The Arizona State University chapter recently hosted a First Amendment Free Food Festival, affectionately known to most enthusiastic SPJers as FAFFF. Chapter president, Anne Stegen, reported that “exactly 162 people gave up their First Amendment rights for pizza.” Two dozen people didn’t appreciate the fun lesson and turned it down. For the details, check out this story on the event.

Here are some pictures of the awesomeness. Does your chapter want to host FAFFF? Do you have pictures of your last great event? Tell us!

The Chapter Grant Committee decided to not award any grants this month, rolling over the $500 cold, hard cash to next month where we’ll be giving away multiple grants for amazing chapter programs.

I’m sure you all know the drill already. The deadline is May 1 and you don’t want to miss out, so apply soon!

Annual Reports, Annual Reports, Annual Reports, Annual Reports, Annual Reports…

Campus – May 1

Professional – May 6

I’m pretty sure you’re picking it up. As always, if you have questions – contact Tara Puckey, Chapter Coordinator, via email or phone (317.927.8000, ext. 215).

Yes, you do. Scrippsters are among the best and brightest of SPJ. Fearless leaders who spent an entire weekend learning about their leadership styles, how to better their beloved chapter and had some amazing fun, of course.

They’re participants in the Ted Scripps Leadership Institute, developed to create better leaders by offering a mix of sessions focused on interpersonal and organizational leadership skills, as well as sound chapter management practices. And in 2013, the Institute is hitting the road.

In fact, it has already made a stop in Indianapolis, taking place on a chilly March weekend. A group of devoted leaders from Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio and Nebraska gathered together to create memories and lessons that are sure to last a lifetime.

Check out their experiences!

Or, if you’re interested in more, you can always read through the Storify of the event, which captures spectacular memories, important lessons and insight into the program through the words of the Scrippsters themselves.

Then, because you’ll definitely want to be one – apply to participate in a region near you! We’ll be in Denver in June and Memphis in July. Applications are due soon, so don’t delay. Questions? Contact Chapter Coordinator, Tara Puckey, via email or phone (317) 927-8000, ext. 215.

Congratulations to two amazing chapters! They’ve both hit the jackpot with unique and creative programming, which landed them SPJ Chapter Grants that padded their wallets with $500 each.

The Minnesota Pro chapter is hosting a Journalism Film Festival, showing some of the best journo flicks to those working in the business and the general community. They hope to “discuss journalism with the broader public and raise Minnesota SPJ’s profile in the community.” Chapter members, fellow journalists and the community will likely come together during receptions at the opening and closing of the festival, engaging in conversation about journalism and media.

A chapter-in-the-works  at Florida Atlantic University will receive $500 for their upcoming program, JournoSwitch, where FAU students will switch jobs and cover the playing of the 1950′s retro game, Scoop.

“Prominent pro journalists and Frank LoMonte, the executive director of the Student Press Law Center, play an old-school game while discussing the future of journalism and media law. We’ll raffle off spots in the game for journalism students.”

Sign us up!

Congrats to both chapters on great programming and FREE cash. Don’t worry, your chapter can receive some money, too. Applications are available for April and May, so hurry and apply today!

Hey chapters, here’s a heads up:

Over the last six months, two of our local chapters have discovered mishandling of their funds. In an effort to help chapters practice fiscal responsibility, the exec committee recently approved a motion to require pro chapters to submit 12 months of bank statements with their annual reports for the time period covered by the report.

Exact wording:

Pro chapters will submit 12 months of chapter bank statements, for all chapter accounts, with their annual reports.

Good news: You have time. Start getting your books in order. Conduct monthly audits to make sure you’re ready. And when I say audit, I don’t mean glance over the Word doc your treasurer handed to you – take a look at those statements, reconcile the checkbook, view cashed checks, ask questions. Trust me, it’s worth it in the long run.

The statements are considered part of the annual report and if they’re not included, it’s not considered a complete report.

Questions? Email me, call me (317-927-8000, ext. 215). I’m happy to help walk you through our financial best practices, answer tax questions or just listen to your chapter concerns.

Congratulations to the two chapters selected to receive Chapter Grants for the month of January! They submitted stellar programming ideas and were rewarded accordingly, each receiving $250 to fund their upcoming event.

Don’t forget, your chapter can get cold, hard cash, too – just by applying. February applications aren’t due until Feb. 6, so apply now!

