Communication Focus Area Committee Minutes
March Quarterly Board
Northfield Inn
John Beckhart, Chairman
March 3, 2008
Present: Absent:
Chairman – John Beckhart Mark Besse
Lee Bunting Van Bitner
Ken Kessler Dick Breckenridge
Dave McCormick Jody Christiansen
Tom Anderson Terry Davis
Amy Ishmael Rich Nichols
Annyce Winters John Maudlin
Phyllis Mace
Chris Davis
Steve Higgins
Chairman John Beckhart called the meeting to order at 1:00 p.m.
Approval of Minutes
Minutes of the December Communication Focus Area Committee were reviewed. Lee Bunting made a motion to approve the December Communications Focus Area Committee meeting minutes. Tom Anderson seconded the motion, motion carried by voice vote.
Old Business
Radio Announcements
John introduced Chris Davis from Illinois Environmental Protection Agency. Chris stated that EPA funded the radio announcements about the urban fertilizer use. She stated that they had been well received. She also reported that districts may want to contact her if they feel that they have issues that would warrant assistance from IEPA.
Conservation Catchall
John Deere was the only add sold in the Conservation Catchall.
New Business
Summer Conference
John stated that he had talked to Dave Dickie from WILL radio in Champaign about being at Summer Conference.
Chicago Radio Ads
John said that Sarah Dillman had looked into costs of radio ads to be run in Chicago and collar counties. The radio ads would run from $250.00 up depending on the station and the amount of time for each ad. John asked if everyone thought we should move on because of funding. A question was raised about whether there had been a NRCS grant that was to be used for advertising and if so had it been used yet. A question was asked if the funding were available should they target Chicago and urban areas or rural. The consensus was that ads should be directed at urban areas to educate them on what we do.
Lee Bunting made a motion that if the money is available ads should be run in the Chicago area as soon as possible. Tom Anderson seconded the motion, motion carried by voice vote.
Adopt a Legislator
Illinois Farm Bureau has adopt a legislator. Should districts adopt an Urban Legislator to bring them out of the city and educate them about rural areas? It was discussed about forming a partnership with Farm Bureau to promote their adopt a legislator program. Discussion was held concerning the importance of working with local Farm Bureaus.
AISWCD and District Office Communication
What can we do to improve communication between districts and the association office? This was brought up during mid-exec conference call in February. Discussion was held.
SWCD Program Data Base
A suggestion was made to form a group that could gather information concerning the accomplishments of each district in the state and place that information in a data base to be used when discussing districts to legislators. The information would be very useful for the AISWCD when talking to legislators not just in Illinois but in Washington as well. It would also be useful when explaining to the public what Soil and Water Conservation Districts do.
Partnerships
Discussion was held concerning partners such as Ducks Unlimited, Quail Unlimited, etc. to see if they would give us funds to support their programs.
Adjournment
Tom Anderson made a motion to adjourn. Lee Bunting seconded the motion, motion carried by voice vote. Meeting adjourned at 2:10 p.m.