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In This Issue:
Not Dead Yet! – Journalist
Patti Mengers Not Ready to Cry “Uncle”
by Allan Loudell
 Award-winning
journalist Patti Mengers is not dead yet! That’s good news because she is to
be the speaker at this year’s DPA Annual Meeting and Communications Contest
Awards Banquet at the University & Whist Club on Thursday, April 30. A
professional journalist since 1973, when she was an intern reporter at the
Philadelphia Evening and Sunday Bulletin, Mengers has gained a wealth
of journalistic experience serving as features editor, consumer/health
columnist and general assignment reporter at the suburban-Philadelphia
Delaware County Daily Times for the last thirty-three years. She also
regularly writes editorials and has been a member of the paper’s editorial
board since 1990.
Her talk – “Not Dead Yet! Musings of a reporter on her
almost four decades in the newspaper business and why she isn't ready to cry
‘Uncle’” – will highlight the evolution of the newspaper business from the
time she was a 20-year-old employed at a thriving Philadelphia Bulletin
until now, at age 56, working for a bankrupt Daily Times. Mengers
will impart her observations on the corporate mentality and why she believes
it has undermined the success of newspapers, and will debunk the myth that
newspapers are dying because people aren’t reading them. Mengers also will
talk about what keeps veterans such as herself in the newsroom despite the
death knells.
 Specializing
in feature writing, Mengers covers health and religion among other beats. In
April 1986, she broke the story about Andrew Wyeth's Helga paintings. Her
articles about the lack of AIDS services in Delaware County, which has the
third highest number of AIDS cases among Pennsylvania's 67 counties, helped
lead to the formation of the AIDS Consortium of Delaware County. And thanks
in large part to her stories about a malfunctioning decompression chamber at
the Delaware County SPCA, this method of animal euthanasia was outlawed in
the state.
Mengers served as president of the Society of Professional
Journalists (SPJ), Greater Philadelphia Chapter, from 2001 to 2005. She has
made presentations on journalistic ethics to local colleges and regularly
speaks to school and community groups about the newspaper business and
careers in writing.
Her accolades for feature, news and editorial writing
include a first-place Keystone Press Award for public service/investigative
reporting from both the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association Foundation and
the Pennsylvania Society of Newspaper Editors for a series on nursing homes.
She also has won three all-media awards from the SPJ, Greater Philadelphia
Chapter.
A graduate of Catholic University of America, Washington,
D.C., Mengers also has worked in semi-professional and community theatre,
including at the Wilmington Drama League and in Arden, Del. She has written,
directed and produced children's shows at Plays & Players in Philadelphia.
Mengers grew up just above the Delaware border in Delaware
County, Pa., and, after 23 years of living in Philadelphia, officially
became a resident of Wilmington in 2001. She is married to prize-winning
poet and artist, David P. Kozinski.
We hope you will join us in the ballroom at the elegant
University & Whist Club, 805 N. Broom Street, Wilmington, on Thursday, April
30, to help honor those who entered the 2009 DPA Communications Contest and
to enjoy a display of the award-winning contest entries. Social hour with
cash bar begins at 5:30 p.m. with dinner at 6:30 p.m. Following dinner and
our speaker, the Communications Contest awards will be announced,
certificates will be presented to the contest award winners and cash prizes
given to the contest sweepstakes winners.
There is a parking lot at the club (to the left and to the
rear), as well as free on-street parking on adjacent streets should the lot
be full. Valet parking is available at the front door, and there is a
handicap access ramp into the club from the parking area at the rear of the
building.
Directions to the University & Whist Club: From
Pennsylvania Avenue (Route 52) heading south into Wilmington, turn right
onto Broom Street (if heading north out of the city, turn left onto Broom).
Landmark: The Church of the Holy City is on the SW corner of Pennsylvania
Avenue and Broom Street. After the turn onto Broom, go past Padua Academy
(on right) to the next stop sign. Cross through the intersection and turn
right into the University & Whist driveway (on the corner of 9th & Broom).
Cost: members $37.50; non-members $41.50.
