Thanks so much to Travis Armknecht and Grand Center Arts Academy for hosting. We all wish we had more time to explore the building.

In attendance:

• Travis Armknecht, Grand Center Arts Academy
• Brian Heyman, Pattonville
• Emily Jorgensen, Marquette
• Aaron Manful, Francis Howell North
• Tara Stepanek, Parkway Central
• Elisha Strecker, Eureka
• Tim Woodcock, Grand Center Arts Academy

Conference Feedback

Brian shared the conference feedback. Thank you to the five schools that completed it. The feedback was helpful. Some conference thoughts:

• Students would appreciate more interaction.
• We may eliminate the senior write-off.
• Seemed like a good balance of sessions overall; students would like even more sessions; we may look at eliminating keynote in order to do that.
• Some of the university speakers pushed their schools rather than addressed a topic.

Interested in planning for next year’s conference? Please contact Emily Jorgensen and Elisha Strecker, 2016 co-presidents, at [email protected] and let us know. We are looking to form a committee.

Finance Update

Tara shared a preliminary financial report before we addressed scholarships. Overall conference expenses (please remembers these numbers are rough):

• Between the Bruce Schneider Memorial Scholarship, the rental for the gym floor covering, tables and chairs and the student lunches, the conference costs the organization about $7,000.
• Currently we have about $1,100 in the bank with $2,800 in outstanding balances.
• Contest judges have been paid.

Scholarships

We regret to inform members that we will not be awarding any additional scholarships this year. We apologize to the Curtis Kenner and HL Hall scholarship applicants.

The organization is working on being fiscally sound and cannot afford to spend the funds.

If you would like to be a part of a committee tasked with funding these scholarships, please contact Emily Jorgensen and Elisha Strecker, 2016 co-presidents, at [email protected].

New Name

We are changing our name! SSP is now journalimSTL to match our website and Twitter handle.

Logo Contest

The organization is also launching a logo contest. Members will select the top candidates and member schools will vote to determine the winner.

Member Survey

We will also be sending out a membership survey soon. Feel free to take it now. Be sure to follow @journalismSTL for updates.

Website

We hope you have noticed the updates to the website.

Mission Statement

We are working on our mission statement. “To educate and support advisers and their students as they endeavor to innovate the coverage of the daily events and people who shape their communities.”

Suggestions? Contact Emily Jorgensen and Elisha Strecker, 2016 co-presidents, at [email protected].

Adviser Bio Feature

Let’s get to know each other. We are asking students to complete this form about their advisers so we can feature a member each week.

Staff Photos

Send us photos of your staffs during class or a work day and be featured on the website!