Find your local chapter!

One of the primary goals immediate past president John Ensslin had during his tenure was to find a meaningful way to offer memberships to news organizations.

Mission accomplished! With great assistance from our SPJ executive director Joe Skeel and his team, then president-elect Sonny Albarado (now our fearless leader) and research into what fellow journalism groups were doing, came consultations with newsrooms leaders and employees and input from the membership committee. A promising formula emerged.

The plan is based on membership tiers, each offering price points based on the value and benefits of which newsrooms would like to take advantage.

This means, whatever its size, a newsroom can decide to make an investment that suits its budget and needs:

• Bronze $250
• Silver $750
• Gold $1,250
• Learn more about each tier!

All the membership tiers offer some basics: dues discounts for individual members; discounts on products and services; an ethics plaque; and a free newsroom subscription to Quill magazine. All newsrooms memberships also allow individuals to register for conferences at the member rate.

Among the first to take advantage of this new membership plan is the Osage News in Oklahoma. Welcome!

To learn more about newsroom membership, you can contact SPJ Chapter Coordinator Tara Puckey via email or phone: 317-927-8000, ext. 215. Or, check out the information available online.

With 2013 shaping up to be another wild ride for journalism and journalists, it may be the right time to bring your newsrooms into the largest, broadest-based organization for our profession anywhere.

Here are some more reasons to join us!

Excellence in Journalism 2013. The national conference unites members from SPJ, the Radio Television Digital News Association and–new this year–the National Association of Hispanic Journalists. August 24-26 in Anaheim, Calif.

NEW: Access to health, life, disability insurance and more benefits through WestPoint Financial Group.

Spring regional conferences. Sprouting up from coast to coast, there’s bound to be a conference near you. The one-day gatherings offer training, chances to network, and more. Find your nearest conference here!

Committee work. One of the best ways to make an impact on journalism and roll up your sleeves in the SPJ is to volunteer for a committee. This can especially satisfying if you live far from the nearest SPJ chapter and find it a challenge to attend meetings. Committees include people from around the country! Find a committee that suits your skills and interests here.

Resources and support for freelance and independent journalists. You are not alone! The freelance committee is among the most active and engaged in SPJ. The on demand resources for training and help are outstanding. Check it out!

For more insights into what SPJ can do for you (and vice versa), I encourage you to read more entries in this blog and peruse the rest of the SPJ blog roll.

Feel free to ask a question below, or email: me@hollyedgell.com

This blog has been silent for a while as I’ve been in transition to a new job and new city! Meanwhile, there is lots going on with SPJ, so I thought I’d do a roundup of highlights.

1 – SPJ Solutions. This is pretty big. Through a partnership with WestPoint Financial Group in Indianapolis SPJ members now have access to a variety of benefit programs including:

• life insurance
• health insurance
• disability coverage
• long-term care
• liability insurance
• errors & omissions coverage and more

In the words of secretary-treasurer Dana Neuts, who has led our efforts on this, SPJ Solutions is “one-stop shopping for insurance benefits and financial services… in all 50 states.”

Read Dana’s blog about SPJ Solutions

Read the SPJ press release about the program

If you are an SPJ member and interested in learning more, here’s the contact info:

Tel: 317/627-4753

Email:  spjsolutions@gmail.com

2 – Awards: ‘Tis the season for submissions. You work hard, so show us your best journalism!

• Sigma Delta Chi (SDX). Deadline: Feb. 7, 2013
• New America. Deadline: 7, 2013
• Mark of Excellence (collegiate awards). Deadline: Jan. 24, 2013
• High School Essay Contest. Deadline: March 7, 2013

Our contest coordinator at headquarters is Lauren Rochester. If you have questions or would like to volunteer as a judge, let her know: Telephone > 317/927-8000, ext. 210 and email > lrochester@hq.spj.org.

3 – Opportunity knocks. Don’t miss out! There are deadlines I wanted to remind members of. So, if these pertain to you, mark your calendars:

Ted Scripps Leadership Institute. This is for SPJ chapter board members, providing an opportunity to learn and grow within the organization. New this year, the institute goes on the road, with rolling deadlines. Look for more info on stops in Regions 2, 9 and 12. The program kicks off in Indianapolis (Region 5) March 8-10. That application deadline is Dec. 15. Questions? Contact chapter coordinator Tara Puckey at HQ > Telephone 317/927-8000, ext. 215 and email tpuckey@hq.spj.org.

