When I received notice that TPA was having a retreat for the Board of Directors I didn’t know whether to get excited or dread it. Just the words “board retreat” seem like an oxymoron — “board” is official sounding and “retreat” is relaxing, two things that don’t normally go together.

The last thing I wanted was for board members to feel as if the event would be a waste of time, but I was hopeful that the “retreat” would be productive and that we would discuss the important business of our association.

In fact, I was right, it was not a waste of time, and it might have been one of the best meetings I’ve attended on behalf of TPA. The retreat was held last month in San Antonio.

Each board member was given a topic of discussion several weeks in advance to research and then present to the group for discussion. With almost two dozen topics we hardly had time to catch our breath.

But the time was well spent as we discussed the future of TPA. We agreed that for our association to succeed it must have an active and loyal membership base. That means we must look for opportunities to bring our services to newspapers that are not currently taking advantage of them.

At the same time we must not create an illusion that belonging to TPA is all about what you can get. It is also about what you can give to the industry.

We plan to beef up our committee activity and create opportunities for members to get involved. Committee work is an integral part of developing as a leader in an industry. A brief survey of board members revealed that almost all served on committees prior to serving on the TPA board. So I challenge each of you to get involved through committee service — there are five committees currently: legislative, convention, contest, education and Newspaper In Education.

The board also approved exploring a new member benefit — a TPA-owned workers compensation insurance plan. With sufficient participation, our association would be able to set up a network that would feature lower rates and pay an annual dividend to participants.

TPA recently sent a survey to all members requesting input on this workers compensation proposal. If you have not responded, please do so right away. The results of the survey will tell us whether to push forward or dismiss the idea.

The committees and board of directors also in the next year hope to explore the following topics:

1. Look for a way to involve collegiate newspapers in TPA. Whether journalism students or not, kids that work for college newspapers belong to a great pool of talent from which TPA members can pull. If we can get them involved in the association early on, it will be natural to be involved with TPA once they begin working for newspapers as a career. A committee will look into a potential category of membership and a division in our Better Newspaper Contest for these college papers.

2. Look into the addition of a Web division for our Better Newspaper Contest. One purpose of a contest is to help raise the level of professionalism among the contestants. Since the Internet is rapidly becoming a normal part of everyday life, a newspaper’s Web presence needs to be effective. The Web site contest could help TPA members learn from the best.

3. Reconsider the TPA ban on sponsorships because the reasons TPA stopped the practice two decades ago are no longer valid. The board likely will vote on this change in June and a committee will be formed to outline specific parameters.

Well, there is really no way I can capture in a few paragraphs all we accomplished. Suffice it to say the board looked into ways to enhance value with almost every service that TPA provides. And these services are measured against the mission statement that we established at our last board retreat in 2001: “To Promote and Preserve the Future of Texas Newspapers.”

TPA is meeting this mission by providing forums for networking and exchange of ideas. We offer high quality training programs. We aid in the recruiting and training of a competent newspaper workforce. We defend free speech and freedom of the press and promote open government. We work to groom the leaders of the future. We serve as a clearinghouse for helpful information and we work to encourage innovations in the newspaper industry.

It is a thrill to be a part of an inspired board that truly cares about the future of this association. The future, much like our recent board retreat, is not something to dread, but rather something to get excited about as we look forward to the road ahead.