APSE judging in Las Vegas is a few months away.
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| Lynn Hoppes |
APSE national convention in Pittsburgh is six months away.
How many people will show up at either? Or both?
That is the big question.
Organizations such as APSE are trying to figure out how to be organizations and have meetings and have contests and have reasons for existence.
After Pittsburgh, we’re in Salt Lake City in 2010 and then Boston 2011.
What will the organization look like then?
As our business changes, the organizational structure such as ours will change too.
So I’m putting out the olive branch to Association for Women in Sports Media to join us for a future national convention.
I think it’s important for groups with similar goals to come together at a time when it’s so important.
I’ve had some preliminary discussions with Jenni Carlson, AWSM president and columnist for The Oklahoman.
She’s jazzed about the idea.
"Clearly, these are tough financial times for everyone, and AWSM is looking for ways to reduce expenses for our members while still providing quality programs and services. We are always open to new and different ideas," she said. "Beyond that, we are also excited about the possibility of strengthening ties between AWSM and APSE. These are two groups that can – and should – draw on the strength of each other. We look forward to discuss how that might happen more frequently."
APSE and AWSM have had a strained relationship over the years and I would like to repair that and go forward.
If Obama and Hillary can do it, so can we!
Just look at the objective of AWSM: to serve as a positive advocate for women in sports media, through support services, networking and national visibility; to mentor and assist young women entering into sports media, through scholarships, internships and contact with experienced members; to serve as a watchdog, promoting fair portrayal of female professionals in sports media, encouraging diversity, positive workplace environments and equal access to opportunities.
This isn’t a precedent-setting idea for our organization. We’ve had other press groups attend our national convention.
But I’d like to see this become a big deal.
Other organizations do that. I returned in September from a convention that included Society of News Design, Associated Press Managing Editors and the AP Photo Editors. That’s a mouthful. But it was awesome to see a lot of different people with a lot of different ways to hold meetings and talk about the future.
It was invigorating.
Jenni and I will put a committee together from both organizations to look into this.
Let’s make this happen.
