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Posts Tagged ‘Region 7’

Mining your membership & other thoughts after the SPJ Region 7 Spring Conference

By Holly Edgell | April 4th, 2012

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.

SPJ on Demand: Online training videos. These include basic videography techniques; business tips for freelancers; FOI law; mastering social media and more.
Discounts to Excellence in Journalism national conference. This year it’s in Fort Lauderdale. I attended the New Orleans conference in 2011 and found the synergy of SPJ and RTDNA incredible.
Discounted award entry fees.
Quill magazine subscription and access to Quill magazine online archives
Chapter membership for local programming and involvement in SPJ planning
Chance to join national committees to plan programming, develop resources, and advocate for journalists
Access to the online Freelancer Directory, where all members list themselves and editors/managers find people for extra work. National, regional and local news organizations frequently use it to find freelancers.

And there’s more! Useful practical tools aside, SPJ keeps ‘em honest–both within and outside our industry.

Advocacy: SPJ, local chapters and national committees speak out on current issues affecting journalists.

President John Ensslin wrote an editorial and SPJ issued a statement condemning arrests of journalists at the Occupy protests. The editorial has been published by other outlets.
The Northern California Pro chapter’s FOI Committee wrote a letter that was instrumental in dropping the charges against Susie Cagle, a journalist who was arrested while covering an Occupy protest
SPJ joined a letter supporting the release of public information in the National Practitioner Data Bank. The public data file was restored after pressure from SPJ and other organizations, but there are still restrictions
The Legal Defense Fund frequently joins and financially supports cases defending journalists in court

Call for comments: I am gathering thoughts, reflections, and “overheads” from the spring regional conferences. I will round them up in a blog post which I hope will give us a kind of anecdotal records of what took place around the country. You may add your input here or email me@hollyedgell.com. Be sure to include your name, job, and which regional conference you attended.

More on membership:

Tags: benefits, EIJ2012, freelancer, Jeff Cutler, Lynn Walsh, membership, Region 7, Society of Professional Journalists, SPJ, spring conferences, training
Posted in Membership, Pro Chapter, Student Chapter | 1 Comment »

Mind on SPJ membership: It’s all about programming

By Holly Edgell | March 2nd, 2012

Well, maybe not all. But it’s fairly evident that providing relevant, valuable programming is key to building and maintaining a strong membership base.

As we enter SPJ Membership Month, many chapters already are planning an extra push for new members. Since December, the SPJ “Calling Corps” has been reaching out to people whose memberships have lapsed.

The regional spring conferences that kick off around the country this month are also a great platform for adding new members and reinforcing the message about how an SPJ membership can benefit journalists.

Read more about SPJ spring conferences across the country

All of the above–as well as resources like online training, ethics advice, legal support, job listings, and other great offerings–make up the SPJ picture.

Still, members often cite what happens on the front lines of membership as what is most valuable; and by front lines, I mean the local chapters.

Read more: Why Join SPJ?

Here are some ideas I shared with an emerging chapter a couple of years ago. It all started when Region 7 Director Kelsey Volkmann, former president of St. Louis Pro, shared the concept of using the topic of media literacy as a jumping off point for new as well as established chapters.

1. Media literacy: a series of panels and/or lectures that could draw members of the public AND journalists.

2. Partner with local colleges and draw on their faculty as well as local journalists to hold a monthly event in conjunction with the student chapter.

>> For professional chapters that cover an entire state, campus sessions could be a way to take SPJ “on the road” to bring programming to members and potential members in all the corners of your chapter.<<

3. Topics could include:

Who’s a journalist? How to know if what you’re reading or viewing is a news item, opinion, rant, or some combo thereof
Gatekeepers & agenda setters. Who makes the decisions about what’s in the news? What are some of the guiding principals in deciding?
Two-way street. How members of the public can use new media tools to have a voice in the news agenda (comments, social media, User Generated Content, etc.)
Diversity matters. Why do the media still seem to report along stereotypical lines? How can members of the public ensure that the stories of their communities get told, positive and negative?
The role of numbers. How journalists use ratings, unique visitor counts, and other metrics to figure out how many people are out there, what kinds of stories they like, etc. The need for balance in using this data to guide editorial decisions.
A BIG forum type thing at the end of the series that asks the question: How can we do a better job? Members of the public can weigh in with their opinions. The key here would be to choose panelists who would not be defensive or touchy about criticism, of course.

4. Use your regional or chapter Facebook Page to continue the media literacy conversation.

5. Use your regional blog to provide a narrative about the series as it unfolds.

Your ideas, please!

If anyone reading this has suggestions, ideas and success stories to share, please do so in the comments section. Better yet, touch base with me about a guest blog! You can drop me a line at me@hollyedgell.com