Minutes General Meeting October 29, 2013

Minutes of the General Meeting

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

New Kingston Conference Centre (NKCC)

New Kingston Business Centre, 30 Dominica Drive, Kingston 10

Present

• Mr Christopher Benjamin, President, Consultant
• Mr Rohan Powell, VP Membership, RJR
• Ms Maxine Francis, Assistant General Secretary, King's House
• Mrs Janneth Mornan Green, Past President, Media Central Ltd
• Ms Cheryl Smith, Ministry of Finance and Planning
• Mr Durrant Pate, Institute of Jamaica
• Mr Ellis James Laing, Bureau of Standards
• Mrs Gwyneth Davidson, General Secretary, Cabinet Office

Apologies

• Past President Dayner Azzellino
• Ms Meris Haughton, Tax Administration of Jamaica
• Ms Karelle McCormack, Jamaica 4H 
• Phillip Hamilton, International University of the Caribbean
• Dr Carrole Guntley, Ministry of Tourism
• Dr Carroll Edwards, University of the West Indies
• Ms Camille Taylor, PCJ

Visitors

• Mr Oludie Brown, auto trader
• Mr Richard Brown, Student of Business, University of Technology 

The meeting was called to order at 6:17 PM by President Benjamin.

GENERAL DISCUSSION

Janneth Mornan Green, Cheryl Smith, Durrant Pate,
visitor Utech student, Richard Brown

Avoiding Bad News
The meeting discussed current public affairs and President Benjamin noted the quote by UK publicist Max Clifford, "Hiding from people is never a solution."

Others in the meeting endorsed that trying to maintain an information vacuum is not good as it leads to speculation. It was also generally agreed that any information officer who sought to encourage executives to take the initiative and inform the public could be punished.

Views on National Mass Media Content
The ongoing challenges of having stories that do not have an "exciting" lead or events that may not win over an audience carried in main stream media was discussed.

There was also discussion on the struggle that some producers have to attempt as they try to replicate what is offered in US markets and they ignore indigenous material. The TVJ programme All Together Sing was commended for being a programme with local content and focus that was of high quality.

Rohan Powell, visitor Oludie Brown, Maxine Francis

MATTERS ARISING
2013 Communicator Conference
President Benjamin advised the meeting that factors including the change in the exchange rate was behind the decision not to have a main presenter from overseas. The current model of the conference is to have a series of six panels of business experts across various industries and professional disciplines.

The objectives of the conference are:
Facilitate professional development of ideas through sharing experiences
Lift the profile of the society
Fundraising for the society.

J Mornan Green suggested several persons who had stories to tell of outstanding PR experiences; she also noted the need to attract the interest of practitioners in the 25 to 40 age group.

The registration for the conference was being targetted for $10,000 for non-members and $8,500 for members. J Mornan Green suggested that the society raise sponsorships and keep the registration fee at no more than $6,000 per person.

Christopher Benjamin, Maxine Francis, Ellis James Laing

NEW BUSINESS
Christmas Event
It was suggested that the society host an event on December 15. R Foster and D Pate to investigate the possibility of having the event at the Press Association of Jamaica.

ANY OTHER BUSINESS
There was general discussion on several matters.

Personal Mentions

Congratulations
The meeting received the welcome news that Past President Dayner Clarke had given birth and wished her every happiness.

Condolences
The meeting extended condolences to Executive Member Rohan Powell who recently buried his mother.

DATE OF NEXT MEETING
The date of the next meeting is, 5:30PM November 19, 2013, NKCC.

ADJOURNMENT

The meeting was adjourned at 7:30 PM on a motion moved by President Benjamin and seconded by M Francis.

/gd