NENPA progressing, with Web site
and 2010 convention in forefront

The dust has begun to settle at the newly merged New England Newspaper and Press Association.

But just because the dust is beginning to settle doesn’t mean that there is nothing going on.

As a matter of fact, there’s a lot going on.

There’s an executive committee meeting of the board of directors coming up soon to get an update on happenings being handled out of the Dedham, Mass., headquarters of the organization.

One of the first things that will be obvious will be a new, dynamic Web site for NENPA. A talented team of designers and technology folks are beginning to work on the details of this project, and the executive team should have something to review at its meeting set for the beginning of October. An end-of-October launch is anticipated.

The convention committee had its first teleconference the other day and efforts are certainly ramping up to ensure that the February gathering will be nothing short of informative and exciting. There are a slew of workshops and presentations being planned for the two-day extravaganza at Boston’s Park Plaza Hotel Feb. 5 and 6. As usual, the convention will end with a spectacular dinner and the Better Newspaper awards presentations. The deadline for entries has passed, but anyone interested can see last year’s winners on our Web site.

The Newspaper of the Year competition will become a stand-alone contest, and all member papers will be eligible to compete for the award. More information will be available in the spring, and the winners will be announced at a planned fall 2010 convention.

Currently there are discussions with our online group to have its gathering Feb. 4 at the Park Plaza, and details on that are being worked out. Stay tuned for more info.

Some other activities that are going on involve our affiliate organizations, and NENPA’s executive director, Brenda Reed, is working on tying up some loose organizational ends to make sure that the organizations meet current requirements of Massachusetts and IRS regulations for such entities. With the merger completed, it was felt that this was an appropriate time to tidy up things to ensure that moving forward, our affiliates are structured as they should be. Before the days of legal entanglements, handshake agreements were the good enough. Times change, however.

Lastly, we should be hearing soon from a board committee looking at the request for proposals for our popular legal hotline for members.

Bob Laska is president of the board of directors of the New England Newspaper and Press Association.

POSTED 9/24/09