Highlights of the IFAJ business meeting Jan. 14, 2006, Berlin Germany By Mike Wilson, chairman, communications committee The business meeting began at 9:40 a.m. with President David Markey ( Ireland) opening the meeting with an overview of the day's agenda.   President's report Mr. Markey gave a report and congratulated the Swiss on an outstanding 2005 Congress. He also noted that the organization was looking forward to an excellent Congress to be held in Norway Aug. 12-16. Mr. Markey put together an ad-hoc committee (Mr. Markey, Markus Rediger , Switzerland , Jacques Van Outryve, Belgium ) to come up with suggested activities to commemorate the 50th anniversary of IFAJ at the Norway Congress. Mr. Markey also noted that some members of the IFAJ Exec were finding it difficult to cover important press conferences at GreenWeek, and recommended a lighter work schedule for IFAJ meetings in 2007. Mr. Markey also proposed that the IFAJ would produce a 4-page color brochure with GreenWeek-related articles that had been written by IFAJ execs, and then present this brochure to key Messe Berlin executives. The articles should be sent to Mike Wilson ( United States ) by Feb. 14. The format will be PDF and will be available at www.IFAJ.org. Mr. Markey also pointed out that membership expansion is a worthy goal but that we need to make sure that our current members are satisfied.   Secretary General's report Ulla-Mari Sundelin-Ryytty ( Finland) reported that there are 30 member countries but that we have lost contact with Uganda and Serbia-Montenegro, despite repeated attempts. It was agreed that we would make August 2006 a deadline and if the countries will not pay membership fees by then the organization will move for dismissal. She also said 300 press cards were sent out last year and reminds all execs that now is the time to order press cards. Execs should work with Ulla-Mari in advance if they have questions about digital photos used in press cards.   Treasurer's report Markus Rediger handed out current accounts for IFAJ and noted that all accounts are not final yet. He also explained the procedures for transferring funds to and from IFAJ. He urged the execs to pay press cards and membership fees promptly. Markus will present the completed 2006 budget at the delegate assembly in Norway in August. Read his full report HERE.   Vice president's report Mike Wilson gave a brief outline of IFAJ communications activities in the past year, including improvements in the website, and the new E-newsletter, recently launched by newsletter editor Liz Kellaway. Mike talked about developing a director of freelance writers and photographers that could be kept on the web, as well as the new member forum link at the website, where members can discuss issues and hot topics. Further details are found in the communications report.   Upcoming Congress reports Rasmus Lang-Ree ( Norway) gave a report on the IFAJ Congress to be held in Norway, Aug. 12-16, under the theme, "Feed the senses." He passed out a brochure detailing the excursions and explained that the registration would be approximately 850 Euro per person for early registration (before April 1, 2006). Registration after that date will cost about 70 Euro more. He also talked about pre- and post- Congress tours, including a "whale safari." The pre congress tour costs about 1,400 Euro and the post congress tour costs about 700 Euro (actual costs can be found at the IFAJ website or the Host country website, www.ifaj2006.com). Rasmus says the Norwegians are expecting 150-175 delegates. Mr. Markey asked for a show of hands from each IFAJ exec to predict how many would come from each country. Mr. Wilson urged execs to promote the event among their members between now and April. Satoru Mizuguchi ( Japan) sent best wishes from IFAJ exec Masaru Yamada ( Japan), who could not attend. Mr. Mizuguchi gave an update on 2007 Congress, which will be held in Japan, Sept. 17-23. He handed out a brochure and said the registration fee would be around 1,000 Euro for an 8-day Congress. Registration will be available (www.jaja.cside.ne.jp/english.htm) at the beginning of 2007. The IFAJ Exec from Austria was not at the meeting to comment on the 2008 Congress.   Constitutional amendments Mr. Markey introduced past President Paul Queck ( United States) to discuss proposed changes to the IFAJ constitution. Mr. Markey had asked Paul to go through the IFAJ constitution and rules to help streamline and modernize the organization. A lengthy debate ensued on the first major suggested change regarding the official languages of IFAJ. The execs voted to leave the IFAJ with three official languages - French, German, English - and let the exec decide which working languages would be used for official documents and functions. Hans Siemes (The Netherlands) proposed to change the name and the description of the organization in the constitution, based on the premise that the IFAJ is made up of more than just journalists. Hans made a motion and Niels Jorgensen ( Denmark) seconded it; lengthy discussion followed and eventually the motion to make a small adjustment in the IFAJ's description passed, but the motion to change the name itself failed. Next, Mr. Siemes recommended changing the constitution to allow a vote by proxy even if no delegates were present at a meeting. This change was accepted. Next, the proposal to make the vice president a 'president-elect' was discussed; lengthy discussion followed. This concept was failed. Other minor changes were discussed and accepted, and the entire package of accepted proposals will be forwarded to the delegate assembly for a vote at the Norway Congress. Committee reports Finance and Sponsorship committee Co-chairmen David Markey and Markus Rediger ( Switzerland) gave a report on finance and sponsorship activities. IFAJ has produced a sponsorship guidelines brochure outlining the various sponsorship opportunities and guidelines in any IFAJ-sponsor relationship. DeLaval has agreed to sponsor the photo awards for three more years. Merial has agreed to continue sponsoring the website. John Deere is continuing its sponsorship of the Star Prize writing contest. IFAJ execs Marina Tell ( Sweden) and Katharina Seuser ( Germany) have accepted new assignments