November 18, 2014 Meeting

The second meeting of the 2014-15 year took place at WLBT/Fox 40 in Jackson. During the meeting, we took a tour of the television station.

Meeting Minutes

Call to Order
The second NWA/AMS meeting of the 2014-2015 year took place on Tuesday, November 18th at WLBT-TV/Fox 40 TV in Jackson, MS. The meeting was called to order at 7:05 pm.

Rolls
The corresponding secretary, Daniel Lamb, passed around a sign-in sheet for attendees. Eight people were in attendance.

Minutes Approval
Daniel summarized minutes from the first meeting of the year, held at NWS Jackson. The minutes were approved.

New Business
The business session began with a total of $60 in dues being collected bringing the treasury balance to $270. Regular membership dues remain $20, and student membership dues are $10.

This was followed by a discussion about plans for the December meeting, which will involve volunteering for a local charity. Three potential charities were considered as possibilities, including the Mississippi Food Network, Habitat for Humanity, and the Salvation Army. Members showed no objection to any of these options, and it was established that a weekend would be the ideal time to allow the largest number of people to participate. Based on this feedback, Daniel and NWA chapter president Joanne Culin agreed to finalize plans within a few days of the meeting so as to allow ample time for members to make plans to participate. Details will be emailed to the chapter once they are available.

Next, Joanne introduced WLBT/Fox 40 Chief Meteorologist Dave Roberts. Dave spoke to the group about the current challenges facing broadcast meteorology and meteorologists as a whole due to the growing number of ways the general public receives weather information. Because two different news channels broadcast from the station, there is a larger number of newscasts for the WLBT/Fox 40 team to produce than other stations in the market. Because of this, there is a staff of six in the weather department. Dave noted that a few years ago, his job consisted only of creating content for the TV broadcast, but with the ever-evolving world of web content and social media, broadcast meteorologists have much more responsibility in the present.

Finally, Dave provided a tour of the WLBT/Fox 40 facility, including the newsroom, studio, control room, break area, and reception area. During the tour, he announced the station would soon be moving to new weather graphics software for which training would begin within the next month.

Adjournment
The meeting concluded at approximately 8:10 pm, and it was adjourned.

Minutes submitted by Daniel Lamb, Corresponding Secretary.