Communications Committee: Meetings & Calls

Committee Conference Call Minutes,
January 6, 2000

Participants:

Terry Larson, Cyra Jane Cain, co-chair Al Zemsky, Dwayne Arino, Karen Deike, Jeannine Coward, Pat Port, Terry Ross, Pat Murdo, Ruth McCormick, Dennis Haddow, Marc Smith, Dan Clark, Kathy Augustine, co-chair Barry Aarons, Liza Daley, Laura Tsosie, Carl Bowman, Kathy Van Dame, co-chair Jan Miller, Interim Project Manager Rich Halvey.

Budget for FY00:

Information about the Communications Committee budget for FY99 and a proposal for FY00 were distributed in advance. After discussion, Dan Clark moved and Kathy Van Dame seconded a motion to approve the FY00 budget as distributed:

Issues Outreach $40,000.

WRAP slide show updates 10,000.

Web Site revisions and Operations 50,000.

Affirmative Outreach 36,000.

TOTAL $136,000.

Approval was unanimous. The budget will be forwarded to the Planning Team which will meet later this month to put together a grant request for FY00.

Status of Current Projects:

A. Web Site Redevelopment and Webmaster.

Liza Daley introduced Laura Tsosie of the Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals at Northern Arizona University (520-523-7350), who will be Liza's alternate to the Communications Committee.

Liza will have a conference call with Chris McKinnon of WGA and Chuck Montgomery of Custom PC Services on January 12 to go over the work to begin immediately to improve the WRAP Web site. This should help avoid crashes on the site. She will distribute again the document outlining the changes prepared by the subcommittee and distributed several months ago for committee comment, and will send out notes to summarize her call with Chris and Chuck. The subcommittee also included Cyra Cain, Dwayne Arino and Al Zemsky. Committee members are encouraged to check the site regularly and forward any comments about what works and what doesn't to Liza.

So far it appears that contracting with a firm to operate the site will run about $50/hour. Rich Halvey reports that WGA has not yet decided whether a staff person can do this, or whether we need to contract. Rich noted that WGA administration of the federal funds is certain to be audited and WGA is being particularly careful to follow all federal procurement procedures. If we contract, Rich will solicit bids from firms we may wish to suggest. (RHalvey@westgov.org)

B. WRAP Communication Manual.

Pat Murdo and Jan Miller reported that the Manual was revised slightly at the request of the Coordinating Group and needs their final approval when they meet by phone later this month. Pat will revise Appendix A to incorporate any new Web site procedures.

C. WRAP Slide Show

Dan Clark showed the program just today and again it was well received. The Committee set a target date of April 1, 2000 to complete the next update, but with hope it can be ready to show at the next WRAP meeting which is likely to be in March or April.

D. Liaisons to Other Committees and Forums

Jeannine Coward reported that all meetings were covered through December. Dennis Haddow will work with Jeannine to find a substitute to cover the next Fire Emissions Joint Forum. (Hey, folks, it's in Phoenix--call Jeannine to volunteer.) Jan will cover the IOC meeting in Salt Lake City on January 10. We will plan to have an extended discussion of liaison operations at our next face to face meeting.

Affirmative Outreach:

Barry Aarons led a discussion of the paper he distributed earlier (attached) outlining the benefits and operation of a Speakers Bureau. We noted that WRAP has a good story and a good product--the slide show--for delivering the message; now we need to work on a coherent and comprehensive operation to get it into use. It is a labor-intensive job which could be done by a part-time staff person, but would probably be more effective if contracted to a public relations firm. (Barry notes that his firm does this sort of work, but would not bid on this project.) A contract could require, for example, that the firm ensure four presentations/month in each WRAP state, with some specification for tribal presentations as well. The proposal would also include training for speakers, development of handout materials, and outreach to potential viewers/listeners.

Committee members agreed this is probably the best method for outreach about the WRAP in general. Barry and Rich will work on a request for proposals; Kathy Augustine and Dan Clark will assist, with a goal of being ready to start sending out speakers in May. Rich noted that funding is not in our current budget, but we can work toward getting that worked out.

Next Face to Face Committee Meeting:

Committee members liked meeting in conjunction with the full WRAP, as we did last September, though the Committee meeting should precede the WRAP and we should be sure to schedule enough time to complete our business. As soon as the Coordinating Group sets a WRAP meeting date, Communications Committee members will be polled as to whether that time period will be suitable for our meeting.

New Business:

Ruth McCormick asked for assistance with outreach around the Annex which must be submitted to EPA by October 1, 2000. Most of the submittal will come from the Market Trading Forum, and we may want to begin publicity now to alert people that the details will be coming in the near future. Pat Murdo, Liza Daley, Laura Tsosie, Kathy Van Dame and Jan Miller volunteered to help.