By JuliAnn Graham, CCC, Communications Manager, TCEC, Hooker, Okla.

The CCC Board meets in person three times a year, with
monthly conference calls between meetings. The spring board meeting was May 6
in Houston, prior to the CONNECT conference. Sixteen people were present,
including current board members, incoming board members and NRECA staff.

After welcoming the three new board members who would be
seated in an organizational meeting following the board meeting, each board
member introduced themselves. Then outgoing chairperson Anna Politano asked for
review and approval of the Winter 2019 meeting minutes, which were approved.

Anna reminded the board of focus groups and the CCC
breakfast session happening during CONNECT. She also mentioned we have
discussed a joint meeting every other fall with CREC, and we should continue to
look for opportunities to meet jointly in the future.

Vince Rodriguez, an NRECA Education and Training staff
member standing in for CCC program administrator Jean Capon, reported there
were 227 active CCCs as of May 6, 2019. He said 35 total candidates were in the
process of obtaining their certification, and 15 of them were taking the exam
at Connect.

Lydia Walters, then-chair of the candidate assessment and
program standards (CAPS) committee, reported that her group met that day. She
said the committee is defining resources and study recommendations during the
review of the proposed switch from the existing Body of Knowledge document to a
module format. She thanked Scott Peterson, senior vice president of
communications at NRECA, for working with the committee during its meeting and
offering resources and feedback.

For the program and planning committee, Mike Teegarden
reported that focus groups were ready to take place. He also said feedback from
those sessions would be incorporated into the program’s strategic plan, which
is due for review.

Communications and marketing committee chairperson Abbey
Sprague reported on planned activities for the CCC booth during CONNECT.

Mike Wilson, the new liaison to the CCC Board from the
Council of Rural Electric Communicators, provided an update on the council’s
activities via email to Anna Politano as he was unable to join the meeting in
person. The New Cooperative Communicators Orientation continues to go well,
with both sessions nearly filling up every year. He said the Spotlight on
Excellence awards had about the same number of entries as the prior year. The
next initiative for the council will be Always On 3.0, a series of white papers
addressing cooperative topics and strategic communication strategies.

The board discussed upcoming meetings, calls and events.
Anna Politano, Jayne Graham and Ryan Cornelius were honored for their efforts
on the board. The meeting adjourned. A new meeting was opened to seat the three
incoming board members: Lauren Irby, Jodi Borger and Heather Holbrook.  A new slate of officers was also elected
before the meeting closed. They are:

• April
  Lollar, Chair
• Lydia
  Walters, Vice Chair
• JuliAnn
  Graham, Secretary

Congratulations to the new officers
and board members.