In praise of our volunteers and one in particular

Originally posted to www.press.org March 20, 2011

The operation of the National Press Club would not be possible without the involvement of members who volunteer their time. Among our more than two dozen member-powered committees, there are Chairs, Vice Chairs and any number of project managers and brain stormers. These include former NPC presidents as well as new members and everyone in-between.

One of the most productive of these is hard-working Newsmakers Committee member Peter Hickman. Next year, he will have worked on this club-branded news conference series for two decades. By his own count, he has organized more than 1,000 Newsmakers. That includes 146 heads of state or government, or other political structures.

Peter Hickman (l) with Mark Jan. 2007

How does a Newsmaker differ from our Speakers Luncheons? For one, Newsmakers can be held just about any time of day when people can attend. They are open to National Press Club members and the working press. There's no lunch involved. It follows a news conference format, as opposed to the Luncheons, where the NPC president usually acts as host, asking the questions.

I first came to know Peter when I served as Newsmakers Chairman myself years ago and enjoyed that responsibility for four years.

Peter says the biggest crowds he remembers were for PLO chief Yasser Arafat and actor Sean Connery. Connery was talking about his Scottish heritage, but people wanted just to see the actor best known for his work as 007 up close. Peter says mostly women attended the Connery event, not surprisingly.
One of his Newsmakers featured 10 prime ministers at once. Another had three presidents, from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

Peter has had a fascinating life, having worked as a navy journalist on a battleship in the Korean War theater. Hailing from Texas, Peter went on to work as a Foreign Service Information Officer with the former U.S. Information Agency, beginning in the late 50s, serving in Vietnam, Japan, Panama and Washington. Later, he worked in the former Office of Economic Opportunity as a special assistant to then-Director Donald Rumsfeld. Peter retired from government in 1988 and went into freelance writing and consulting. Fortunately for us, he decided to join the National Press Club and help make the Newsmakers venue one of our most visible.

This is just one very good example our members make the club a shining success, with stellar execution by our top-notch staff.
We are also thankful for the leadership this year of Newsmakers Committee Chair Ron Baygents and Vice Chair Patti Giglio.

So, here's a big thank you, to Peter Hickman and all of our others members who volunteer. I'm extremely grateful for all of your contributions, hard work and positive spirit!