SPJ FOI Chair Dave Cuillier is taking his “Access Across America” dog-and-pony show on the road, starting April 27. He arrives in the Pacific Northwest next week and will travel throughout Region 10 on this leg of his trip. His mission? To provide national FOI training to journalists and newsrooms. His Region 10 stops include:

May 3:  Portland, Oregon  (Oregon/SW Washington Pro Chapter)
May 4:  Tacoma, Washington  (WCOG & Western Washington Pro Chapter)
May 5:  Yakima, Washington (William O. Douglas)
May 6:  Spokane, Washington  (Inland Northwest)
May 7:  Missoula, Montana  (Montana Pro)

For more info. on Dave’s cross-country FOI tour, funded by a grant from the Sigma Delta Chi Foundation, visit the Access Across America page at SPJ.org.

So, folks have been asking me about our  Region 10 blog. I admit I have neglected the blog this spring. With too much to juggle, something had to give and this was it…but SPJ life is returning to normal, and I am committed to keeping this blog up to date. Want to help? Send me your chapter news, events and updates so we can learn from each other and share ideas!

Here’s a brief recap of our spring so far:

- February-March:  Approximately 2,500 contest entries were submitted to the 2009 Pacific NW Excellence in Journalism Contest, and passed on to out-of-state judges at SPJ chapters around the country.

- March 1:  Regional Director reports on individual chapters were due.

- April 10:  The Western Washington Pro Chapter hosted the spring SPJ conference in Seattle. With about 150 in attendance, the conference drew about 50% students and 50% pros, a big change from the 25%/75% split usually seen. National SPJ president-elect Hagit Limor from Cincinnati attended the conference which focused on providing skills-based training. The conference also included an awards ceremony to honor student MOE winners. Regional winners will go onto compete at the national level.

- April 17:  As regional director, I attended the national SPJ board meeting in Indianapolis where I learned about SPJ’s proposed budget for the 2010-2011 year; HQ’s plans to launch its new and improved, user-friendly website complete with video training; that the joint SPJ-RTDNA 2011 conference will be held in New Orleans; and more.

- April 20:  Added a Facebook group for Region 10. Join us here.

- April 27:  The last week of April chapter presidents were given the names of contest winners to begin making announcements. The Oregon/SW Washington and Western Washington Pro chapters host a formal banquet, while the William O. Douglas chapter will honor its winners with a less formal BBQ.

What’s new in your chapter? Send your news to me via email or post comments here.

Welcome to SPJ’s Region 10 blog, called The X Factor (for now). The purpose of this blog will be to share news, regional contest updates, training opportunities and ideas for SPJ members in Region 10 (Alaska, Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana). If your chapter resides in one of these states and you have information to share with the region, please send it to me via email and I’ll be happy to post it for you. I also welcome your comments to my posts and would love suggestions for a new name.

I look forward to working with you!

Dana Neuts
Region 10 Director
www.spj.org