November 17, 2011 Meeting

The meeting was held at Fox 40 TV in Jackson. Our guest speaker was Fox 40 Chief Meteorologist Dave Roberts. Dave provided a tour of the Fox 40 control room, studio, and weather center.

Meeting Minutes

Call to Order
The November NWA/AMS meeting of 2011 was called to order at 7:08 p.m. and was officially opened by Corresponding Secretary, Mr. Eric Carpenter. The Chapter meeting was hosted by the FOX 40 TV News Station at One Great Place, Jackson, MS. Guests were offered refreshments prior to the meeting.

Rolls
Recording Secretary Ms. Nancy Lopez took attendance, and the sign-in sheet confirmed 16 attendees.

Minutes Approval and New Business
Treasurer, Ms. Joanne Culin gave an update on the financial report. She collected $100 at the meeting and had formerly collected $55 with funds totaling $155. Regular Chapter member dues are $20 and students are $10. She had $15 remaining from last year’s funds. She then briefed the group on the topics discussed from the September 2011 meeting for future Chapter events. Future meeting topics included having a symposium, a visit from NCAR (the National Center for Atmospheric Research) or SPC (Storm Prediction Center), or a visit to the Planetarium. However, the Planetarium is being remodeled, but it was suggested to ask former guest speaker Dr. Kosiba about viewing her work being featured in the IMAX “Tornado Alley” movie as an outing or as an inquiry to the Planetarium.

After new ideas were discussed for the Chapter, Mr. Carpenter turned the floor over to guest host Mr. Dave Roberts. Mr. Dave Roberts is the Chief Meteorologist at TV news station Fox 40. There are actually three stations housed at the WDBD site: Fox 40, My35, and Me-TV, a classic television channel. This is Mr. Roberts’ second time working in the Jackson area television market, after being away for several years while working in other states. His enjoyment for southern storms kept him in the region, and he even worked five days straight at his Florida station after a prolonged power outage from Hurricane Charlie. He stated his station does a lot with ratings and research, and is owned locally. He then took the group on a tour of the studio into the Master Control, the official Stormtrack 40 Weather Center and the newsroom “where the magic happens” as well as the digital room. Other parts of the station have a professional kitchen for cooking features, commercial production, and a newly-built patio is in progress. The group chatted briefly after ending the meeting to allow Mr. Roberts time to prepare for his evening on-air weathercast.

Adjournment
The meeting concluded at approximately 7:55 p.m.

Minutes submitted by Nancy Lopez, Recording Secretary.