as coordinators for the writing and photo contests. They will be putting together budgets and moving these activities forward. IFAJ wishes to thank Paul Queck for his work coordinating these events. Mr. Markey also noted that the IFAJ has a new sponsor in Alltech. The company pledged to give 5,000 Euro per year, which will go to provide five travel grants for five young IFAJ members (age 30 or below) to annual Congresses. This will give some young people a chance to expand their professional networks. Criteria include having an outlet for reporting on the Congress, and explaining in an application how the experience would benefit the applicant. This form will be developed and distributed to all IFAJ execs. The form will be distributed by Feb. 1 and the deadline for submitting the application to the General Secretary will be April 1. The execs briefly discussed weighing the grants toward poorer countries. The exec eventually agreed to leave the program open to all IFAJ members but to leave final discretion for award selection to the membership committee. Past president Hans Matthiesen ( Germany) reported that he has met with a number of individuals from several companies but has not yet made any sponsorship agreements. Mr. Markey reported that he has tentatively arranged to have Alltech sponsor a meeting for the entire IFAJ Exec in the company's headquarters in Kentucky in April 2007. If this happens it may mean a scaled-back meeting during GreenWeek 2007 to keep costs in check. Read the committee's full report HERE.   Membership committee Chairman Hans Siemes reported that Argentina has applied to become a member of IFAJ and that they have sent him the required paperwork, including their country's constitution and list of members, and that all are in order. Argentina is celebrating its 50th anniversary in April and wishes to announce their IFAJ affiliation at this event. The Exec approved Argentina's application for membership and will move it forward to the delegate assembly for full ratification in Norway. Argentina will be invited to the Congress and Carlos Hernandez ( Spain) volunteered to help with translations related to any official correspondence or invitation from IFAJ. The membership committee has completed an extensive survey of membership that includes detailed information from 20 of the IFAJ's 30 members. Mr. Siemes asked that we develop a mission statement for IFAJ to clearly explain the benefits of the organization. His committee came up with a series of recommendations based on the survey. The report can be found HERE.   Host country liaison committee Chairman James Campbell ( Ireland) says the committee evaluated the feedback from the Swiss Congress and as a result, developed a nice list of tips for future organizers. These will be incorporated into the Congress Guidelines. Regarding the 2007 Congress, the committee urged the Japanese organizers to make sure they have plenty of signage in English to avoid confusion and to avoid problems like food allergies. Austria-Slovenia (2008) held a meeting with the Swiss organizers to learn some valuable tips. The committee also commented that they were concerned that the 2009 Congress, to be held in the U.S., would be overshadowed by holding it in conjunction with the Americans' annual meeting. Canada has been approved as Congress host for 2011. Some countries are now in consideration as future hosts, including Belgium in 2010. Paul Queck recommended keeping a database of past participants so that future organizers could call upon this list as potential participants. James said his committee would look into further promotional activities. There was some discussion about changing the maximum fees. Currently, Congress guidelines say a Congress should cost no more than 1,000 Euro per person for non-Europe congresses and no more than 750 Euro for Europe-based congresses. Read the committee's full report HERE.   Communications committee Chairman Mike Wilson ( United States) reported that the first E-newsletter had been written and distributed to IFAJ executive members in late December. Editor Liz Kellaway ( Australia) and the committee developed this newsletter to help improve communication with, and services for, members around the globe. Ms. Kellaway had asked for feedback, nearly all of which has been positive, including comments made during this meeting. The e-newsletter will go out six times a year, an improvement from our current four times annual. Hans Siemes proposed that IFAJ provide just one printed newsletter, which would be formatted more like a 'yearbook' that explained all of the IFAJ's activities. This printed version would be made available to every member. This idea is still under consideration. Mr. Wilson noted that the reaction to the monthly email briefing to IFAJ execs has been positive and will be continued as a way to keep the execs updated. He also discussed several new initiatives for the website: a freelance directory; weekly features on journalists around the world; the new web-based IFAJ member forum that allows for broad discussion among members globally; and a web-based 'hot topic' source list for journalists who need sources on topics like WTO or Asian flu. Read the committee's full report HERE.   Professional development committee Chairman Owen Roberts discussed a project proposal with the Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC), in which the center will provide IFAJ with a special section on their website, as well as nine professional development articles for our website, plus four articles for our newsletter, for a cost of US$2,000. This pilot project with ACDC will help our members learn to do a better job researching data for articles. The ACDC would also create an international advisory committee and ask five key IFAJ members to take part in the committee. This proposal passed. Read his full report HERE.   Other business Ulla-Mari pointed out that 2006 is an election year for IFAJ and that all nominations must be sent to her in writing by June 12. Hans Matthiesen said he thought the IFAJ should change its rules to allow a president to stay in office more than four years, which is the current limit according to IFAJ constitution.   The meeting adjourned at 1:50 p.m. TOP