SPJ Kicks off national convention

The convention runs Oct. 4-7 in Washington, D.C.

By Jodi Cleesattle, San Diego Pro Chapter

Deputy Attorney General, Dept. of Justice

The 2007 SPJ Convention and National Journalism Conference kicks off Oct. 4 in Washington, D.C., with professional development sessions, training workshops, and even an insider’s tour of the U.S. Supreme Court.

The convention, which runs from Oct. 4 to Oct. 7 at the Hyatt Regency Washington on Capitol Hill, takes advantage of its setting this year, featuring speakers such as Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), discussing legislative efforts regarding the Freedom of Information Act and the proposed federal shield law; U.S. Comptroller General David Walker, making sense of the numbers behind the national debt; veteran White House reporter Helen Thomas and other members of the White House press corps; Washington Post executive editor Len Downie; and Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, looking back at Watergate 35 years later.

Half-day workshops include a session focusing on citizen media and the new wave of online local publications; a hands-on training session for broadcast journalists, complete with critiques by live shot veterans; and an “Inside the Marble Palace” tour of the Supreme Court. Professional development sessions cover everything from the sports beat to crime-and-cops reporting, from business-to-business publications to multimedia coverage, and coverage of big stories from the past year, such as the Duke University lacrosse team rape case.

The convention will include the familiar, such as the Journalism Expo trade show and the Career Development Center, as well as the new, including a “speed dating” event with special interest groups, where journalists can chat up experts on issues like health care reform, generic drugs, automobile safety, and social and economic trends.

There is plenty of fun to be had at this year’s convention as well. The informal socializing begins with a reception Thursday, Oct. 4 at the National Press Club (just a block from the White House), then moves to the official Opening Night Reception and Legal Defense Fund Auction at the National Music Hall in the Historic Carnegie Library. The Legal Defense Fund Auction includes a variety of cool journalism-related and not-so-journalism-related items up for bid in the silent and live auctions, including tickets to “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart”, a tin of Corona cigars from Air Force One, a football signed by former Miami Dolphins coach Don Shula, tickets to a Washington Redskins game, autographed books, and nifty gift baskets put together by SPJ chapters around the nation and foreign correspondents clubs around the world.

CBS Capitol Hill reporter Joie Chen will speak at the annual Mark of Excellence Awards luncheon honoring the best in student journalism on Friday, Oct. 5, while NBC News Political Director Chuck Todd will deliver the keynote address at the President’s Installation Banquet on Saturday, Oct. 6.

Pre-registration is open through Sept. 24. Conference registration costs $175 for SPJ student members, advisers and retired journalists; $225 for SPJ professional members and student non-members; and $325 for professional non-members. Reduced hotel rates are available until Sept. 10. For more information about the convention, visit http://www.spj.org/convention.asp.

Boxed Sidebar:

Heading to D.C.?

If you’re planning to attend the SPJ Convention and National Journalism Conference next month in Washington, D.C., and you want to meet up with other San Diego SPJ members and journalists, contact San Diego Pro Chapter president Jodi Cleesattle at jcleesattle@gmail.com.

Cleesattle, who lived in Washington for 16 years before moving to San Diego in 2002, will be attending the convention and will be happy to coordinate side outings to hot spots and lesser known but cool places to visit in D.C. She can tell you which museum has the best gift shop, which Capitol Hill dive bar has the best cheap beer, and which locals-only spot will have you peeling pounds of shrimp and licking Old Bay seasoning off your fingers.