There are two ways that you can get to this year’s super-duper-mega conference in Fort Lauderdale, Sept. 20 to 22.

• The Terry Harper Memorial Scholarships. This program is specifically designed to get journalists to the conference. It includes:

— A convention registration
— Three nights stay at the convention hotel, Marriott Harbor Beach Resort & Spa
— Airfare to Ft. Lauderdale(Up to $250)
— Tickets to the convention’s two ticketed meal events

• The Diversity Leadership Fellows Scholarship. I was part of the first class of fellows back in 2005. It’s designed to encourage members from diverse backgrounds to pursue greater participation and leadership within SPJ. In my case, it worked! I’ve served on the national board and the Diversity Committee, and now I am the national Membership Committee chair. This scholarship includes:

— A convention registration
— Four night stay at the convention hotel, Marriott Harbor Beach Resort & Spa
— Airfare to Ft. Lauderdale (Up to $300)
— Tickets to the convention’s 2 ticketed meal events

If you’ve been to a national SPJ convention you know it’s jam-packed with great training and networking opportunities for journalists across the mass media spectrum. The partnership with RTDNA proved very potent for last year’s convention in New Orleans, yielding more great speakers and programs than ever.

Read More: The EIJ 2011 recap

I encourage members who may not have the conference in their budget to apply for one of the two scholarship opportunities! The deadline for both is June 11.

Holly Edgell with Jason Lamb, reporter at KTUU-TV in Anchorage, at EIJ 2011 in New Orleans.

You can find chapters in your region using this handy map at http://www.spj.org/chapters.asp

Each week I receive a dispatch from SPJ membership guru Linda Hall. It includes stats about overall membership, and noteworthy news. This week’s message was especially heartening: We have eight new chapters and nine reactivated ones. A reactivated chapter is one that may have gone dormant for any number of reasons but has met the requirements to officially rejoin the ranks of the Society (see “Restoring Chapters to Good Standing” on the Start an SPJ Chapter page).

Welcome–and welcome back!

New chapters:

• Texas Panhandle Pro – Region 8
• Tarleton State University - Region 8
• Canisius College – Region 1
• Webster University – Region 7
• Regent University – Region 2
• Oakland University – Region 4
• Colorado Mesa University – Region 9
• Fullerton College – Region 11

Reactivated chapters:

• American University - Region 2
• North Carolina Pro - Region 2
• Franklin College – Region 5
• Wichita State University - Region 7
• Pepperdine University - Region 11
• University of Louisiana Monroe – Region 12
• Jacksonville State University – Region 3
• Auburn University - Region 3
• Hofstra University - Region 1

You can find your nearest chapter here. If one does not exist, learn how to start or re-start one.