Two chapters have been awarded funds for their awesome programs thanks to SPJ Chapter Grants. We ended this years program on a great note by dishing out the cash to SPJ South Florida and the Fort Worth chapter for some great ideas.

According to their grant application, “SPJ South Florida and the Miami chapter of NAHJ are following the lead of their national organizations- who are joining forces for EIJ this summer in Anaheim – and we’re sponsoring our own mini-conference on Saturday, July 13, at the Mayfair Hotel in Coconut Grove.” For more information on the event, visit their website.

The Forth Worth chapter plans to host an in-depth program about investigative journalism at the request of many of their members. They also hope to help out the community and had this to say: “By providing in depth training, the community will benefit as journalists apply theskills learned to report on the misuses and abuses as well as the beneficial events occurring in ourarea as well as beyond it for those reporters who take these skills with them into other areas.”

Either way, both chapters are set to provide quality programming with some extra in their wallets. Look for information about the next round of Chapter Grants in the future and congrats to these two great chapters!

From SPJ Director at Large, Carl Corry:

In an effort to help SPJ chapters improve their all-important web presences, or to start one, please take a few minutes to fill out the survey if you’re a chapter leader. We’ll share the results.

The goal: to help bring attention to the great work you do and improve your ability to attract and retain members.

Additionally, SPJ Director at Large Carl Corry is offering to help you get started by providing one-on-one advice to any chapter. We will also host a Google+ Hangout on the subject.

Please reply by June 14.

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.

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.

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!

Congratulations to SPJ DePaul for receiving $500 from a November Chapter Grant to help fund their upcoming program, Twitter for Journalists with Mark S. Luckie. The manager of journalism at Twitter, Luckie will visit the campus in late January to do multiple sessions depending on experience levels.

Here’s what SPJ DePaul had to say about the program:

A Knight study released in late 2011 showed that only one in four high school journalism students get any online media training before starting college. Even fewer know Twitter. This training would help our younger members get the fundamentals they need and learn how to use the medium in a professional, ethical manner.

The advanced training would help our more experienced student members learn how to embed Twitter into not only their reporting but also how to use Twitter’s API (application programming interface) to build social media tools into their blogs and websites.

Sounds like a great program! Congratulations again!

And for the rest of you chapter leaders out there – don’t forget your chapter can also receive $500 to fund a unique, creative program. The next Chapter Grant deadline is Dec. 5, so hurry and apply today!