019 Executive Council meeting

Minutes: NCPR Executive Council Meeting, May 9, 2019

ROLL CALL: Paul Redfern, Susanna Piller, Cathy Pircsuk, Kelly Brooks, Ann Adams, Ellen Rocco, Mark Dzwoncyzk, Lizette haenel, David Sommerstein, Mike Erickson, Steve Meier, Bob Keller, Martha Foley, Jim Howard, Andy Gustafson, Doyle Dean, with guests: Ray Curran, Lou and Inga Kerr, John Rosenthal, Audrey Hepson.

1. Motion to accept minutes from last session.
   • 1^st – Anna, 2^nd Mike Ericson
   • All opposed, no abstention
   • Minutes accepted
2. Station Manager search
   • Awaiting arrival of new person, thanked Ellen for her leadership, well wishes for retirement.
   • Comments on meetings between EC members, Search Firm, and Staff members to help find Mitch Teich, who comes with experience as an NCPR Cub reporter
     1. Mitch was voice of Ice Storm.
     2. Coming from Milwuakee – where he’s executive producer of a daily news magazine.
     3. Knows and cares for the North Country
     4. Several upcoming events recognizing Ellen’s tenure and welcoming Mitch.
     5. Mark – Read exit interview that Mitch did in Milwuakee, moved by contents, will forward around.
     6. Paul – Thanks to the Search Committee for their time conducting search.
     7. Ellen – Expresses praise for Mitch – he can learn any skills that he hasn’t had to use up until now. “The whole staff feels good about working with this human.” Thanks the Search Committee.

3. Staff Changes + Management Transition
   • Jackie retired in December, David S. took over her role. When Martha retires, he will become News and Local Content Director.
   • “New Jackie” will be Audience Service and Outreach – big picture on content on all platforms, plus work in the community and outreach. “We’re everywhere and we’re meeting… a lot of new people.” Integration and outreach. Search is about to begin.
   • Lizette is now development director.
   • Jessica Lawrence is moving into Jon Sklaroff’s position as Underwriting Director. We are in the midst of searching for Jessica’s replacement. We are close to finding them.
   • Also losing Lauren Rosenthal.
     1. Begun a search for a new reporter.

4. June 28^th, 2 to 6pm, an open house Goodbye for Ellen and Hello to Mitch. Invitations are going out. June 29^th – party at Ellen’s Farm.
   • June 5^th and 6^th will be Melissa Block events in Lake Placid and Canton, respectively.
5. Station Activities
   1. Martha – Leaves a month after Ellen, expresses praise for work with Ellen. “It’s been an amazing ride.” It’s the beginning of a new Era. Expresses thanks to search committee for finding “new Ellen.”
   2. David S. – Martha, Jackie, and Ellen have left us in such an amazing position to really grow. Staff has a solid DNA that we believe in and trust. Everyone feels good and has great ideas. Ready to hire Jackie’s replacement, development associate, and new reporter.
      1. Programming and content – no big changes proposed except Dean’s List on Monday.
      2. Canton Resident will take over Ellen’s show.
         1. Being trained
         2. A lot like Jackie’s show (Music for a Monday)
   3. Overnight Jazz show will change.
      1. Jazz 24 is discontinuing, will be replaced by new program.
   4. Piecing It Together series has been funded by the Adirondack Foundation.
      1. New project with news department of engaging with our listening audience.
      2. Using texting to ask a series of questions about how they piece life together in the North Country.
         1. A choose your own adventure texting program.
         2. Pool of a few hundred people who are very engaged.
         3. Topics are home, food, work, and fun.
      3. Attempt to turn on its head the way we think about development
      4. Wanted to focus on the ingenuity that it takes to survive here.
      5. Project is evolving based on listener responses.
         1. We’re learning a lot about our listeners.
   5. Ellen R. – We are continuing to do the Howl with the Adirondack center for writing – 12 events upcoming. The Grand Slam will be on the SLU Campus in the fall. It’s been wildly successful in getting us in communities around NC.
      1. North Country at Work – Super Star project led by Amy Feiereisel and team, plus working with a developer for website infrastructure, which will be made available to other organizations. It’s been funded entirely by grants, including Adirondack Foundation, Cloudsplitter, NEH. We’re currently working under a National Archives grant, hoping to receive another 3 year NEH Grant.
   6. Question: Mark D – “How do you pick someone for one of those music slots?”
      1. David S. – Organically. Those jobs are typically someone who’s working at the station, but there wasn’t anyone available in house who is locally based and who can match the genre we wanted on air, wanted another woman hosting music. We did not want to have auditions.
   7. Followup Question, Mike Ericson: How do you select genre?
      1. David S. – Organically, we have a wide selection of genres on air and choose what’s missing. We think about the mix and try to give them a range of accessible music.
   8. Question Sarah – What is going to happen to natural Selections?
      1. Martha – I don’t think it’s going to go away. We have a lot in the archives. It’s difficult to schedule, so we record many at a time. It won’t go away in the immediate future.