Chapter grants. Professional and campus chapters in good standing can receive a grant of up to $500 for “unique, diverse and creative programming.” The grants are awarded throughout the year, and the deadline for the first one is Jan. 9. Questions? Contact chapter coordinator Tara Puckey at HQ > Telephone 317/927-8000, ext. 215 and email tpuckey@hq.spj.org.

I learned a new phrase at the SPJ Region 7 Spring Conference in Ames, Iowa over the weekend:

“SPJ is more than just a bill and a Quill.“

Amen to that!

• MORE: Find a regional conference near you

As the Society of Professional Journalists continues to evolve, it may be challenging for members and prospective members to keep track of all the new benefits and resources. At the Region 7 gathering I found myself sharing lots of examples of why I am a member and why others should consider joining.

So, I thought I’d share a few of my favorites, with nod to the folks at HQ who helped pull together this list. Consider this blog post a tool for helping prospective members to get a fuller picture of why membership has its benefits.

Editor’s Note: Recently I’ve gotten quite a few questions from freelance journalists about the benefits of joining SPJ. I asked  the Freelance Committee for a volunteer to provide some insights into how SPJ membership can benefit independent journalists, and Jeff Cutler stepped up with this great guest post!

Jeff is a social media journalist and content specialist based in Boston. He is an active member of the Society of Professional Journalists Freelance Committee. You can email him at jeff@jeffcutler.com and follow him on Twitter @jeffcutler. Check out his SPJ Freelance Directory listing!

You’re a freelance journalist. Your last meeting at the office was with the cat and you discussed the merits of her constant meowing while you were on the phone conducting interviews. The discussion was one-sided, but that’s frequently the case when your entire operation consists of a single writer taking on the world.

But there are ways to alleviate the solo nature of freelancing so you get all the perks of a larger enterprise without the infighting, politics, stolen lunches and soul-sucking meetings. Join an organization.

• Read more about joining the Society of Professional Journalists

That’s right, join a group that supports your objectives and gives you resources that further your career connections and professional skillset. This isn’t supposed to be a poster telling you to “join the Army to see fun, faraway places.” It is a brief recount of how being an SPJ member has helped me – a career freelancer with 21 years pitching articles and columns to outlets all over the world.

There are the three things I get from my SPJ involvement. You will probably get more, but I believe even one of these factors gives you an upside for your annual $75 investment.

1. Sanity (or as sane people would say, a conduit to humanity)

That’s right. Talking to the cat really hasn’t provided me with more than a few article ideas. She’s reticent to contribute and seems to be more concerned with squirrels than she is with consumer affairs, the Tour de France or social media tools.

The connections SPJ provides online and in real life (conferences and regional/local meetings) allow me to understand that I’m not just writing from a lousy couch that’s adrift in the morass of rejected queries and occasional acceptance letters. These connections have become friends and colleagues – so I now have a network of folks in Louisville, Indianapolis, Las Vegas, Austin, Florida, DC, Chicago and New York.

• Find SPJ professional chapters, near and far

And this network is my new office. I bounce ideas off them, I share my experiences, I even plan to connect with them during my regular trips around the country. One of the best things about this network is that it includes staffers and freelancers, so I get a very real and balanced perspective about the state of the industry.

So, that’s the first of three things – Sanity – by way of real people.

2. Next, from SPJ membership I get money.

“Did he say money?”

“Does he mean real money? Was he lying about his sanity?”

Yes, MONEY. Let me tell you a story about the day I was sitting on the toilet and my phone rang. Seriously. On the other end of the line (of course I answered it) was a reporter from the New York Post.

We had a nice little chat and came to the conclusion that it was cost-effective and time-efficient for her to hire me to dash into Cambridge, MA to chase down a story on Eliot Spitzer.

The story was fantastic…I got to interview students at Harvard…I got a byline in the New York Post, yada yada yada. But none of this would have occurred if I hadn’t been an SPJ member…really.

The reporter from the post had gotten my name from the freelancer listings on the SPJ site and narrowed the list of potential journalists by proximity to Harvard University where Spitzer was scheduled to speak. She then made a few phone calls and decided on me because I had the flexibility and skill to do the story for her. That’s it.

• Check out the SPJ Freelancer Directory

Two lessons for you here… SPJ freelance listings get you money. Sometimes taking the phone to the bathroom pays off.