The University of Arizona was awarded a grant for their upcoming program, the Future of Investigative Reporting – With a Pulitzer Prize Winner, which features Ryan Gabrielson, a Pulitzer Prize winner for Local Reporting in 2009. Gabrielson and another University of Arizona Journalism School alumnus reported on Arizona’s controversial sheriff Joe Arpaio. According to Susan Knight, who applied for the grant on behalf of the chapter:

Their reporting on the sheriff’s illegal-immigration operation showed that other crimes, such as sexual assaults, were going un-pursued. In addition to winning the Pulitzer, the package of stories titled “Reasonable Doubt” won the George Polk Award for justice reporting, the Best of the West first place award for investigative reporting and the Arizona Press Club’s Don Belles award.

The chapter will invite Gabrielson to host a workshop on investigative reporting, give a public lecture and speak to several reporting classes about doing investigate journalism and new economic models in the news industry.

Alabama Pro, the second chapter awarded a grant for the month of January, “makes no bones about the fact that we are stealing this idea from the Minnesota chapter.” They plan to host their program, Freelance Love, in response to massive layoffs in their area, an effort to help people over the difficult hump. In their grant application, the chapter notes:

Alabama just suffered massive layoffs in the newspaper industry and there are more freelancers looking for work than ever. The Birmingham News, Huntsville Times and Mobile Press-Register laid off hundreds of people last summer, so the media industry here is in a state of shock.

The program aims to connect freelancers with potential employers and will be held at DISCO, a program in an “underserved neighborhood that helps students write, and keeps them off the streets.”

Congratulations to both chapters!

Attention chapter leaders: We’re giving you yet another opportunity to grow your ranks and fill up with folks straight out of the newsroom. That’s because we’re proud to announce SPJ’s Newsroom Memberships.

Here’s the nuts and bolts of the program:

Newsrooms join one of three membership tiers, Bronze ($250), Silver ($750) or Gold ($1,250). When they do, their employees receive pro memberships for $60 instead of $75, they’ll receive access to SPJ.org and all our training resources there, free job postings/classifieds, free award entries, conference reimbursements and more. Really, the possibilities are endless.

Here’s the official description, so you’ll know what we’re promoting to newsroom leaders:

A Newsroom Membership is the best way to show a commitment to producing high-quality, ethical journalism. It shows you support the missions of SPJ and gives your staff the opportunity to become part of the nation’s largest and most broad-based journalism association.

Whether you’re a student media group, a community paper or a digital newsroom, a Newsroom Membership gives you access to SPJ’s amazing training, networking and resources.

A few things to know about our Newsroom Memberships:

They apply to a physical location. So, for example, Joe Johnson who owns 263 community newspapers from coast to coast couldn’t pay $250 and allow all his 6,000 employees join at the discounted rate. Makes sense, right?

There are a limited amount of Gold memberships available this year. We won’t say how many right off the bat – that takes away some of that “VIP” shine, but just know you’re offering newsrooms a few-of-a-kind deal.

We did the hard stuff for you. Here’s an Newsroom Memberships for you to take to your local newsrooms, as well as a nifty application. Consider hosting a brown bag lunch for each local newsroom where your chapter hosts a mini program, maybe a 30 minute rapid fire FOI session, then talks for another few minutes about the benefits of a Newsroom Membership. Don’t forget to mention individual memberships as well.

Need more help? Let us know. We’d love to help you track down some interested local newsrooms or answer any questions you might have.

That’s right, it’s here – The SPJ J-Mart.

Load up just in time for the holidays with tons of SPJ and Sigma Delta Chi products,

ranging from T-shirts to hoodies, plates to posters, flask necklaces to water bottles, and we’ve even included a few items for those of you who want to show some SPJ spirit by dressing your kids (furry or otherwise) in some cool gear.

Congratulations to the two chapters receiving Chapter Grants for the month of December!

The campus SPJ chapter at Truman State University will be taking an in-depth look at crime reporting during their upcoming program “Inside look: Crime and emergency response reporting.” The chapter was awarded a $250 grant to partner with area emergency responders, including the University police, local police department and Sheriff’s office to “host a panel and a mock press conference to help the community better understand what happens during a criminal investigation as well as an emergency response situation.

The Virginia Pro chapter also received $250 for their program celebrating George Mason’s birthday. The program, which included a public reading of the Virginia Declaration of Rights and a lecture by Ashley Messenger, associate general counsel of National Public Radio, took place on Dec. 16.

Left to right, Julie Asher, Paul Fletcher, Caroline Cardwell and Brian Eckert read during a wreath-laying ceremony at the George Mason Memorial Sunday, Dec. 11, 2011.

Does your chapter want free money? There are still several opportunities to apply for one of SPJ’s Chapter Grants, where your chapter could receive up to $500 for unique and creative programming ideas. The next deadline is Jan. 9 so apply today!