Verónica Villafañe NAHJ President

October 12, 2004

Dear friends and colleagues,

First of all, I want to thank all of you who participated in NAHJ's special referendum. It was, without doubt, one of the most exhausting efforts for our staff, the board and our members. After months of mailings, emails and phone calls, we did it! With just barely enough votes, 874, the referendum passed.

What does this mean? Our bylaws had previously stated that any amendments had to be approved by 2/3 of the entire membership. Now, they need to be approved by 2/3 of members who vote.

As our membership continues to grow, it's next to impossible to get 2/3 of all NAHJ members to vote. We currently have more than 2,200 members, but that number will soon go up as we begin a new membership campaign.

Thanks to the passing of the referendum, we will be able to focus on upcoming changes to improve NAHJ operations. For example, we will looking into electronic voting, making it much easier for our members to vote. I hope this will be an incentive for all to be more active come election time.

The board's approval of a chapter system this year has set the wheels in motion for several cities to start chapters. We are preparing a set of initial guidelines for new chapters.

We will be launching the first-ever Spanish-language leadership institute in the Spring of 2005, with an English-language leadership institute to follow later in the year. And we will begin our Spanish-language media training institute next year as well.

Planning is also well under way for our next convention in Fort Worth, Texas on June 15-18, 2005. For the first time, the convention will be mostly bilingual, with simultaneous translation for both English and Spanish-language workshops and panels. From what I've seen so far from the local planning committee, it will be an incredible event!

This is a very exciting time for NAHJ. We're not only growing in size, but also in scope and in importance as a journalism organization striving for excellence.

I encourage all of you to join me and help me take NAHJ to the next level by participating in regional events and by attending our convention next year.

Stay tuned for more news!

Verónica Villafañe
NAHJ President