AAN members voted on several key matters during the
association’s annual meeting on Saturday, July 17. Eleven seats on the Board of Directors were filled, three
publications were admitted into the association, and a bylaws amendment
allowing online-only publications to apply for membership was passed by an
overwhelming majority.
Two Executive Committee seats were filled: Ellen Meany (Isthmus) was re-elected as Treasurer and
Sally Freeman (Boise Weekly) was
elected as Secretary. In addition, Matt Walsh (City Newspaper) was elected as Design and Production Chair, Jimmy
Boegle (Tucson Weekly) was voted in as Diversity Chair, Jeff Lawrence (Boston’s Weekly Dig) was approved as Marketing Chair, and Margaret
Downing (Houston Press) was elected
as Membership Chair.
Amy Austin (Washington
City Paper), Carly Carioli (Boston
Phoenix), Michael Hollett (NOW
Magazine) and Christine Oreskovich (The
Coast) were each elected to At-Large seats. Oreskovich and Hollett will
each serve two-year terms. Austin and Carioli are filling the seats vacated by
Downing and Freeman, and will serve out the remaining year of their terms.
Rounding out the board, Margo Dubos (Gambit) was elected to Convention Chair, which means New Orleans
will be the site of AAN’s 2011 Annual Convention next summer.
The board is also losing four members. At-Large member Jody
Colley (East Bay Express), Marketing
Chair Jim Rizzi (Salt Lake City Weekly),
Membership Chair Erin Sullivan (Orlando
Weekly), and Secretary Sioux Watson (Independent
Weekly) each stepped down and were thanked for their years of service to
the association.
AAN is also welcoming three new publications as members.
After receiving the endorsement of the Membership Committee, JH Weekly (Jackson Hole, WY), Lagniappe (Mobile, AL) and Yes! Weekly (Greensboro, NC) each
received the votes necessary to join the association.
Finally, in a momentous bylaws change, AAN opened its doors
to allow non-print publications to apply for membership. Applying publications
will still have to meet existing membership criteria and undergo the same
rigorous screening process that print publications go through. No publications
were under consideration this year, however the stage is set for online-only
publications to join AAN as soon as next year, when the next crop of applicants
is reviewed and voted on in New Orleans.
