The student SPJ chapter at Elon University in Burlington, N.C., will host the 2012 Region Conference March 30-31. Program information will be released soon.
SPJ Region 2 director Brian Eckert has looked into Amtrak group travel, where members can board the train March 30 at the station of their choice. (Baltimore or BWI around 10 a.m., D.C. Union Station around 11:30 a.m., Richmond around 1:30 p.m., Petersburg around 2 p.m., Durham and Raleigh around 5 p.m. and arriving at Burlington at 6 p.m.) The conference is expected to start with an evening reception, with a full day’s program on March 31. Return trip would be Sunday, April 1, at 10 a.m. from Burlington.
The cost would be around $100 roundtrip boarding in Md. and D.C., probably somewhat less boarding in Virginia. According to Eckert, a charter bus following the same route is much more expensive. Please let chapter president Julie Asher know if this is of interest for traveling to the regional conference. She can be reached at (202) 541-3266 (work) or through email at jasher@spjdc.org.
Eckert is trying to gauge interest now, because the event requires a commitment by a critical mass of members. Another possibility is arranging carpools to make the trip.