University of Minnesota Communicators Forum, Board minutes for Nov. 2, 2011
Present: Kelly O’Brien, Didi Nguyen, Adam Overland, Caryn Lantz, Nichole Axtman, Lindsey
Heffern, Jen Swain, Lani Payette, Abby Musfeldt
Meeting agenda approved.
Chair report
Kaari will not be returning to the U, so how will the CF fill her position as chair of M&P committee?:
1) Declare vacancy on listserv.
2) Send recommendations to Kelly by Nov. 4
Kelly met with Diana Harvey of UR. Diana hopes for collaboration with the Forum. There is a “directors” problem that she recognizes in the forum, and will tackle how to get them more involved.
Diana suggested a program on Gov’t Relations so communicators are aware of legislative issues and how they can support advocacy.
Treasury report
There were $1680 in membership last month (renewals, some new).
Conference committee report
The committee has selected 12 session topics (screen-printing, media from MPR, social media metrics, director session on managing up and down, typography, building a marketing plan, and some speakers.
We have 4 potential keynote speakers to pursue: Michelle Norris (alum), Lifetime Fitness CEO, General
Mills Brand Manager on Wheaties Campaign, Mashable CEO.
Programs committee report
There were two program held in October. A “Strategy Circle - Promoting Strategies on a Budget:
Internal PR with guest speaker Anna Kucerna” on Oct. 20.
--20 people attended. The first ⅔ of the event was a presentation; the second ⅓ was a Q and A session.
Discussion was lively and participants were able to discuss topics among themselves.
“Beginners’ Circle - Photography 101 with Patrick O’Leary” on October 25. 34 people attended. The evaluations indicated that a follow up session may be appreciated. Topics might include: a photography workshop, using U of M templates efficiently, basic web design best practices (particularly using photos well).
The committee will meet and discuss the November programs on Thursday (Nov. 3). So far, they have
Jen Kane from Kane Consulting speaking on November 20 for Expert Insights. She will be talking about communicating public value. Jen hopes to have November, December, January and February’s programming done within the next week or two.

Issue: Due to changing jobs and other unforeseen circumstances, 3 committee members quit the programs committee. We will now focus on 3 groups: Expert Insights, Beginners’ Circle, and Strategy
Circle. (Unless of course we get some more volunteers).
The committee is looking to collaborate with PCMC in the spring, but little has been decided.
There were some issues with online registration for the October 25 event.
The committee is looking at creating a Google Doc form for program evaluations and finding a more accurate way of monitoring who actually attends our programs.
At-large director report
Kate has found four promising options for software/scripts for Margo's List, and a review site that reviews review software. Next, she will put together a comparison chart and short demonstration of each one for the next meeting. The chart would include price and price structure (i.e., ongoing fees or one time cost), programming language, if it can tie into Shib so members can log in with Internet ID + password, other technical comments, any distinguishing features.
Technology report
Lani is waiting for an update from Kevin. She is watching the membership count and sending out renewal reminders manually.
Lani added committee member names to the site. Chairs may want to verify. She also added a new
Twitter feed to the site with clickable links.
Awards committee no report
Chair-elect
Planning a Forum happy hour on November 10 or 17 for Happy Hour at the Republic... Happy Hour: