News

21 Dec SPJ’s Continuing Education Series starts Jan. 9

Members Attend FREE

Update: Please RSVP here.

SPJ’s Western Washington Pro Chapter is proud to offer its annual Continuing Education series. The six-part series, designed for media professionals of all skill levels, is FREE for SPJ members and $10 per session for non-members (join SPJ today).

All sessions are on Monday evenings, from 7 to 9 p.m. at Fisher Plaza, 140 Fourth Ave. N., Seattle. Pizza is included with each session.

Jan. 9 – Building Community in the Digital Age
You’ve got a successful website or blog, now how do you get your readers to engage with your content and each other? Learn how to build community in the digital age with Tracy Record of West Seattle Blog, Amy Duncan of My Green Lake and KING 5’s Evonne Benedict. Moderated by Monica Guzman of GeekWire.

Jan. 23 – Photos for Phone
Want to take great pictures but don’t have a bulky, expensive SLR camera? Learn how to take impactful news photos with your mobile phone from award-winning Seattlepi.com photographer (and phonographer) Josh Trujillo.

Jan. 30 – Writing for SEO
Search Engine Optimization: What it is, who does it well (and not so well) and how to make it work for you. Whether you’re a blogger, freelancer, journalism professor or newsroom reporter, everyone has to know about keywords, metadata and headlines that grab the attention of Google bots and humans alike. Learn tricks of the trade, ask those questions you’ve been afraid to ask and compete in headline writing contests with online journalists from about town in this hands-on session.

FEB. 6 – Beyond Journalism
From researching, reporting and interviewing to writing, tech know-how and critical thinking skills, journalists make great employees in just about any communications job. And in this shifting ecomony many of us are moving in that direction. So how do you leverage your years in the news room in a new job market? What can journalists bring to public relations firms, tech start-ups and nonprofits (and what should we leave behind)? What are employers looking for and how do you adjust to a new career? Join us for a panel discussion with journalists in our region that have answered those questions for themselves. This session also includes one-on-one career change counseling.

Feb. 13 – Going Deeper than Google
Bring your laptop and four media professionals will show you how to get the information you need through the web. A hands-on session that takes you beyond simple searches. Scheduled presenters include Kellie Cheadle, KING-TV; Kathy Gill, University of Washington; Cheryl Phillips, The Seattle Times; Matt Rosenberg, Public Data Ferret.

Feb. 27 – Food Blogging an International City
Seattle is a city full of flavor. Join food bloggers Keren Brown (Frantic Foodie, frantic foodie.com and author of “Food Lover’s Guide to Seattle) and Jess Thomson (Hogwash, jessthomson.wordpress.com and author of “Top Pot Hand-Forged Doughnuts: Secrets and Recipes for the Home Baker”) in a discussion about how they got started and where they’re going in blogging and beyond. Learn how to discover your niche, build an audience and how to turn your passion into profits. Moderated by Ethan Chung of 425 and South Sound magazines.