From Portland Afoot

Chris, Brian, Jessica and Carrie at the February 2011 board meeting.

The volunteer board of directors of Portland in the Round sets the direction and policies of the nonprofit corporation that publishes Portland Afoot.

[edit] Members

As of June 2012, the board has six members:

• Lenny Anderson, executive director of the Swan Island Business Association, founder of the Swan Island Transportation Management Association, former team member of the Transit Gazette and longtime low-car transportation advocate. Lenny lives in northeast Portland.
• Charley Gee, associate attorney at the bike- and pedestrian-oriented law firm Swanson, Thomas and Coon. Charley lives in southeast Portland and also serves on the board of local nonprofit support group Umbrella.
• Cora Potter, service specialist and "Jill of all trades" at Ride Connection, board member at Green Lents and Citizens Advisory Committee member at Portland Streetcar, among other things. Cora lives in southeast Portland and serves as chair of Portland in the Round.
• Carrie Schmid, ESD volunteer coordinator for Atalante Mujeres in Forest Grove. She holds a master's in journalism from the University of Oregon. Carrie lives in southeast Portland and serves as secretary of Portland in the Round.
• Brian K. Smith, software engineer for WindLogics Inc. Brian holds a master's in business administration from Portland State University, lives in northeast Portland and serves as treasurer of Portland in the Round.
• Chris Smith, a Portland planning commissioner, Portland Streetcar board member and the host of PortlandTransport.com. Chris works as internet technologist for Xerox Corporation in Wilsonville, lives in northwest Portland.

[edit] Meetings

The board currently meets four times a year, with occasional discussions by email.

[edit] Feb. 21, 2010

The board's first meeting was 3:30 to 6 p.m. on Feb. 21, 2010, at 8003 N. Wabash Ave. There, we:

• Met and discussed board members' skills/interests/etc.
• Adopted officer duties and appointed them.
• OK'd Michael as executive director, editor and publisher with an initial salary of $0.
• Reviewed Michael's business plan and draft budget projections and set performance goals for his tenure.
• Approved plans to apply for 501(c)3 status, formally launch Portland Afoot as the nonprofit's first project, apply for a variety of grants, accept the potential fiscal sponsorship of Impact Northwest and share reporting resources with BikePortland.org and PortlandWiki.
• Set our next regular board meeting for Aug. 8.

[edit] Aug. 9, 2010

The board's second meeting was 1 to 3:30 p.m. on Aug. 8, 2010, at 924 NE 65th Ave. Members present were Dean, Brian, Carrie, Jess and Michael. We:

• Reviewed the print product's strengths and weaknesses in its first four issues.
• Reviewed lessons and business plan changes from organization's first six months.
• Reviewed finances from the organization's first six months.
• Discussed a revised editorial independence policy.
• Agreed to open-source our business plan.
• Set a tentative date for our next regular board meeting: Sunday, Feb. 13.

[edit] Feb. 27, 2011

The board's third meeting was 11:30 to 1 p.m. on Feb. 27, 2011, at 924 NE 65th Ave. Members present were Dean Baker, Brian K. Smith, Carrie Pederson, Jess Cooper, Chris Smith and Michael Andersen, with Alexis Grant sitting in. We:

• Discussed the previous seven months of events at Portland Afoot, including partnerships, grant applications, circulation trends and growth strategies.
• Identified the challenges of growing revenue quickly enough to support Michael's continued work on the project.
• Discussed eventual transition for board members, with a goal of finding at least one new board member by the August meeting and planning on several turnovers in February 2012.
• Reviewed and approved a 2011 budget prepared by Jess and Michael.
• Made our annual signing of the conflict of interest statement in the bylaws.
• Agreed to meet next some time in August.

[edit] Aug. 14, 2011

The board's fourth meeting was 3 to 4:30 p.m. on Aug. 14, 2011, at 924 NE 65th Ave. Members present were Dean Baker, Brian K. Smith, Carrie Pederson and Chris Smith, with Jess Cooper attending via teleconference. We:

• Reviewed the least six months at Portland Afoot, including circulation growth, new partnerships, our new ODOT sponsorship and East Portland Media Equity Project grant and the need to build more ad revenue.
• Reviewed the 2011 budget.
• Approved Charley Gee as a new board member, discussed the need for possible new members and set a goal of recruiting at least one more in time to attend the February 2012 meeting.

[edit] June 9, 2012

The board's sixth meeting was 10 to 11:45 a.m. on June 9, 2012, at 924 NE 65th Ave. Members present were Charley Gee, Cora Potter, Carrie Schmid, Brian K. Smith and Chris Smith. We:

• Approved Cora Potter as a new board member and the new board chair.
• Briefly reviewed the 2012 budget to date.
• Discussed the growth in ad revenue and circulation thanks to the paid but self-driven efforts of contractors Joshua Force, Wes Miller and Lana Boles.
• Talked about Michael's sense that Portland Afoot won't be able to support editorial staff without public grants being part of the revenue, and the state of our plan to partner with Alta Bicycle Share, Portland State University and perhaps others including the Willamette Pedestrian Coalition, Portland Mercury and Street Roots to apply for a Regional Travel Options grant for 2013-2014. Carrie plans to take the lead on this grant for the board, with support from Michael and mentorship from Cora.
• Discussed several possibilities for distribution strategies in the future, including print and digital distribution, monthly and quarterly frequencies, and phone, tablet and desktop displays. We tentatively resolved, at Charley's suggestion, continue monthly print publication at least through the end of 2012, ideally longer, while gradually attempting to transition readers to digital subscriptions. This would begin by offering print subscribers the option to sign up for email subscriptions in addition to their print; to keep this going for six months or so; then move people to digital with an option to keep receiving paper if they want. Meanwhile, we plan to make improvements to the digital product.
• Tentatively agreed to meet Saturday, Sept. 8, from 10-11:30 a.m.