national conference each year, CUP hires two conference coordinators and one awards coordinator. Board of directors Until the early 2000s, CUP was administered and controlled between national conferences by only the president and other national office staff. While the staff was required to execute the will of members are agreed upon at plenary, many major decisions could be made by the national office on its own. After the Agent Magazine problems, a movement spearheaded by staffers at the Ontarion drafted and approved a motion calling for the creation of a CUP Board of Directors. Approved at NASH 63, the board guarantees every region at least one director. Any region with 20 or more member papers receives an additional director. All directors are elected at the plenary of their spring regional conference. At NASH 69 in Vancouver, CUP membership voted to add the position of a continuity representative to the Board of Directors as a voting member. Subsequently, at NASH 70 in Ottawa, this position was made into an ex-officio member of the Board of Directors. A staff member (President/NBC/Regional Director) from the previous year fills the position. It was created as an attempt to stabilize CUP's leadership since it goes through an almost yearly changeover. Currently, the Board of Directors consists of six regional directors (Western, Prairies, Quebec, Atlantic, and two Ontario directors), along with a national Francophone director, an industry advisor, and the continuity representative. Subsequent changes have changed the governance landscape on the CUP board of directors. As of NASH78, the Board of Directors structure has been adjusted to a 12-member board, consisting of the following positions; Additional changes voted in by the membership included removing all industry advisors from the board, and removing the president as a paid staff member, instead confirming the president as chair of the board. Relevant bylaw changes are being prepared by the Board of Directors for NASH79. Conferences Every year since its inception, CUP has held a national conference, also known as NASH. The conference moves around the country and serves as the annual general meeting of the organization. It also features a number of training seminars and high-profile keynote speakers. The New Year's Eve parties were sometimes raucous events, as the new year was rung in five times to mark each of the nation's time zones. The extinguishing of a motel fire put a damper on the party at North Bay,