NASW Update, Aug. 11, 2009

NASW Members: Time to register for ScienceWriters 2009 and other matters of business and geography from your board.

This Week it's Boston!

If you're headed to the Asian American Journalists Association in Boston this week (Aug 12-15), please look for NASW member and volunteer Charles Choi at our Career Fair booth. Charles graciously offered to help spread the word about NASW and the benefits we offer to students as well as to new and experienced science writers during AAJA's meeting. NASW is booth #315, which will be staffed August 13 and 14. Thanks, Charles!

In October it's Austin!

Registration for ScienceWriters 2009 is now open. It's the only meeting for science writers by science writers, and this year we're in Austin, Texas, with The University of Texas at Austin. The dates are October 16-20, including the NASW professional development workshops and the CASW New Horizons in Science briefings. For a full schedule, program details, registration, and travel information, visit sciencewriters2009.org Registration closes on October 1. Get your early bird discount by registering before September 1.

NASW does not receive outside support for its portion of ScienceWriters 2009, but we are subsidizing your attendance to the NASW workshops, bonus field trips, and multimedia workshop by using Authors Coalition funds to offset costs. In addition, The University of Texas at Austin is supporting the New Horizons briefing events, most of which are free to attendees. Check out the FAQ section of sciencewriters2009.org for information on travel fellowships and volunteering. Fellowship deadlines are approaching fast!

For updates, check out ScienceWriters on Twitter. See you in Austin.

Looking ahead to Cairo

As we've noted in previous communiques, NASW is privileged to co-sponsor the next World Conference of Journalists along with the Arab Science Journalists Association. That will be in 2011. NASW is contributing $10,000 in seed money to help ASJA get started setting up the various systems that organization needs to get planning in full gear. Tinsley Davis has made sure this is an amount well within our budget. Deborah Blum, who will serve as program chair for the meeting, says both CASW and the World Federation of Science Journalists are also kicking in funds to help ASJA get things rolling.

As Deborah reports, "We're already working on putting together a program that will link journalism and science in the developed and the developing world." Former NASW president Robert Lee Hotz is also on the program committee along with science writers from Arab states, India, Russia, Europe, Mexico, Canada and Latin America. Tinsley is on the steering committee and Russ Clemings is on the website committee. Stay tuned for more updates.

And in your zip code

This year's membership directory will be in your mailboxes mid-month. We've tweaked the design to save paper and put even more information at your fingertips. Thanks to Larry Krumenaker and Russ Clemings for wrangling all that data. If you see something wrong in your entry, log on to nasw.org's member section and change it (correctness of information is in your hands).

August 11, 2009

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