March 31st MAPBA Meeting

The Mississippi Associated Press Broadcasters Association held a meeting on March 31, 2009, to discuss several issues for the upcoming 2008 MAPBA Awards Banquet on April 11. Here are the minutes from Tuesday's meeting.

The meeting began with a review and a couple of revisions to the banquet program. The board decided to slot time for the introduction and brief speeches for the Hall of Fame Induction and announcement of the new board members and vice president. Board member Bob Burks made motions to renominate all of the board members with terms expiring in 2009 and nominate WTVA's Craig Ford for a position on the board. The motions were approved.

The board also approved a motion to sever the responsibilities of producing next year's awards tape from the vice presidency and approved the nomination of board member Sunny Smith to the Vice President post.

The board later discussed planning issues for the MAPBA with the elimination of the Jackson AP bureau's broadcast editor's position. The board agreed to share the planning responsibilities among board members with the AP offering scaled-back assistance.

The dates of April 10, 2010, and April 17, 2010, were approved as possible dates for next year's banquet. The board discussed a possible move of the event from Jackson after an announcement that the Capital Club has an agreement with several country clubs and facilities across the state. However, due to logistic issues and last year's survey, a future move was ruled out. The 2009 banquet will be held in Jackson.

The board ended the meeting with the selection of WDAM's Mike McDaniel as Newperson of the Year.