– Make a reservation –
For more info, contact Allan Loudell: 302-478-2700 or
aloudell@wdel.com.
^Top
President’s Corner: Media
Challenges
by Mark Fowser
Picture this: As lawmakers debate issues concerning spending
of tax dollars, the general health and welfare of citizens and other issues
affecting their pocketbooks and their lives, the galleries are filled with .
. . lobbyists. With the ebb and flow of debate, lobbyists text-message
legislators to register their displeasure with or support of a given issue.
Meanwhile, rooms assigned to the media have more and more empty desks
because news bureaus have been cut back. At the end of the day, the votes
have been taken and the lobbyists have had their influence, but who’s been
there to report on it? Often, it’s someone working on several stories, if
anyone at all.
A scary scenario? You bet.
However, that’s what is playing out in the state capitols of
Virginia and Maryland, as detailed recently by Marc Fisher in The
Washington Post:
“Bloggers can’t fill gap left by shrinking press corps”.
The “suits” exert their influence, the citizens are impacted
and the reporting is slim or non-existent.
Does it have to be that way? Certainly not.
Our roles as communicators are more important than ever.
Your decision to join Delaware Press Association provides more than the
opportunity to take part in our periodic educational and social events or to
enter our annual Communications Contest. Here’s how DPA makes a difference:
-
DPA supported the recent
Sunshine Week
activities of the National Society of Newspaper Editors designed to
“open a dialogue about the importance of open government and freedom of
information.”
-
Locally, DPA continues to make its membership aware of
the activities of the Delaware Coalition for Open Government in
addressing citizen and media access to information.
-
At a recent DPA-sponsored event, attendees were
introduced to a number of web-based alternatives for obtaining not just
news but actual government data and documents. They include
useit.com,
opensecrets.com
and everyblock.com.
Also important are the opportunities for peer recognition,
networking and professional development available through Delaware Press
Association.
Please plan to join us on April 30 at the University & Whist
Club in Wilmington for the DPA Annual Meeting and Contest Awards Banquet. We
will hear from Patty Mengers, of the Delaware County Daily Times,
about the current challenges facing newspapers and other media. The
achievements of our members in this year’s Communications Contest also will
be recognized.
I look forward to seeing you.
Contact Mark Fowser at 302-395-9857 or
markfowser@wilm.com.
^Top
2009 Sunshine Week Transparency
Project:
Nationwide Snapshot of Government Records Online
by Mary Lou Ponsell
 This
year’s Sunshine Week government transparency project enlisted “journalists,
educators and students, openness advocates and others to develop a snapshot
of public records that states make available on their Web sites.” Their
collective effort became the grist for a nationwide report that was released
for Sunshine Week, which ran from March 15–21.
According to the article about the Transparency Project,
which may be read in its entirety on the
Sunshine Week Web site, those who participated in gathering the
information about online public documents “reviewed not only the basic
availability of 20 particular documents, but also how easily the documents
are found and their utility. The documents were selected to represent a
sampling of public-service information and to provide a base for comparison
across the states.”
Sunshine Week 2009 Survey of State Government Information Online
Download a PDF showing information categories viewable online by region.
"Online access to public records is the next battleground
for Freedom of Information advocates," says Andy Alexander, co-chair of the
American Society of Newspaper Editors’ Freedom of Information Committee.
"The results of this groundbreaking survey . . . will provide the first
comprehensive assessment of the extent to which citizens can access public
records through their state government's Web site.
The surveys were coordinated by Sunshine Week, the ASNE
Freedom of Information Committee, the National Freedom of Information
Coalition (NFOIC) and the Society of Professional Journalists' FOI
Committee.
 Sunshine
Week is a non-partisan open-government initiative led by ASNE, with print,
online and broadcast media; public officials; civic groups and non-profit
organizations; public and special libraries; educators and students;
religious leaders; and others. It is primarily funded by a grant from the
John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
Mary Lou Ponsell is DPA’s First Amendment Network
(FAN) Liaison. For further information or to submit ideas for exploring
issues related to open government or to freedoms of the press and speech,
contact Mary Lou at 302-478-5897 or
mlponsell@aol.com.
