Amanda Woodman's Classification

Ron introduced Amanda, the General Manager of the Free Press and a Rotarian for 11 months.

Amanda said she wasn't fond of public speaking, as evidenced by the 11 month delay in presenting but that she has been very happy as part of Rotary, saying it is a fantastic experience and that she admires the club and its members.  She thanked yours truly for inviting her to her first few meetings and Bill R. for encouraging her to participate in HART III, a life changing experience.

She was born in Orillia 29 years ago and has a brother 8 years older.  She now lives in Port McNicoll with Jamie and Shadow, her boyfriend and dog, respectively.  She showed us some pictures and it appears she had a difficult time throught school - braces, glasses and scoliosis or curvature of the spine.  In gr. 9 she had an operation and then had to wear a back brace for 6 months which meant track suits everyday to cover it.  She got trapped by the brace in a school desk and had to be pried out.  On top of it all, or maybe because of it all, she scored poor marks and ended high school with no sense of what she wanted to do. 

Opening a book of careers shes stumbled on advertising, which need no prerequisite and she got accepted to Loyalist in Belleville and it turned out she is good at it and enjoys it.  She liked the teachers and won an award.  Having spent her last dime on clothes and parties she had to go home and look for an internship and she found one at the Packet and Times and on the last day of her placement someone quit and she got the job.

She worked there for 7 years doing everything - primarily a sales rep she covered other positions which was a terrific learning experience and when the boss took time off she covered that position too so when the position here opened up she was offered it and moved here 2 years ago.

The paper has an average circulation of 20,500 with 6 staff and two freelancers.  It's printed in Islington on the Sun's presses which lets them put colour on every page.  Distribution is the hardest part and she has led a shift from bagging the papers and throwing them in the general neighbourhood of a house to door delivery.  They have introduced a new web site that gets 30,000 visitors, many of them from Toronto keeping an eye on what's going on in cottage country.  She is primarily an administrator but she covers vacancies and has even helped out with deliveries.

She also has responsibility for Regional specials - the inserts that focus on some aspect of life in North Simcoe like the Parks and Rec guides or 100 Things to Do insert.  She assigns the stories, sells the ad space and decides the print run.  The paper is owned by Sun Media which has 42 dailies and 200 weeklies that distribute 15 million copies so she thinks newspapers are still vibrant.

Her off time is spent dicing with death.  Skydiving, surfing, cross fit training and who knows what else but she likes to challenge herself. 

She was asked about the demise of the beat reporter and said that she has 1 full time reporter who is trying to fill the web site and the paper on 40 hours a week and Doug Glynn who covers politics and some special events.  They can't cover everything and they certainly can't dedicate themselves to one subject.

Ron Crane complimented Amanda on the paper and on her many contributions to the Club and for surviving her recreational activities.