Chapter News

The 2011 Contest is DIGITAL! Download the Call for Entries to find your categories. If you want help using the new online system, download step-by-step instructions in the Entry Guide. Then submit your entries online at BetterBNC.com. Don't wait! Early Bird entries are due Jan. 30, 2012. The general deadline is Feb. 6, 2012. The annual awards banquet is history and the winners have been announced! See who won. Congratulations to all the winners, and especially to the chapter's special award recipients, Dr. Terry Clark, Ramòn Chávez, and Griffin Communications' Oklahoma Impact Team. Here's the official press release and the awards book with additional info. The results are in! Find your name on the list of winners, and join the Oklahoma Pro Chapter for its annual awards banquet April 30 in Tulsa! Download a registration form to mail in, or register online. Payment can be made online, too, with a credit card or PayPal account. The Oklahoma Pro Chapter is hosting this spring's Regional Conference, Verb: Journalists in Action, April 8 and 9 at the Gaylord College of Journalism and the National Weather Center. Download the registration form. Registration fees may be paid online with a credit card or PayPal account. SPJ Oklahoma contest awards will be presented Saturday, April 30 at the Tulsa Hilton Southern Hills. Cocktail reception will begin at 6 p.m. Dinner will be served at 7 p.m. The Hilton is located at 7900 S. Lewis, Tulsa, OK 74136. Award notifications will be sent and banquet reservations made available in early April. SPJ Annual Awards 2010 Call for Entries  See what's new, including a change to the contest period, new categories, and the option to pay entry fees online. Three collegiate journalists will attend a national journalism convention thanks to sponsorships from the Oklahoma Professional Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. See details. SPJ Oklahoma Pro chapter will provide scholarships for up to two students to attend the national SPJ conference in Las Vegas Oct. 3-5. Applications are due Friday, Aug. 27 and requirements are here. For more information, contact Kenna Griffin at kgriffin@okcu.edu. Contest news: The Oklahoma SPJ contest will make a major change this year as the contest period changes to the calendar year. During this transitional year the contest period will cover a year and a half – July 1, 2009 through Dec. 31, 2010. The contest materials will be mailed and posted online in late November 2010. Entries will be due in late January 2011. If you have questions, please e-mail Contest Coordinator Lisa Potts at spjcontest@gmail.com. This year’s SPJ convention, taking place Oct. 3-5 in Las Vegas, promises to bring hands-on training with 50+ workshops, many focusing on the use of multimedia and social networking tools packed into two days. From the Las Vegas Sun, Rob Curley, well known for his work in managing multimedia in the newsroom, will be joining the conference as a keynote speaker. More info and registration.  Access Across America tour comes to Oklahoma City June 8. Get FOI training in accessing public records sponsored by SPJ through a grant by the Sigma Delta Chi Foundation. More info and registration. National SPJ workshop in OKC! "Writing that Works Online" is an information-packed, two-hour workshop planned for 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, May 1, at The Oklahoman's auditorium, 9000 N. Broadway. More info and registration. Winners of the 2010 SPJ Oklahoma Pro Chapter awards have been announced! See the entire list, including Lifetime Achievement Award winners John Greiner and Gary England, and Teacher of the Year Philip Patterson. Congratulations to all the winners! The Woodhull Institute will present a nonfiction writing workshop on the University of Tulsa campus March 6 and 7. Nonfiction professionals will demonstrate how to write editorials, opinion pieces, magazine articles and nonfiction book proposals, offering writing instruction, one-on-one critique, and fundamental knowledge about blogging and publishing. More info and a link to register. The SPJ Awards Banquet is Saturday, Feb. 20 at Rocky's in Bricktown.  Join us for cocktails beginning at 6:00 p.m., and dinner is served at 7:00.  Following the awards ceremony, celebrate at the after-party until midnight! More info Overnight guests for the banquet can stay at the Hampton Inn just across the street from Rocky's. A special room rate of $109.00 is reserved for SPJ guests.  Judging results of the 2009 contest are in! Check this alphabetical list of winners to see if your work is among the winning entries. All categories are now back from the judges. 2009 CALL FOR ENTRIES 3/6: The SPJ Lifetime Award winner from last year, Ed Montgomery, died Tuesday (March 3rd) at 91. Click Here to read the article from The Norman Transcript. 11/8: Oklahoma Society of Professional Journalists extends its sympathies to the family and friends of longtime board member Carter Bradley. Please read more here. 11/8: Congratulations to Oklahoma Society of Professional Journalists treasurer Scott Cooper on being elected SPJ Region 8 director. More information can be read here. 3/19: STATEMENT: The Oklahoma Professional Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists joins with Freedom of Information Oklahoma Inc. and the Oklahoma Press Association in denouncing the recent decision by the Oklahoma Supreme Court to restrict information on court documents and access to the Oklahoma Supreme Court Network website. Oklahoma SPJ will be working with FOI Oklahoma and OPA to convince the Supreme Court to reconsider its decision before the new rule goes into effect on June 10, 2008. Signed, Oklahoma SPJ Board