Committees Archives - Outdoor Writers Association of America

Volunteer to give back to OWAA

OWAA Developer — Sun, 02 Apr 2017 00:07:14 +0000

BY PHIL BLOOM, FORT WAYNE, INDIANA
I once saw a sign hanging on the fence by a youth sports ball field. The sign’s message stated: “Before you complain … have you volunteered yet?”
There are a lot of reasons OWAA remains a strong organization.
Volunteers head the list.
While we value our headquarters staff, OWAA likely wouldn’t survive without the commitment of members to serve as officers, directors, or on one of the many committees working to make it a better organization.
Our bylaws outline most of the committees that carry over from year to year — awards, board nominating, conference program, contests (EIC), craft improvement, development, education, ethics, finance, marketing, member recruitment, member services, national affairs and environment, sections, strategic planning and more.
The makeup of some committees is also established in the bylaws. For instance, the officer nominating committee is comprised of second-year board members, and you have to be a former OWAA president to be on the past presidents council.
But there’s plenty of other work to be done. Important work. And you can help. Each year, the OWAA president-elect is tasked with populating the various committees and assigning them tasks. The committees are finalized and approved by the board of directors at the summer meeting.
So, this is a callout to OWAA members to volunteer for committee work that will begin in Duluth, Minnesota, in 2017 and end in Fort Wayne, Indiana, in 2018.
Volunteer work is rewarding. It not only helps keep the OWAA ball rolling, but also gives you the opportunity to become acquainted with other OWAA members and expand your network.
It also helps build a résumé of service should you someday decide to run for the Board of Directors or for one of the OWAA officer positions.
To get an idea of what’s involved, visit the Members Area of OWAA’s website and find the link to our bylaws. They’re listed under Article IX.
If you see something that interests you, send me an email at philbloom.owaa@frontier.com.
Please, no axe grinding allowed.
As Dr. Albert Schweitzer once said about volunteering: “Even if it is a little thing, do something for which there is no pay but the privilege of doing it. Remember, you don’t live in a world all of your own.”
— Phil Bloom, a member since 1991, is OWAA’s vice-president. He’ll take the helm as president this summer.

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Board service benefits: Reasons to get involved in OWAA

