Jan. 23 — Free networking Happy Hour, 5 to 8 p.m., The Front Page, 1333 New Hampshire Ave. NW. Across from the south entrance of Dup Circle METRO. Cash bar with $3 drinks (wine, beer, cocktails) and $5 appetizers. Several other professional journalism groups have been invited to join SPJ for this event. Door Prize will be a $50 gift card. Details? Minal Bopaiah, 917-886-8205.
Feb. 1 –- Deadline for board nominations. If you are interested in running for an officer position or board spot on our SPJ-DC chapter board for the upcoming year, 2014-2015, please send an email by Feb. 1 to our Nominating Committee: nominations@spjdc.org We are now accepting nominations for all officer spots: president, vice president, treasurer, corresponding secretary, recording secretary; and for one- and two-year terms on the board. To run for a spot on the board, you must be a chapter member in good standing with current dues paid.
Feb. 15 –- Final deadline to purchase a ticket for an evening with the SPJ-DC at the Kennedy Center for a Sunday, June 22, 7:30 p.m. performance of “The Lion King.” Our advanced purchase of tickets has given us a very good group rate for tickets in two price ranges: Orchestra seats (rows X, Y,Z) are $88.20 and Tier 2 seats (all of row B) are $67.00. Tickets don’t go on sale to the public until March 3, and when they do the prices for these seats will be easily double the cost. For information, contact our SPJ vice president and program chair at 703-824-1799 or at burnskathy@earthlink.net.
Feb. 28 –- Deadliine for entering our chapter’s Dateline Awards competition. We honor the best in local print, broadcast, online, trade and college journalists in The Washington, DC, market for their best work during 2013 to both serve the public interest and to protect press freedom. Full contest details are available on the chapter website, www.spjdc.org. Click on the chapter logo on the upper righthand side! Entries must be postmarked by Feb. 28.
March 19 — DC Open Government Forum at the National Press Club, 5:30 to 8 p.m., to commemorate national “Sunshine Week” March 16-22. SAVE THE DATE for the NPC forum. Details will be in forthcoming email. Our SPJ-DC chapter will be one of the co-sponsors.
March 28-29 — SPJ Region 2 Conference for professional members and student chapters. Will be hosted at the new Georgetown University campus at 640 Massachusetts Ave. NW, near Gallery Place METRO. Region 2 Director Andy Schotz will be sending out details on topics and speakers shortly.
NEWS NOTE from past events:
Besides missing out on our three SPJ programs for 2013, if you weren’t on hand, you missed out on some great door prizes — including six Al Jazeera gift bags crammed with goodies for the Oct. 20 program. For Nov. 20, at the talk by cartoonist Christopher Weyant, whose work has appeared in The Hill newspaper and the New Yorker Magazine, the winner of one of his original drawings was Hazel Becker. For the Dec. 3 meeting, Chris Price won the $25 gift card provided by the Hilton Garden Inn. Congratulations! And thank you to those who donated the prizes for our SPJ events.