The Reuter Society takes wing in America

Although not fully developed, in under a week the steering committee which met at New York's literary mecca, the Algonquin Hotel (photo), has established a fall launch event, created an enhanced presence on Facebook and LinkedIn, and is hurtling toward its future with the abandon of a fledgling pigeon.

We anticipate a safe landing for the Reuter Society of America. Committees have been established to look at key aspects of organization and those of us who huddled for the initial undertaking are scurrying to avoid the slings and arrows of those who are irate about not having been asked to that table. Well, now you are.

The plan is to take stock of interest between now and, especially, when Reuters CEO Andrew Rashbass addresses the first assemblage on the evening of 10 September in Manhattan. Once we know how big we are we will put a nominating committee together and solicit widespread involvement. (The initial group was kept small to avoid inevitable Reuters bombast and bravado. That intent barely got out the door.)

Borrowing heavily from the foundation of the Reuter Society in London, we are declared as follows:

“The Reuter Society is a social club for anyone who has ever worked for Reuters, or Thomson Reuters, and wants to keep in touch with former colleagues. It promotes comradeship and informal contact among professionals from the business of news and financial services, communications and information technology. It brings together people with different skills and interests. Members may have worked for any branch of the group, in the Americas or overseas, in editorial, finance, legal, HR, marketing, sales, technical, etc.”

Thanks to Betty Wong for that, as posted by her before the clock struck 12 in the Eastern US last night. We do, of course, stand on the shoulders of giants who created the Society in the first place. Indeed the “enhanced” part of the Facebook presence means Betty loaded over 160 of her friends into the already established page. Yes, yes, another American overthrow. Anyone seriously offended can opt out - this is the social media way, of course.

Steve Somerville, chairman of the Reuter Society, and I have long discussed building a branch of the society in the Americas. It took the strong passion and nudge of Dick Satran this year to get us rolling. Support is blossoming rapidly and we anticipate a lively group will arise in the fall. Preliminary discussions center on how we embrace a widely dispersed membership in today’s wired world. While physical meetings are always best, we are sensitive to the geographic spread of members, which means an active interconnection electronically and, most likely, meetings in various cities.

Likewise, a close interaction with the existing Society goes without saying and we will work to ensure that. While there are more questions than answers, we know that is a good thing. More to come.

The RSA startup group comprises: Mike Reilly, Dick Satran, Cathy Arnst, Lewis Knopf, Richard Pisani, Virginia Wiater and Betty Wong, all of whom made it to the Algonquin. Absent, but a party to the organization, were: John Abell, Mike Conlon, Bernd Debusmann, Sam Fromartz, Mike Arkus, Nancy Bobrowitz and Roxanne Taylor.

We are seeking more to help on committees which are still evolving. Please contact any of the steering committee members. Nancy Bobrowitz is coordinating both a venues/meetings committee and a financials/funding group. Betty Wong is handling social media with John Abell, and Mike Conlon is coordinating member communications. ■