OWAA Developer — Fri, 01 Apr 2016 16:30:26 +0000

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BY KRIS MILLGATE
I hear ocean. I smell salt, but I’m camped out in a conference room and what I see around the table has most of my attention. Most of it. Not counting the glances I make toward the tall, glass doors opening to the salty water and balmy weather.
I’m at OWAA’s winter board meeting, hosted by Lee County Visitor and Convention Bureau. The lure of a sunny spot in January and stories I can sell to multiple outlets when I return home to Idaho made it worth the time and cost of the trip, but so did a chance to gather with some of the best outdoor communicators in the business, to talk about the nation’s oldest and largest professional organization for our field.
When OWAA member Matt Miller nudged me toward membership in 2009, I didn’t know it would lead to a seat on the board, but here I sit watching the board celebrate and struggle. We celebrate membership recruitment. We struggle with the budget.
OWAA’s biggest asset is a chance to build relationships and learn from the best of the best. You can build these relationships by attending OWAA’s annual conference. You can foster these relationships by reaching out via email or phone calls. But I’ve learned the best way to really get to know some of the best outdoor writers, photographers, filmmakers and media relations professions is to get involved.
I gave up the newsroom grind when I went freelance to start my own production company, Tight Line Media, in 2006. Serving on the board helps me build a virtual newsroom full of all-star outdoor communicators.
Look at our board. It is full of names you’ll see presenting at conference, writing craft improvement articles and winning awards.
And they’ve become my virtual newsroom.
President Lisa Ballard always has a thoughtful comment about any topic. Thoughtful is insightful.
First Vice President Brett Prettyman and I talk often. He’s the best on my bad days. If our virtual newsroom had a water cooler, I’d meet him there every day.
Second Vice President Phil Bloomand OWAA legal counsel Bill Powellare walking vaults of valuable information and historical OWAA knowledge. Those two know it all in their own humble, quiet way.
Treasurer Ty Stockton boldly takes on finances in a world full of writers. I envy his mathematical adaptations.
Supporter liaison Katie McKaliphas a strategic skillset that turns politics into pudding. I’m always interested in pudding so I seek her perspective.
Board member Paul Vang plays the quiet game, but he’s listening and he eagerly lays his two cents on the table when the time is right. He reminds me of the power of observation.
Tom Keer carries around a brilliant business mind and he doles out details worth listening to at any time.
Vicki Mountz, Sam Caldwell and Brent Frazee use creative tactics to get things done. Creative is good. I respect that. They remind me to think about problems in new ways.
Mike Zlotnicki is alert. He’s new to the board and he knows it. He’s learning the trade before he throws any tricks, but I know he has something up his sleeve and I can’t wait to see what it is and what I’ll learn from working with him.
Colleen Miniuk-Sperry runs as crazy as I do, only she loves photo where I love video. Thanks to her, my still camera is no longer in auto-mode.
Paul Queneau doesn’t know it, but he’s my IT staff. I’m always hitting him up for techie insight.
Paul Smith is a journalist I contact often when I’m working on West Coast stories that need Midwest perspective. He also taught me a face flash trick for photos during our trip to Florida. Now I think of him every time I use it.
Through my service, I also know OWAA staff better. Executive Director Tom Sadler is just as intense about promoting OWAA as I am about turning a solid story.
Membership and Conference Services director Jessica Seitz is over-the-top organized and even I can learn something from her tactics — which is saying something coming from me, an organized obsessive freak.
Outdoors Unlimited editor Kelsey Dayton is relentless when it comes to collecting content for our publication. Relentless is my middle name.
These people are my newsroom and my friends. Sure, we serve an organization together, but the exchange of ideas and skills impacts me far beyond what goes on around that boardroom table. In the following pages you’ll read about the slate of candidates offering to serve on our board for the next three years. Read about their visions for OWAA and then think of your own, for the organization and also your career. Then get involved.
Offer to serve on a committee, run for the board, or agree to become an officer.
I won’t lie, it takes work, but the rewards you reap from serving OWAA last long beyond your term. So do the friendships.
— Kris Millgate is an outdoor journalist based in Idaho Falls, Idaho. She produces print and video content for media outlets nationwide. She also owns Tight Line Media, delivering exceptional productions from first word to final edit. www.tightlinemedia.com
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2014-2015 OWAA Committees and Chairs

OWAA staff — Fri, 01 Aug 2014 22:25:20 +0000

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AWARDS
Bill Graham
BOARD NOMINATING
Brent Frazee
CONFERENCE PROGRAM
Brett Prettyman
CONTESTS
Phil Bloom
CRAFT IMPROVEMENT
Kris Millgate
DEVELOPMENT
Rich Patterson
DIVERSITY
Eric Morris
EDUCATION
Jason Jenkins
ETHICS
Terry Brady
FINANCE
Ty Stockton
HISTORY
TBD
MARKETING
Paul Queneau
MEMBER RELATIONS
Colleen Miniuk-Sperry
MEMBERSHIP
Chris Hunt
NATIONAL AFFAIRS & ENVIRONMENT
Paul Smith
NORM STRUNG YOUTH WRITING
Steve Budnik
OFFICER NOMINATING
Brent Frazee
PAST PRESIDENT’S COUNCIL
Bill Graham
SECTIONS
Brett Prettyman
STRATEGIC PLANNING
Matt Miller
SUPPORTER RELATIONS
Brett Prettyman
TECHNOLOGY
TBD
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One member at a time: OWAA must grow to prosper

