Meet your IPC: Martha Borchers

Name: Martha Borchers

Press Club position, and how long you’ve held it:

Executive Director, since April 1992.

Background/career path:

Prior to my years with the Idaho Press Club I worked for several years at a law firm as a secretary/ legal clerk.   Then, to indulge my interest in healthcare, switched gears and worked for a new doctor just opening his practice.   I enjoyed the variety of work in a solo medical practice environment because I did everything from receptionist to transcriptionist to in-office procedure assistance.

What interested you in this position?

There are two reasons I pursued this position.  The Press Club offered me the opportunity to gain experience in my third area of personal interest, communication and media.   I felt like I would be rounding out my exposure to different fields of work.    I must admit the other reason was practical in nature.   The position is operated in a home office environment.   I had three small kids at the time and it offered me an opportunity to utilize my previous experience and save money on childcare.

I have learned much more than I ever anticipated.

Education:

Boise State University

Family:

I have been married for almost 32 years to Jim Borchers.  We have two daughters and one son and currently 6 granddaughters and 1 grandson.

Pets:

We are presently empty-nesters in the pet department, but have enjoyed the company over the years of a menagerie of dogs, hamsters and fish.    We do claim the neighbor’s cat occasionally as our property de-mouser.

Formative experience:

I don’t think I could name just one formative experience.   My life has been an amazing collection of experiences and  I’m still a work in progress.    I’m a Boise girl from the very beginning.   Born at St. Luke’s hospital on the same floor I later worked on as a teenager as a candy striper, only by then it was the cancer patient floor and I had to learn very quickly about the realities of illness and death.

My childhood was idyllic and typical with all the wonderful family characters contributing.  I married young, but for me it was the right time.   I call the years with kids at home my “wonder years.”    I wondered how to ever do it right and now I wonder how it ever went so fast.   I do however think I’m going to enjoy the Grandma gig quite nicely.

Something people may not know about you:

My first experience as a media representative was as a photographer’s assistant covering a space shuttle launch.    My husband was working his way through college as a photographer and we decide to offer our photos to Deseret News in Salt Lake City in exchange for press credentials.    We secured the necessary clearances and joined the news media covering STS-7– Challenger launch with Sally Ride aboard.    Prior to the Challenger explosion that occurred years later, the news media would be gathered alongside a sandy lagoon only a mile from the launch pad.   I was lined up along the bank with hundreds of other photographers from around the world and was star-struck by the national news media (including Tom Brokaw) doing live shots just over my shoulder.

The actual launch of the shuttle had a profound effect on me and as I would watch later shuttle launches on television I could still feel the rumble of the engines’ thrust rattle in my chest and the smell of the burning fuel.   It was an amazing feeling.

Hobbies:

Amongst the other usual hobbies, we joke that we’ve gotten into ‘heavy-metal.’  We zip around town in our 1929 Model A Ford and have two more in various stages of reconstruction.   The new car around here is 10 years old.

What you wish all Press Club members would do:

General answer – Please let us know what you need from us.  How can we help you as a member of the Idaho Press Club?   Administrative answer – Let me know any address changes quickly.  

The best part of this job:
The best part of this job is getting to know your stories and why you do what you do.