^Top
Spotlight: Cathy Rossi –
Transported by Passion for Communications
Catherine L. Rossi has a passion for communications. She
currently serves as the Manager of Public and Government Affairs for
AAA Mid-Atlantic, which made its corporate headquarters on the
Wilmington riverfront four years ago. For the five years she has been with
AAA, Cathy has been the organization's visible spokesperson in Philadelphia
and Delaware, which is why her experience in radio and television news
serves her well. "Everything I did prepared me for this role," she says.
Cathy interacts with reporters on a daily basis on a variety of issues from
gas prices to teen driving to transportation funding to public opinions on
issues important to drivers. "AAA is more than tow trucks and TripTiks,” she
says. “The organization offers a wealth of public policy perspectives on
transportation issues." Cathy takes AAA's perspective on issues to lawmakers
and policymakers and testifies regularly at hearings in Dover, Philadelphia
and Harrisburg.
One of Cathy's great joys is taking communications into the
classroom at Wilmington University where, for the last two years, she has
been an adjunct faculty member in the Business Division. She teaches a
graduate-level communications course to students focused on leadership
development. Her classroom is filled with relevant and real-life examples of
leadership in action as well as stories from prior experiences in the world
of television news and public relations. "I am better at what I do,” said
one of her students, “because of Professor Rossi's involvement in my
progress. Outstanding real-life and instructional learning."
Prior to her work with AAA, Cathy served as director of
communications for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. Over the course of seven
years, she worked for two different U.S. Catholic Cardinals. She handled
media on the local and international stage, including a Papal visit to Cuba
when Pope John Paul II and U.S. Cardinals met with Fidel Castro. Of “one of
the greatest experiences of my life," she says: "I was in awe of the people
of Cuba and the Pope's Masses in the public squares. It was a highly
emotional and almost surreal experience because it was the first time in
forty years that the Catholic Church was allowed to hold any kind of public
event, and people were allowed to profess their faith in procession together
in the streets.”
Later, Cathy traveled to Rome with a Philadelphia pilgrimage
that included more than twenty local news crews for the canonization of
(Saint) Katharine Drexel. "It was spiritually fulfilling to talk about
miracles all the time," Cathy says. She managed media requests and
interactions with the two people who had their hearing restored as the
result of prayers to Saint Katharine Drexel. But nothing could have prepared
her for what was to come – the worst crisis in the history of the Catholic
Church: the clergy sexual-abuse crisis that began in 2002. Cathy spoke for
the Catholic Church and for many priests and religious women at schools and
parishes in Philadelphia. “Pain and anguish in priests and among people. The
media were asking the kinds of questions that people in the pews were
asking, and the answers were difficult. My experience in the news business
certainly helped."
That experience included ten years in television news as a
reporter, writer, producer and Delaware anchor when she was known as Cathy
Matusiak. In 1966, after working for FOX-Philadelphia's "Ten O’Clock News" for
four years, Cathy helped launch a new live morning program, "Good Day
Philadelphia," and was one of its first two field reporters. "TV news was a
lot of fun and a lot of hard work,” she says. “The glamour typically lasted
less than a minute a day. The rest of it was in-the-trenches work, as I call
it, which is pure digging as a journalist."
Cathy has deep Delaware roots. Before working in
Philadelphia, she anchored the 6 p.m. local cable television news program,
"First State News," in Wilmington, and worked at 1450 WILM NewsRadio as well
as at two other Delaware radio stations. For three years, Cathy served as a
leadership specialist for the launch of the Jobs for Delaware Graduates
program, started by former Delaware Governor Pete du Pont.
A graduate of Endicott College in Beverly, Mass., Cathy
attended the University of Delaware part-time for many years and earned a
master’s degree in organizational leadership at Wilmington University. Cathy
currently gives back to the community by serving on the Board of Directors
of the Girl Scouts of the Chesapeake Bay Council and Catholic Social
Services of Philadelphia.
