> had some people ask me where we are in this thing, so I thought I’d post it here … on the off chance that anyone reads this site.
We have tried valiantly to establish this group, but we simply haven’t been able to drum up enough local support to sustain a local chapter. At best, we’ve had 6 or 7 serious committments to the chapter, and we need at least 20. I’ve had a lot of journalists express interest, but never take the step of actually joining.
So I’ll keep the idea around, and hopefully we can find enough journalists in the Ohio River Valley to one day support a local chapter. I appreciate the help and support that many people have given me, and hopefully next time that support will extend to actual membership.
Regardless of the fate of this local chapter, I would like to invite you all to join the national SPJ chapter! It’s a great organization, and a valuable career tool!
The SPJ began exploring opportunties last year along the Ohio River Valley - including parts of southern Ohio, northern Kentucky and northwestern West Virigina. After an informational meeting on Sept. 15, 2007 at Shawnee State University (featuring SPJ regional director Kevin Smith), local journalists began signing up for the newest chapter to join the nationally accredited organization which boasts 10,000 members already!
Following that meeting, the chapter coordinators began working closely with SPJ national headquarters in Indiana to complete all the necessary steps toward making this chapter an officially recognized affiliation of the organization.
One thing we still need is 20 signatures from existing SPJ members!
Our Web site was recently attacked by spam-bots and hackers, which required me to take down all of former news posts due to an influx of spam ads (you don’t really need Phenphen, whatever the heck that is). I’m working on posting some of our latest updates, and hopefully we can keep the spammers away this time. Thanks for your patience!