OWAA staff — Tue, 01 Apr 2014 23:18:32 +0000

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BY CHRIS HUNT
Last September in Lake Placid, N.Y., executive director Tom Sadler made a comment that’s stuck with me.
“If every member of our organization recruited just one member, we’d double the size of OWAA,” he said.
I sat there with my fellow board members, stunned at the simplicity. How tough would it be for everybody in the organization, or even just everybody in the room for the annual business meeting, to bring in a single new member?
Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock the past few years, you likely know that OWAA has undergone some contraction of late. While there’s momentum building within our ranks, and the future is starting to look bright, that future can only become a reality if we continue to foster our membership and welcome new faces.
I was introduced to OWAA by Scott Stouder, one of my mentors, and not just in the outdoor communications world. Stouder has what many in our ranks have — passion. He is passionate about his work, passionate about his writing and passionate about OWAA. Since that introduction, Stouder has gone on to win the Circle of Chiefs Award and do some amazing things on behalf of hunting and fishing in our home state of Idaho. He’s one of my heroes.
At the last couple of conferences, I’ve looked around the room during the times when most of us come together — meals and presentations, hospitality suites and the banquet. I’m in awe of the company I share. There are many “heroes” in OWAA who communicate the raw and simple pleasures of spending time afield in pursuit of fish or game. I read many of their works growing up and their love of the outdoors and the way they shared that enthusiasm to the world inspired me to become a better sportsmen. It’s likely that I do what I do today because I was inspired by these men and women. They were — and still are — my heroes.
I know there are aspiring communicators out there who yearn to share their passion for the outdoors with others. Perhaps they write a blog, or record a weekly podcast. Maybe they write the fishing report for the local weekly, or spend their weekends with their camera in hand, recording their adventures.
My guess is they have been inspired by someone — quite possibly an OWAA member. Put yourself in their shoes. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if you got a phone call or an email from one of your heroes asking you to become a part of the organization that nurtured so many quality communicators? Wouldn’t you love that call?
OWAA has done so much for me. It connected with me a network of colleagues, helped me improve my craft, made my job more productive and introduced me to friends that I know will have for life. I recognize the need to give back to this fine organization and the best way I can help it now is to help it grow.
Just one member. Can you do that? Can you make one phone call? Send one email? If you can make the initial contact and gauge the interest of just one potential member, you can make a big difference for OWAA today and well into the future. Once you’ve made contact with someone interested in the organization, feel free to turn their information over to me or Sadler. We’ll close the deal.
Our beloved organization needs us to help it grow and prosper once again.
OWAA needs its heroes.
— Chris Hunt serves on the OWAA Board of Directors and is the chairman of the Membership Committee. You can reach him at chunt@tu.org.
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2013-2014 OWAA Committees and Chairs

OWAA staff — Mon, 02 Dec 2013 00:00:38 +0000

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AWARDS
Mark Taylor
BOARD NOMINATING
Kevin Rhoades
BYLAWS REVISION
Tim Mead
CONFERENCE PROGRAM
Lisa Densmore
CONTESTS
Pat Stockdill and Dawn Faught
CRAFT IMPROVEMENT
Kris Millgate
DEVELOPMENT
Phil Bloom
DIVERSITY
Bill Graham
EDUCATION
Jason Jenkins
ETHICS
Terry Brady
FINANCE
Jack Ballard
MARKETING
Paul Queneau
MEMBER RELATIONS
Colleen Miniuk-Sperry
MEMBERSHIP
Chris Hunt
NATIONAL AFFAIRS & ENVIRONMENT
Paul Smith
NORM STRUNG YOUTH WRITING
Steve Budnik
OFFICER NOMINATING
Tim Mead
PAST PRESIDENT’S COUNCIL
Mark Taylor
SECTIONS
Lisa Densmore
STRATEGIC PLANNING
Matt Miller
SUPPORTER RELATIONS
Lisa Densmore
TECHNOLOGY
Paul Queneau
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