NASW Update, May 19, 2009

Here is the latest update from the NASW board on current matters of interest to members.

From the Executive Director

Save the Date: ScienceWriters2009 October 16-20

Mark your calendars and polish your dancing boots now. NASW's annual professional development workshops will be held as part of ScienceWriters2009 October 16-20 in Austin,Texas. Your peers on the workshops committee have spent time this spring crafting a program that constructively addresses the state of the writing world, sans hand wringing, and offers new skills and coping mechanisms.

Program, travel, and schedule information will be appearing at sciencewriters2009.org throughout the summer. Program info for NASW's workshops and the Council for the Advancement of Science Writing's New Horizons in Science Briefings will be available on August 3 when registration opens.

In recognition of tight budgets, NASW will be increasing the number of travel fellowships offered, subsidizing each member's attendance to keep registration fees low, and offering early bird registration discounts. Registrations prior to August 31 are $150.00, with regular registration fees $175.00 from September 1 to close of registration on October 1.

Vote now on NASW Constitutional Amendment; Polls Open through June 20

Regular NASW members received an electronic ballot notice on May 6. Be sure to login to the Members' Section and cast your vote on NASW's constitutional amendment, which aims to synch the election cycle more efficiently with the annual fall meeting. The major effect: the amendment will enable new board members to participate in their first meeting shortly after the election instead of waiting 10 months as happens under the current language. Details are in the President's Letter of the Spring ScienceWriters issue. Polls close on June 20.

Congratulations to Travel Fellowship Recipients

NASW offered two fellowship travel contests this spring. Congratulations to Victoria Costello and Sharon Guynup, recipients of the Laura Van Dam Travel Fellowships. The fellowships, each in the amount of $2,500 USD, are awarded in memory of past National Association of Science Writers President Laura Van Dam, who died in 2006. Laura was a strong supporter of this organization's commitment to international science writing and, in fact, helped organize the World Federation of Science Journalist's first meeting in Montrealin 2004. Our goal is not only to encourage ties between NASW and the World Federation as a way of helping the development of our craft around the world, but also to give the two selected Van Dam fellows a chance to pursue story opportunities in the U.K.

Again this year, The Council for the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings invited NASW to select four members to receive travel funding to attend the 59th Meeting of Nobel Laureates June 28-July 3, 2009 in Lindau, Germany. These meetings bring together Nobel Laureate scientists with hundreds of young researchers. This summer, the meeting is dedicated to chemistry. Congratulations to Karen Hopkin, Robert Frederick, Jeffrey Kluger, and Tom Paulson on their awards.

— Tinsley Davis

 

Other news

Google Settlement Deadline Extended to Sept. 4, 2009

For book authors who wish to opt out of the Google settlement, there's no need to rush. The court supervising the settlement has extended the deadline for authors to opt out by 4 months. Further information on the settlement is available at www.googlebooksettlement.com

Other information sources on the settlement include http://www.authorsguild.org/advocacy/articles/settlement-resources.html

If you are participating in the settlement, the deadline for claiming cash payments for books that Google has digitized is still January 5, 2010.

— Beryl Benderly

 

Electronic Membership Renewal a Boon to Authors Coalition Survey

Our new electronic system of membership renewal has the wonderful side benefit of streamlining and improving our annual Authors Coalition genre survey. As you know, the survey is the basis — and determines the amount — of our claim to Coalition funds.

The new system means two important things: no more laborious manual counting of the forms (a tedious task that Diane and her helpers cheerfully and efficiently managed for years), and the ability to file actual numbers rather than extrapolations from incomplete returns. This means that we now longer need worry about meeting the 60% response threshold required to receive the full payment we are entitled to based on our members' works.

So, many thanks to our internet team, especially Russ Clemings, our wonderful cybrarian, for designing and executing the system, and also to all members who fill out the survey and help NASW get the maximum funds. Please continue filling out the survey each year. And please remember that the survey covers everything you have done throughout your entire career, not what you are doing presently or have done recently. Even if you are no longer writing for publication, your work still counts for the survey as long as you are an NASW member.

So, if you have not answered the survey because you thought that work you did years ago does not count, you can start checking the categories next year.

— Beryl Benderly

May 19, 2009

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