February 11, 2008 Meeting Minutes
Queens Park - committee room # 230
The meeting called for 6:00
Present:
Thomas S Saras
Dr. Bikram Lamba
Iraj Emad
Ahmad Shah Hotaki
Teshome Woldeamanuel
Mohammad Tajdolati
Sima Sahar Zerehi
Bahram Bahrami
Maryam Aghvami
Mila Artega Garcia
Hermie Garcia
Aaron Behrane
Luba Cherny
Danielle Zhu
Stephanie Williams
Tanas Jovanovsci
Clyde McNeil
Dumitru Popescu
John Saraidaris
Hussein Poorhaidar
Bahram Bahrami
Hassan Zerehi
Shahram Binesh
Niaz Salimi
Ahmad Shah Hotaki
Shrimal Abeyewardene
Mohammad Tajdolati
Ranjit Wicks
David Ferdinands
Emmanuel Ayiku
Tanas Yovanovsci
AGENDA
1. Welcome Remarks by the Chair and call to order
2. Call to order by the Chair
Dr. Lamba motion to accept agenda - Mr. Emad
seconded all in favour
3. Minutes Approved from Previous Meeting
Dr. Lamba motion to accept minutes from
previous meeting Mr. Emad seconded all in favour
4. Reports by the President:
The work done by Balmoral can be found on
www.nationalethnicpress.com
Mr. Saras stresses the fact that not enough
members have completed the survey
We are short 80 surveys currently we have
180 completed surveys out of 430 members
Mr. Saras is asking the members of the board
to approve motion that any member that refuses to complete questionnaire
be removed from list of publications advocated on behalf of in future
discussions with government
Soon we will have an election Mr. Saras
will attempt to make sure we have access to politicians during that time
for reporting purposes
Mr. Saras is encouraging members to get
involved in the NEPMCC
Meeting with Chief of Police Tuesday February
12 at 1 at 40 College St.
5. February 18, 2008 Social
Next Monday Feb 18 will be our social event
at the "Greek Grill restaurant" at Danforth and Logan at 6pm
members can complete the survey at this event editors that attend this
event will get a 1/4th page advertising
Please RSVP by Thursday Feb 14 to Mr. Saras
6. Canada Heritage Round Table on Federal Programs
Canadian Heritage sent letter to President
they are organizing a meeting on March 4 round table discussion on
re-designing Federal programs on periodicals
Re-design will address issues with Federal
advertising agency
This is a major development and the fact that
we have been invited is significant
The Ontario Community Newspaper Association
will also be there as well as the Ontario Daily Papers organizations
The round table will be at the Renaissance
Hotel from 8am to 4pm
Officially each organization will have a
representative Mr. Saras will be representing the NEPMCC
7. NEPMCC Business Cards
Mr. Saras needs an email from anyone who
wants to have a NEPMCC business card to send him an email with their
information including full name telephone number email fax
number cell number and publication
Mr. Saras will send a reminder email
8. Canadian News Services and NEPMCC Exhibition July 7-12
There will be a week of displays of
publications in City Hall rotunda
A committee needs to be created to coordinate
details
Members need to help to make this event a
success
The 5 day exhibition can be combined with
various cultural events throughout the week
Should we have an official opening of this
event with Ministers and government representatives
Mr. Chair suggests exhibiting paintings and
inviting guest speakers
Sima suggested displaying photo-journalistic
images
Sima also suggested organizing daily panels
with guest speakers on various issues discussed in the Ethnic press.
Mr. Saras pointed out that we need at least
100 publications to make the event a success
Mr. Saras suggests that we designate a
committee to work on coordinating this event
Mr. Saras states that if we are organized a
sponsor can be found to assist with costs
Mr. Saras suggests that we need a budget
Mr. Saras noted that this is the first time
that we go to the Toronto City Hall if this is a success we can expand to
other cities
Mr. Saras suggests to ask Trifon Haitas to
produce a video documenting the work and voices of the members
Mr. Saras points out that a few years ago
Ethnic press was not on the agenda today we have access to the City
Hall for 5 days
Dr. Lamba stresses the issue that this event
will give us exposure
Dr. Lamba suggests that we need an audience
for speaker series or cultural events
Dr. Lamba points out that there has to be
consistent publicity for any events that we organize
Dr. Lamba suggests a one day panel discussion
and other events on other days
Dr. Lamba seconds the suggestion by Mr. Saras
to appoint a committee to organize this event
Stephanie Williams: July is a time when it
will be difficult to attract people to indoor events that are more
intellectual
Mr. Saras responds that end of May was not
available for booking also other times in the year were unavailable
for a full week out of two choices Mr. Saras chose the July dates
Mr. Saras suggests that Monday afternoon will
be the official opening of the event
Mr. Saras suggests that each newspaper can
display their material on a table
Clyde and Mr. Saras can approach Lombardi to
also display a table
Ethnic channels can also be invited
NEPMCC will also send invitations to business
community and companies to attend the opening and learn about the
publications
Clyde suggested that we accept this date this
year and attempt to have a better date next year in 2009
The organizing committee will include Sima,
Clyde, Ranji, Stephanie, Mila, Mr. Hotaki
Mr. Saras suggests that we start to advertise
once the event is organized
9. New Business/Motions:
Dr. Lamba asks for moment of silence for Mrs
Keroglidou Irenes father who has passed away
Membership authorizes Mr. Saras to send a
postcard on behalf of membership
10. ADJOURNMENT
Dr. Lamba motion to adjourn, Sima seconded,
all in favour
The Next meeting is scheduled for Monday, March 10, 2008 at Queens
Park, committee room N# 2, first floor, Please after 6:00 pm enter the
building from the front south door, (next to the Main entrance of the
building).
The Minutes were prepared by Sima Zerehi, Recording Secretary of the
NEPMCC
