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May 2, 2007
A Letter from the President
A Letter from the President
Dear Fellow Editorial Cartoonists/Animators-To-Be,
We will be greeted as liberators when we invade Washington, D.C., July 4-7 to celebrate the AAEC’s 50th anniversary at the Mayflower Hotel. Make your reservations now by calling 800-228-7697 or 202-347-3000. Be sure to mention the AAEC to get the rate of $149 a night. You can also add two nights before or after the convention at the same rate.
Missing the 4th of July traffic isn't the only reason to come in a day early. My dedicated Vice President, Ted Rall, is putting together a fundraising event for the AAEC that will include a cocktail party where the public can mingle with real live cartoonists, followed by an all-star cartoon panel and a Q&A session. This will take place at the Mayflower Hotel on the evening of Tuesday, July 3rd. We hope to make this "Cartoonapalooza" (we obviously don't have a title for it yet) an annual event in every city we go to. Cartoonists will be admitted to this event for free, so come in a day early and mingle with your adoring fans while we raise money for the AAEC!
Speaking of raising money, time is running out to donate to the AAEC's Challenge Fund for Journalism matching grant campaign. The deadline is May 31st. As an added incentive, the first 30 cartoonists to donate at least $100 (including those who have donated already) will be eligible to be on an exclusive list to take a special tour of the Library of Congress’ cartoon collection during our convention. Due to finite space and staffing, the LOC has limited us to only 30 cartoonists. Please check the front page of the AAEC web site for details on how to donate (click the red button) or call Elissa Doyle at 717-703-3069. Thank you in advance for your donations.
Now, on to the rest of the convention
... as for a keynote speaker, we are still waiting to hear from Sanjaya’s people.
We'll keep you posted. We can confirm that Helen Thomas, the Royal Highness
of the White House Press Corps, will be making an appearance. We love you,
Helen! Other featured speakers will include, Flemming Rose, the Danish editor
who published the Mohammed cartoons and Dana Priest, the Pulitzer Prize-winning
journalist from the Washington Post who recently broke the Walter Reed story.
We have a reception planned at American University Museum at the Katzen Arts
Center for the opening of our cartoon exhibit, “Bush Leaguers: Cartoonists
Take on the White House.”
The CRN dinner will take place at the National Press Club and the Washington
Post is planning a fabulous lunch at their new conference facility. Last, but
not least, pack your trench coats and dust off your decoder rings — we're going
on a SPY CITY TOUR! This two hour guided bus tour features over 25 of Washington’s
most notable espionage sites used by some of the nation's most infamous spies.
The trip will end with a tour of the International Spy Museum.
Panels so far include:
- What Do You Mean You’re Not Animating Yet?
- Drawing Cultures: How Muslims And Americans Cartoon Each Other
- What's So Funny About War
- Comedy Central Panel (subject to scheduling)
- Blog Or Die
- The Future Of Editorial Cartooning: A Town Hall Meeting
The town hall meeting grew out of a need to address the pressing issues facing
editorial cartoonists and the AAEC in the midst of so many layoffs and a
troubling economic downturn in the newspaper industry. It promises to be
a lively session. We hope to come up with ways that the AAEC, whose survival
depends on cartoonists having income, can play a more active role in fighting
against these alarming trends.
In addition to fundraising and town hall meetings, I felt the AAEC also needed a membership director. I am happy to announce my first cabinet appointment, Clay Bennett. He promises he won?t fire any judges! As membership director, Clay will be an ombudsman, of sorts, to new and existing members. He will appoint a small membership committee to discuss membership issues and bring those issues to the AAEC board. This will include proposing rewrites to the bylaws about criteria for membership categories and placement on the web site, etc. He will also enlist and oversee volunteer outreach initiatives to increase our membership. These are important issues that will ensure the future of the AAEC and deserve the focus of one person to spearhead change. The membership director will serve for at least three years to ensure continuity and follow through. Thanks for taking this on, Clay!
I look forward to seeing all of you in D.C. in July! Remember, make your hotel reservations soon and come in a day early. You won't regret it! Now I have to go ... my cell phone is ringing and I think it’s Sanjaya. Keep your ponytails crossed!
Sincerely,
Rob Rogers
AAEC President