3. The third facet SPJ membership delivers to my quiver of tools is legitimacy.

That’s right. Imagine trying to get credentials for an event in an industry on which you’ve never reported. Think about gaining access to individuals without being able to drop names like the New York Times, NPR, and the Bloomington Herald. Ponder the thought of being allowed inside the police tape at an accident or crime scene.

None of that happens without legitimacy as a journalist. While I have worked 21 years to get some really good names on my list of publications, my connection to SPJ still helps me. Because at the end of the day, when you don’t have an assignment in hand from an editor, you’re just another person in the sea of other people who want to report on a story.

The lines of defense see you as a citizen reporter. They see you as a wannabe journalist. Until you show them your credentials. And without an on-staff gig at an outlet, the next best thing is an affiliation with the most prominent journalism organization in the known universe – SPJ.

Show your card, share your past coverage, explain your goals…then you’re inside the tape, in the green room, speaking face-to-face with celebrities, local officials, victims. SPJ has your back – and as a freelancer, that’s one of the most valuable things you can have when looking for immediate access to a story.

SPJ levels the playing field so both you and the staff reporter start at the same spot, with the same access. The rest is up to you.

Ultimately, if you’re a freelancer working remotely, you’re spending more on heat and A/C letting the cat in and out of your house repeatedly through the workday. Take $75 and look at membership in SPJ.

I wouldn’t trade being a freelancer for anything in the world. But when there are rough spots, my membership in SPJ helps smooth things out and makes me feel like I belong in this crazy world where we’ve chosen to work.

More SPJ info and resources:

• The Freelance Committee. Contact Chair Dana Neuts: dneuts@spj.org
• Training and regional spring conferences
• The Independent Journalist blog
• The Job Bank
• Excellence in Journalism national conference (EIJ 2012)

Questions about membership? Drop me a line! me@hollyedgell.com

Note: I sent this out to Regional Directors earlier this month, but I thought I share it more broadly as well.

As the spring conferences blossom across the country, I encourage you to use the opportunity to spread the SPJ message to attendees who are not already members.

Your SPJ conference coordinator from HQ will have the membership brochures on hand for the spring conferences, and there are ways to build on that.

1. Email me for talking points developed by HQ to help: me@hollyedgell.com
2. Wherever appropriate, focusing on your great local chapter services, events, and resources is encouraged!
3. These are things RDs can do and/or deputize chapter leaders & members to help out.

Here’s a menu you can consider choosing from! I’d also love to hear ideas from you, so please share.

Remarks at Friday night reception/social event

• As you welcome attendees, say a few remarks about membership benefits. “It’s an investment in yourself and your career.”
• Have a list of people who joined when they registered for the conference and welcome by name
• Have literature (e.g. postcards or flyers) on hand that show your meeting calendar and/or social events coming up; website info; chapter contacts
• Consider doing a raffle/door prize for one year of free local dues to the pro chapters in your region

Opening business session

• Include a few key points about membership in your presentation.
• Use specific examples of value for the membership dollar: training online; ethics, legal and FOI support/resources; Quill; discounted services; national conference as well as local chapter activities/benefits
• Invite attendees to find you at the conference if they have questions
• Have literature (e.g. postcards or flyers) on hand that show your meeting calendar and/or social events coming up; website info; chapter contacts

Breakout sessions

• Have membership literature in each room
• Pre-arrange with panel/session moderators to welcome attendees and do a brief plug for memberships at the beginning or end of the breakout
• Invite attendees to find you at the conference if they have questions

Mark of Excellence lunch

• Include a few key points about membership in your presentation OR considering tapping a student chapter leader to do so.
• Be sure to explain the deal students get on membership after they graduate
• Point to specific examples of value for the membership dollar: training online; ethics, legal and FOI support/resources; Quill; discounted services; national conference

Closing business session

• Remind people where they can find membership info: national and local chapter
• Invite attendees to contact you after the conference if they have questions
• Have literature (e.g. postcards or flyers) on hand that show your meeting calendar and/or social events coming up; website info; chapter contacts

After the spring conference

• Use the list of attendees to reach out via email, phone or postcard to thank attendees for coming; include language about how/why to join SPJ

After spring conferences, I invite RDs to do a guest posts for the The SPJ Garden Center about feedback and questions from attendees about your membership messaging.

Happy spring conferencing!