The journalistic road has taken Cathy from Delaware to
Pennsylvania to Italy to Cuba and back to Delaware. From the vantage point
of AAA Mid-Atlantic's new headquarters on the Wilmington riverfront, this
well-traveled journalist keeps a watchful eye on our highways, byways and
communities.
Cathy and her husband also have made a new home on the
Wilmington riverfront, where they are thrilled with their “room with a
view.”
Contact Cathy Rossi at
crossi@aaamidatlantic.com.
^Top
“Dead Tree” Journalism
Dead?
 “Stop
the press!" used to mean there was urgent news to be added before printing
more papers. On February 27, the Rocky Mountain News, founded in
1859, stopped printing newspapers, period. The Rocky joined a growing list
of newspapers that have turned out the lights and shut the door for the last
time. The Philadelphia Inquirer, in the business of reporting the
news for 180 years, has, like many other newspapers, declared bankruptcy.
In “Front Page Blues” (Delaware Today, March 2009),
contributing editor Bob Yearick says, “Underlying newspaper cutbacks
in the state and throughout the country is the question of whether printed
newspapers can survive much longer.” He makes the point that the demand for
information is as strong as ever, but “a cratering economy, rising
production costs and the Internet have created a perfect storm that
threatens to sink the ‘dead tree’ segment of the newspaper industry.”
David Ledford, executive editor of The News Journal,
told Bob, “The heart and soul of journalism is alive and
well . . . [and]
there is a voracious appetite out there for verifiable, vetted content.”
When a lot of the information that’s available is now free, though, the
question becomes: how can the business remain viable?
Ralph Begleiter, distinguished professor of
journalism at the University of Delaware and former CNN world affairs
correspondent, added, “I’m glad to be a subscriber to The News Journal.
We need the physical print paper to support the journalists who are out
there finding out the news. As a subscriber, I know that my money is
supporting Jeff Montgomery and his work as a journalist, and Beth Miller
[immediate past president of DPA] and all those people that we like to read
because their stuff is good. Who’s paying their salary? It’s not me clicking
on delawareonline.com.”
Andréa Miller, editor of Community News Publications,
with five weeklies in northern New Castle County, says the reorganization
Community News went through, including loss of staff when new management
took over last year, made funds available to hire more freelance writers.
“That has given us a chance to have more voices in the community represented
in the papers,” she says.
Longtime journalist Kevin Noonan, who lost his job in a
round of layoffs at The News Journal last December, talked with Bob
about the value of print journalism: “We have professional journalists who
have the sources and know-how to write, but also we’re bound by a set of
ethics that you don’t have on many websites or with bloggers. And we also
have demanding editors.” These professional journalists are the men and
women who do the research, ask the hard questions and report the news that
Ralph Begleiter says is needed when making “important economic and political
decisions . . . in a time of economic downturn” or when making decisions
about the public officials we will be electing. But with a fall-off in
ad revenue and declining subscriptions, who will foot the bill?
What, then, is the future of print journalism? For some
fascinating answers, read these articles and watch the video interview with
noted journalist Roy Greenslade, former editor of The Daily Mirror,
professor of journalism at London’s City College and author of a provocative
blog for journalists.
Watch
TV interview with Roy Greenslade.
Read
The Newspaper Industry Today -- Ten Ways Newspapers are Preparing for
Tomorrow by Mort Goldstrom, Newspaper Association of America.
Read
Yesterday's Newspapers by Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson, Financial Times.
Read the full text of
Front Page Blues by Bob Yearick Delaware Today, March 2009.
Contact Bob Yearick at
allwriter@comcast.net.
^Top
DLC Writers Conference
Set for April 4 at Wesley College
Nationally Known Writers to Conduct Workshops, Roundtables
on Fiction,
Non-fiction, Poetry
 The
Delaware Literary Connection Writers Conference, scheduled for Saturday,
April 4, at Wesley College in Dover, will feature several nationally known
writers who will discuss a variety of writing genres.
Author Patsy Sims, director of the MFA program at Goucher
College, in Baltimore, will give the keynote address and lead a non-fiction
workshop. She has written The Klan, Cleveland Benjamin's Dead
and Can Somebody Shout Amen!, which was named a Noteworthy Book by
The New York Times Book Review.
