SND/Update

The beginning of a new year also marks a transition for SND: The end of Elise Burroughs’ service as executive director.

Over the past five years Elise has worked tirelessly to strengthen the Society on many fronts, helping find new avenues for fund-raising, spread the Society’s footprint around the globe and countless interactions with members. Elise is a dedicated professional who immerses herself in every challenge. In anticipation of our workshop this fall in Buenos Aires, she even began learning Spanish.

Elise was kind enough to share some of her thoughts on SND, design and the state of the industry.

Question: What were the highlights of your time with the Society for News Design?

Answer: Any time that I was able to meet members face to face — Workshops, judgings, Quick Courses, hotel site visits, board meetings – was always a highlight. It has been a privilege to work with such smart, creative, dedicated journalists – and a lot of fun. I might never have seen Stockholm or Buenos Aires if SND business had not taken me there.

I took satisfaction in helping the directors complete many of the jobs they handed me when I arrived: creating a mission statement, developing a code of ethical standards, adopting a conflict of interest policy, increasing activity outside the United States and, this year, rolling out a draft strategic plan.

But from our office in Rhode Island, Susan Santoro and I had some long-distance highlights, too. Helping regional directors and educators hold successful events in the hinterlands of the United States, and assisting directors overseas find speakers for new training seminars in Germany, France, Jordan, Egypt and China made our jobs worthwhile.

Remote technology is great for some things, but sometimes you just need to sit down with colleagues over a drink or a cup of coffee. Those occasions were some of my SND highlights.

Question: What did you learn about design and designers that most surprised you?

Answer:Great designers look at a world without boundaries. No matter where they are, or what their native language, they can pick up a newspaper, open a magazine or click on a Web site and envision new, better ways to communicate information.

When I came to SND, I ”got” visual storytelling at the movies (director William Wyler almost never needed dialogue). I’m still “getting” visual storytelling when it comes to journalism.

I also learned that good designers are never satisfied. No matter what level they’re working at, novice or veteran, or how little their employers give them to work with, they are constantly looking for new and better ways to tell the same old stories, for new technology and skills that will lead them to new audiences, for new insights and inspiration.

Working with designers has taught me to never be satisfied with the status quo.

Question: Do you find that you read a newspaper or look at news Web sites differently after your time with SND?

Answer: Maybe it comes from five years of proofing columns by Rolf Rehe (who almost never makes a mistake!) but I notice typography now. I even rented (and enjoyed) the movie, “Helvetica.”

And I look forward to the day when SND develops and promotes better principles for online news site design, as it has for print design. Am I the only person who hates online photos signaling a news story that keep dissolving and changing? By the time that I process, “I want to read that!” the story is gone and I have to stare at the screen until it pops up again and pounce. Very annoying!

Question: How has SND changed since you came to the helm as Executive Director?

Answer: I’m tired of the euphemism “challenging.” These are hard, dispiriting times to be a journalist, and SND has had a hard, dispiriting time dealing with changes in the news profession.

When I arrived, SND had been operating a successful financial model for years: Revenue from memberships, the Annual Workshop, the competitions, the Quick Courses and product sales funded the book, the magazine, the newsletter, the Web site, the staff, and modest outreach to students and international designers.

Then the Internet volcano exploded and the advertising drought commenced.

In this new, awful climate, designers are trying to figure out what they need to learn or do that will allow them to pursue the profession they love. SND’s leaders are trying to identify the resources – financial, technical, educational and inspirational – that will allow the Society to meet those member needs.

One positive change: SND has increasingly welcomed input and ideas from designers outside the United States. Sometimes it’s hard to imagine how someone who does not even speak your language can teach you anything about your job. But I think the 30th edition of “The Best of Newspaper Design™” will show that designers around the world face common issues, and there is a lot to learn from how they resolve them.

Question: Do you have anything to suggest to the members?

Answer: When I interviewed for this job more than five years, ago, I was given the SND bylaws. I was surprised to see that aside from the officers, all the directors are appointed. I don’t know of another journalism organization that operates that way.

I think this system is at the root of many of SND’s current leadership challenges. Some appointed directors have performed magnificently, devoting countless hours of their time to create wonderful projects that not only benefitted members and the industry, but also generated revenue to support education and outreach. Other appointed directors have contributed much less.

Now, in this time of rapid change, I think SND needs to get closer to its members and their needs, and to focus on what members really want from the organization. I think some or all of the directorships should be elected positions.

Asking directors to step forward and articulate what they would do for the organization, and then getting the members to endorse those views, is the quickest way to get SND’s activities aligned with what members really need.

Whenever I tell other people about all the SND projects that are handled by dedicated volunteers – the competitions, the judgings, the Quick Courses, the Annual Workshops – they are amazed. That volunteer energy is what created SND and sustained it through 30 turbulent years. Tapping that energy is what will propel the organization into the future.

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SND’s new executive director, Stephen Komives, takes over on Jan. 1

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Gayle Grin is a past president of SND and Managing Editor/ Design & Graphics, National Post. You can reach her at ggrin@nationalpost.com