BOARD of DIRECTORS MEETING
NEW WAVE CORPORATION, KOPN
915 East Broadway, Columbia, Mo.
February 10, 2009
CALL TO ORDER:
A meeting of the Board of Directors of the New Wave Corporation was held in the Ashlock Room at the KOPN studios in Columbia on Tuesday, February 3, 2009. Board President Thomas Sobieck called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. In attendance were Board members John Betz, Scott Meiner, Randi Bishop, Jim Baker, Kyle Cook, Mike McGowan, Ryan Kind, Thomas Verdot, and Bridget Early. Also in attendance were KOPN General Manager David Owens, Development Coordinator for Underwriting Brian Davis, and guest Ray Marks.
President Sobieck asked for a motion to waive and accept the minutes of the previous Board meeting. Mike McGowan made a motion to do so; the motion was seconded by Scott Mainer and approved by the Board.
OFFICER REPORTS:
President Sobieck asked for comments from the Board about the General Manager’s evaluation submitted by the Executive Committee. There being none, Mike McGowan made a motion to accept the evaluation; Kyle Cook seconded the motion. The General Manager’s evaluation was approved as submitted.
COMMITTEE REPORTS and UNFINISHED BUSINESS:
Scott Meiner told that Board that it needed to find a replacement for him on the Programming Committee now that he was the new Board Vice President. Scott made a motion to appoint Mike McGowan as the Board representative to the Committee; Randi Bishop seconded the motion. The motion was approved.
The Board discussed the need to find another Programming Committee member who was neither a Board Member nor a programmer. The Board agreed to begin actively searching for someone.
The Board also discussed the need to find additional community members who could be appointed to the Board. Thirteen members currently hold Board positions; the KOPN bylaws allow a Board of up to fifteen. Randi thought it would be a good idea to consider finding someone who would represent local business interests. She also said it would be helpful to have new Board members who would be able to assist both the rest of the Board and KOPN for such future projects as finding a new home for the station, etc.
Randi brought to the Board’s attention that she hadn’t received an invitation to Board members for the opening night program of the upcoming pledge drive. Even though the first night program was being advertised, she still thought it was a good idea that Board members get invitations for all future “calendar events.” The rest of the Board agreed.
Ryan Kind asked David Owens about the results of Larry Dickerson’s survey from past months concerning the makeup of the KOPN Board. The General Manager said that only a few of the survey forms had been handed back to him and that he was still holding on to them. The Board expressed their wish that such projects in the future be carried through to completion.
The Board had a brief discussion on the subject of compensatory time for KOPN staff. It was agreed that the executive committee would immediately begin working with the General Manager on coming up with a final policy for compensatory time.
The Board had a discussion on the need for a committee to begin looking into the future of KOPN’s location (extending the lease past 2013, finding a new location, etc.). Tom Verdot, Mike McGowan, and Randi Bishop offered to be part of a committee to begin looking into this. Scott Meiner made a motion to appoint them to the ad hoc committee; the motion was seconded by Jim Baker. The motion was approved.
STAFF REPORTS
General Manger David Owens said that Financial Officer John Clark couldn’t be at the meeting but had submitted the financial statements to the Board.
David gave a report on the planning for the upcoming winter pledge drive, which was to begin on February 13. He expressed a need to have the cooperation and help of as many KOPN members, programmers, and Board members as possible. He passed along to the Board that there was going to be a two-hour evening training session for telephone bank operators before the beginning of the drive.
The Board expressed concerns about the station being prepared for the upcoming programming changes slated for the first of April. Since a written plan hadn’t been submitted yet, the Board wondered if the proposed scheduled could be met. David said that he and the staff had been focused on getting ready for the upcoming pledge and had been utilizing most of their energy on this. The Board reinforced their belief that it was important that KOPN listeners be informed of the upcoming changes. President Sobieck said he would like to see a concrete plan for announcements ready to go by March 5.
The Board had a discussion about having Brian Davis increase the number of underwriting spots during national programming. Scott Meiner said the Board might consider approving two to three underwriting spots per
hour for national and Latino programming. The Board expressed concerns that increasing underwriting be balanced against antagonizing KOPN members and listeners.
President Sobieck, in an effort to help resolve the budget deficits, asked that a subcommittee be formed to go over the budget items line-by-line. He volunteered to head the committee. Scott Meiner and John Betz offered to serve also.
Brian Davis gave a report on his underwriting activities. The meeting was adjourned at 9:15 p.m.