6. Spring Fundraiser:
   • Lizette – $300,000 goal and $363,000 in actual donations.
     1. 184 New Donors.
     2. Theme: Real. News. Here.
     3. Right in line with where we came in last year – indicative of loyal following.
   • Question on Analytics on new donors:
     1. Most were from the St Lawrence area
        1. Some were also seasonal.
     2. We introduced new logo, which was a great opportunity for us to get our messaging out on all platforms. It was very cohesive.
     3. You will start seeing some advertising in magazines, etc. along with the new logo and “Real. News. Here.”
     4. Sustainer Campaigns will kick up on air to thank sustaining donors and to let others know what it is (contributions on annual or monthly basis).
   • Future Fund – $2.5 million campaign
     • Ellen remarks on “Next Generation Fund,” and when that concluded, we started thinking about transition of leadership roles. A new manager is at a disadvantage for new giving. Did not want new leadership to be at a disadvantage, so Future Fund was established to spread over 5 years to carry us through the transition period. Good news: right now, assuming we receive an outstanding large gift, we are between 250K and 500K short of 2.2 million goal.
7. Executive Council Future Meetings:
   • Linda Cohen invites all to July meeting during which we will meet with Mitch, incoming Station Manager. Encourages EC to brainstorm ways to introduce Mitch to the communities served by NCPR. Mayor, Leaders, et al. The process worked well with Tracy Ormsby when she took over the Explorer.
   • Lizette – There will be an opportunity for community members to join with NCPR on station events (as a means to have comm. Members to meet with Mitch), the Howl Story Slam, Live Beat Authority, et al. The Executive Council will be filled in on live events.
8. Executive Council / NCPR Page comments:
   • Louis Curth: Surprised to hear the announcement of Ellen’s replacement from SLU and not NCPR. How much control does the license holder exert over day to day management decisions, including hiring and firing, at NCPR.
     1. Ellen’s response: Station manager reports to the vice President of Communications, Paul Redfern. Day to day is retained by station staff – there is no interference. St. Lawrence provides 5% of NCPR operating budget.
     2. Hiring / firing – decisions are run by SLU VP to be in compliance with HR policies.
     3. SLU does not have any control over broadcast content.
     4. No money contributed to the station goes to SLU.
   • Richard Paul: requests that the EC listen to Democracy Now and that the station should air the program.
     1. Ellen’s response: Democracy Now has been rejected as broadcast content because it is agenda driven journalism which we do not subscribe to. Additionally, her program is on air and on television. We have received requests many times to air Democracy Now, at least once per EC meeting. The message about DN has been conveyed to our license holder repeatedly. The council is free to discuss DN in the future.
   • Question about concentration of News Coverage in the Northern Part of the park:
     1. Ellen – News may suffer in total coverage, but our other projects (NC@W) are evenly devoted.
     2. David – We have four reporters on the ground to cover our entire territory and it’s very difficult to be everywhere. We want to have more coverage in Southern ADKs. Funding has not allowed us to have reporters everywhere. It’s a challenge to reach, physically, every area that is touched by our broadcast range. The stories we cover cut across the specifics – our stories tend to cover the common occurrences of our geography.
        1. Ellen – Stringers occasionally are viable, but it is difficult to maintain a stable of reliable reporters on per diem. All the public stations in NYS want better capital district coverage; the Albany home station has been a difficult partnership. Therefore, WXXI in Rochester and NCPR pay for one reporter, Karen DeWitt, to cover Albany issues. We don’t have the money to do more in depth, nuanced reporting. The Albany station has different standards than NCPR and we cannot fully collaborate.
   • Question about listenership in Boonville, Jefferson County, Northern Oneida and whether or not NCPR would get more support if there were more stories reported on in that area.
     1. Ellen – We don’t make decisions that way. We see our coverage area as ADK North Country. We don’t do so well in some areas due to geographic proximity and news activity. NC@W is a response to that; being on the ground in areas where news is not as active.
     2. Linda – if there are fewer people in certain areas, there are fewer stories. However, if there aren’t people to tell you about the stories, there won’t be that coverage.
   • Jared Stanley: Question about new station logo and whether or not NCPR has considered moving transmitter in Boonville to increase coverage:
     1. Ellen – Logo creation was organic. Did not use an outside designer. Wanted something simple and clean. We’re trying to move toward recognition of the station as NCPR, without having to explain that it’s “North Country Public Radio,” just as NPR did from “National Public Radio.”
     2. Ellen – Utica is not in our line of sight. We can do ADK North Country well. Once you start getting into Central NY, you’re no longer in the North Country.
   • Audrey Hepson – Comment on quality and importance of Peter Bauer interview.
   • Linda – Peter Bauer report has the potential to go national.
   • Ray – Hopes NCPR continues to think about reaching new audiences with events like the Howl Story Slam.
     1. Ellen remarks that we have met great listeners through our NC@W and Howl projects.

9. No Further Remarks. Formal meeting called to close.

 

Upcoming Executive Council meeting dates:

• Thursday, July 18, 2019, 1:30-3:00 pm in Canton (annual meeting), location TDB
• Thursday, October 3, 2019 – 1:30 pm or evening, time and location TBD

Members of the NCPR Executive Council:

• Linda Cohen, Old Forge, NY (chair)
• Ann Adams, Dekalb Junction, NY
• Cali Brooks, Lake Placid, NY
• Mark Dzwonczyk, Nicholville, NY
• Mike Erickson, Brant Lake, NY
• Margo Ernst, North Hudson, NY
• Rod Giltz, Plattsburgh, NY
• Andy Gustafson, Old Forge, NY
• Hannah Hanford, Saranac Lake, NY
• James Howard, Morrisonville, NY
• Robert Keller, Boonville, NY
• Alan McLeod, Kingston, ON
• Stephen Meier, Queensbury, NY
• Cathy Pircsuk, Watertown, NY
• Susanna Piller, Plattsburgh, NY
• Christopher Robinson, Potsdam, NY
• Julia Kaplan Toce, Thousand Islands Park, NY

Ex-officio members representing license holder St. Lawrence University

• Sarah Johnson, Canton, NY
• Paul Redfern, Canton, NY
• Marion Roach Smith, Troy, NY

The governing board of North Country Public Radio is the Board of Trustees of St. Lawrence University.