Hong Kong

My platform for the board of the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Hong Kong

I am running for the board of the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Hong Kong, perhaps the world’s greatest press club. (Having served as president or board member on three such organizations, I do have broad enough exposure to make such a statement.)

I formerly served as FCC president and first vice-president. This year’s election is particularly competitive, with 28 people running for 18 seats.

This is great for the club! Serving on the board is a volunteer position, so it is great that so many are so committed.

Below is my platform - other FCC platforms are here.

If a member, please give me your vote!

Fellow members,

Returning to Hong Kong after a four-year absence, I seek your vote for associate governor.

I hope to serve the club by building on my previous efforts as our club’s President, First Vice President, Convenor of the professional committee and co-founder of the FCC Charity Ball.

Outside the FCC, I worked as a correspondent for the International Herald Tribune and The New York Times for more than a decade, with postings in Bangkok, Hong Kong, New York, Washington and most recently Paris. I have returned to Hong Kong to work on developing new media ideas.

More personal information is available via my blog: www.thomascrampton.com/about/

Below, please find:

1- My record

2- My platform

3- My contact details

Please feel free to email me thomas (a t ) crampton dot com or call my mobile at 6397-1662.
Sincerely,

Thomas Crampton

1- My record:

As FCC President 2002/3, I worked with several other correspondents to successfully lobby the government of China to ease visa restrictions for Hong Kong-based correspondents reporting on the mainland. I also led the multi-million dollar redesign of the main bar in our colonial-era club house. Club usage, revenues and membership applications shot up following the renovation, ensuring the club’s long-term financial viability. In the short term, the renovation allowed the FCC to increase profits through the SARS crisis, a time when other clubs went bankrupt.

As convenor of the professional committee in 2001/2, I successfully sought and hosted numerous high level dignitaries in the club, including Gloria Arroyo, President of the Philippines, Mike Moore, Director General of the World Trade Organization and many others.

As co-founder of the FCC Charity Ball in 2002, I helped create the club’s annual flagship gathering.

The ball draws more FCC members under one roof than any other event, while also serving to enhance the club’s profile within the Hong Kong community. Most importantly, the ball raised $17.5 million in six years to finance language training for hundreds of children and university scholarships for 43 children from the Po Leung Kuk orphanage.
In addition to time generously volunteered by FCC members, the first class of scholarship winners from 2002 now actively mentors their successors.

2- My platform:

For Correspondent and Journalist members:

My prime reason for involvement in the FCC has always been to promote the interests of foreign correspondents and support free expression.

While serving as FCC president in 2002-03, I joined with several other correspondents to
successfully lobby the government of China to ease visa restrictions that hindered access to mainland China for Hong Kong-based journalists. The dialog included a formal visit to the club by foreign ministry spokesman Kong Quan and resulted in a clear channel for communication that brought faster visa approvals for Hong Kong-based correspondents. I advocate re-opening this dialog about visas for correspondents.

For all FCC members:

I will continue my longstanding advocacy of greater transparency and accountability in all club matters. Under my presidency the Constitution Committee wrote and published - for the first time in memory - formal club rules. I also insisted on posting the minutes of all board meetings on the club bulletin board with the way in which each board member voted.

For the community:

I will continue my support and involvement in the FCC Charity Ball, as exemplified by my role in bringing Jimmy Buffett to Hong Kong for his highly successful concert in January.

3- My contact information

Details on my non-FCC activities and career can be found on my blog:

www.thomascrampton.com/about/

Please feel free to email me thomas (a t ) crampton dot com or call my mobile a 6397-1662.

I look forward to working with you to improve our club.

© 2008 Thomas Crampton.