2020 conference canceled—and other updates from our president

Hello everyone. I want to share some updates for SFJ 2020, but first, I want to say thank you.

THANK YOU.

For all the hard work you’re doing to keep your newsrooms together, even while apart, to inform readers, to take care of yourselves and your families.

What we do is more important than ever—and our industry is more fragile than ever, it seems. But we persist, and we do it together.

Earlier this month, the board met (via Zoom, of course) and voted to cancel this year’s conference in October. We are sad that we won’t get to gather in person—there is such power in our group and its energy. We don’t know what the world is going to look like in the next few months, or what newsroom budgets will look like by October, and it was the best decision we could make with what we know right now.

But that doesn’t mean 2020 is a wash for SFJ. As we navigate the new working remotely realities and the challenges and stress of covering the pandemic, we’ll be holding virtual seminars, training sessions, and happy hours. We’ll also use our members listserv to continue to list available journalism jobs and continue our mission to connect people—which is more important than ever.

So, there’s never been a more important time to be a member—and now it’s free! Here are the details:

ICYMI: We are making membership free for 2020.

Usually March and April are membership drive months. If you’re a current member, you will remain one for another year without renewing, and new members can join. We will spread the word—our organization is not just for features journalists. We are to open everyone, again, at no cost for 2020. (We will take membership donations if anyone wants to give something.) Please share the link from our website with others who might want to join: https://featuresjournalism.org/membership/how-to-join/

We will meet virtually.

We’re planning a series of Zoom/Google Hangouts/webinars. Some will have speakers and topics; some will be more casual, chances to connect with no agenda beyond hanging with people who get it. We hosted our first one with Poynter’s Al Tompkins, who shared 20 pandemic ideas in 20 minutes. We’ll send out announcements on the listserv and via our social media, so fund us and follow us.

We want to know what you want.

Look for a Google form in the next few weeks. We want to know what topics you are interested in, and we want to share your successes and good ideas.

Contest judging started April 1. 

Thanks to Jim Haag for all his hard work organizing this year’s Excellence-in-Features Awards. So many great entries! Judges have about a month, and winners will be announced in June.

— Sharon Chapman, Features editor at the Austin American-Statesman