MINUTES OF A MEETING OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF THE CANADIAN COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS ASSOCIATION HELD AT THE SHERATON CENTRE HOTEL, TORONTO, ON FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2010, AT 7:00 AM

PRESENT:
Mike Williscraft, President
Paul MacNeill, First Vice-President
Greg Nesbitt, Second Vice-President
Abbas Homayed, Treasurer
Frank McTighe, Corporate Secretary
Coleen Campbell, Chairman of the Board

STAFF PRESENT:
John Hinds, Chief Executive Officer
Tina Ongkeko, Managing Director, Community Media
CCNA Executive Committee Meeting

1. CALL TO ORDER AND PRESIDENT’S REMARKS

Mike Williscraft welcomed the committee to Toronto and summarized the meeting agenda as well as topics discussed at the board dinner the previous night.

2. APPROVAL OF AGENDA

Paul MacNeill requested the addition of “motion to be presented” to the agenda.

MOVED by Greg Nesbitt, seconded by Abbas Homayed, THAT THE AGENDA BE APPROVED AS AMENDED. CARRIED.

3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES

a. October 23, 2009 – Ottawa

MOVED by Paul MacNeill, seconded by Frank McTighe THAT THE MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD OCTOBER 23, 2009, IN OTTAWA BE APPROVED AS CIRCULATED. CARRIED.

4. BUSINESS ARISING

None.

5. IN CAMERA SESSION

An in camera session was held with no motions arising.

6. TREASURER’S REPORT - ABBAS HOMAYED

a. 2009 year-end unaudited financial statement

Abbas Homayed presented the draft unaudited 2009 year-end financial statement. The auditor will be in the office this month and the draft audited statements will be ready in March. Abbas noted that Publisher and sponsorship revenues are down, and that Publisher advertising is often included in sponsorship deals. Both drops are due to the current economic downturn. On the positive side, CMCA and community content revenues are both ahead of budget.

John reported that the office lease expires in 2011 and staff have begun looking into options.

MOVED by Abbas Homayed, seconded by Paul MacNeill THAT THE TREASURER’S REPORT BE ACCEPTED. CARRIED.

7. ACTIVITY REPORT – JOHN HINDS

John Hinds referred to his written report.

MOVED by Frank McTighe, seconded by Greg Nesbitt, THAT THE ACTIVITY REPORT BE ACCEPTED. CARRIED.

8. COMBASE

John reported that data has been released to 218 markets, and it has been well received. Overall response has been positive.

However, some BC members are dissatisfied with the results. ComBase staff have examined the data and stand by the results. Peter Kvarnstrom and Sean Murray have been communicating with the parties involved.

The CCNA research strategy committee will be meeting in the near future to look at broader research issue.

A discussion took place regarding data usage and future studies. John noted that the industry can not make any national readership claims with this data because it does not have representation from all provinces. John also pointed out that while Canada focuses on readership, internationally, there’s more focus on circulation.

MOVED by Abbas Homayed, seconded by Paul MacNeill, THAT THE COMBASE REPORT BE ACCEPTED. CARRIED.

9. OVERVIEW OF MEETING SCHEDULE AND BOARD AGENDA

A discussion took place about issues being brought to the table.

The executive suggested adding the marketing presentation by CNA’s Suzanne Raitt after #7 on the board meeting agenda.

The executive discussed the motion that Paul MacNeill wished to present at the board meeting. Since it is related to marketing, the executive suggested that it be put forward after Suzanne’s presentation:

RECOMMENDATION TO THE BOARD:
MOVED by Paul MacNeill, seconded by Greg Nesbitt THAT STAFF BE DIRECTED TO DEVELOP THEMES AND DESIGNS FOR A NEW LOGO AND MARKETING IDENTITY TO BE REVIEWED AT THE MAY 2010 MEETING. CARRIED.

The executive discussed another motion that they wished to put forward after the co-management committee report:

RECOMMENDATION TO THE BOARD:
MOVED by Mike Williscraft, seconded by Paul MacNeill THAT CCNA AFFIRM ITS CO-MANAGEMENT AGREEMENT WITH CNA AND WISHES TO ENTER INTO A LONG-TERM CO-MANAGEMENT AGREEMENT WITH TERMS AND CONDITIONS TO BE REVIEWED EVERY 2 YEARS. CARRIED.

A discussion took place regarding CCNA’s representatives on the co-management committee. The board will have the option to affirm the current representatives or appoint new ones.

The executive agreed that “Nominating committee” should be added to Other Business in the board meeting agenda. Mike Williscraft will strike a nominating committee, which will be responsible for developing terms and conditions for co-management representatives.

The executive discussed the activities of the two new committees: the government relations committee and the research strategy committee.

10. OTHER BUSINESS

None.

11. DATE OF NEXT MEETING

The next meeting of the CCNA executive committee will be held on Wednesday, May 12, 2010, in conjunction with CNA/CCNA’s 2010 Ink & Beyond conference in Toronto.

12. IN-CAMERA SESSION

None.

13. ADJOURNMENT

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 8:50 AM on a motion by Greg Nesbitt.