 Fiction
workshops will be conducted by Elise Juska (Getting Over Jack Wagner; The
Hazards of Sleeping Alone; One for Sorrow, Two for Joy) and Maribeth
Fischer (The Language of Goodbye; The Life You've Longed For).
Elizabeth Mosier (My Life As A Girl) will offer a workshop on young
adult fiction, and Curtis Smith (Sound and Noise; The Species Crown; An
Unadorned Life) will provide a workshop on writing a memoir. There also
will be a poetry Master Class by Delaware's poet laureate JoAnn Balingit; a
slam poetry session presented by nationally recognized slam poet Matt
McDonald; and a poetry workshop by Piotr Florczyk (Slate; Boston Review;
West Branch; Poetry International).
A
journalism roundtable will include Sims; Mark Bowden, national correspondent
for The Atlantic magazine and author of Black Hawk Down; Maria
Hess, senior editor at Delaware Today; Dawn Fallik, journalism
professor at the University of Delaware; and Bob Yearick, freelance writer
and contributing editor for Out & About Magazine.
A publication panel will include Carla Spataro from
Philadelphia Stories as well as publishers from several other regional
literary magazines, including DPA member Jamie Brown, editor/publisher of
The Broadkill Review.
Get a complete conference schedule and a brief biography of each presenter.
The conference fee is $40.
To register or for more information, contact Barbara
Gray at graybeg@comcast.net.
^Top
2009 Communications Contest Results
Confirm the True Power of the Media
by Annie Nefosky, 2009 Communications Contest Director
 One
of the rewards of running the DPA Communications Contest is the opportunity
to see the excellent and diverse work that comes to us from the Delaware
communications community. The out-of-state judges have offered comments such
as: “Good solid reporting of a very complex
issue . . .,” “Writer takes us
along on his journey. Clearly demonstrates a devotion to culture. Fun,
cerebral reading,” “Meets and exceeds objectives. Easy to read . . .
informative, but not too wordy,” “Excellent use of color, illustration and
design, showing thought and imagination,” “The true power of the media!”
In addition to the contestants and judges, many people
contribute to the success of the contest each year. There are those who
produce and send the flyers; collect, sort and send the entries; solicit
out-of-state communications experts to judge our contest and ask local
talent to judge other affiliate contests; notify the winners; prepare
entries for the NFPW contest; write publicity releases; prepare for the
Contest Awards Banquet (programs, awards certificates, display of winning
entries); and, of course, those who enter their fine work in the contest.
I appreciate the efforts of the committee members who so
generously gave of their time to help me with this year’s contest: Sue
Frost, Sara Garrison, Josephine Eccel, Cookie Ohlson and Katherine Ward,
with special thanks to Contest Manager Vanessa Nesbit, who has given many
hours and great service again this year, and to Claudia and Dick Young for
continuing assistance and advice.
Because the DPA contest entries are judged by out-of-state
media specialists to ensure impartiality, DPA reciprocates by providing
judges for other NFPW affiliate communications contests. This year DPA
members, former members and friends of DPA read and critiqued entries for
the Pennsylvania Press Club: Kay Bailey, Kathy Buckalew, Kim Burdick, Mary
Leah Christmas, Mary-Lea Cox, Dan Gaffney, Josephine Eccel, Pam Finkelman,
Bill Fleishman, Joel Glazier, Kari Gulbrandsen, Paula Kelly, Pat Lake, Jason
Levine, Theresa Medoff, Beth Miller, Lise Monty, Gary Mullinax, April
Parcher, Mary Petzak, Moira Sheridan, Ted Spiker and Lisa Wolfe.
Many thanks to the entrants, committee members and judges. I
hope you will join us at the Contest Awards Banquet on April 30 to salute
them all! See related article for details and to make
a reservation.
See the list of the 2009 Contest award winners.
Contact Annie Nefosky at
annienefosky@yahoo.com.
^Top
WordPlay . . . for Wordsmiths
by Bob Yearick
 Remarks
on Trademarks
You are not xeroxing, but photocopying on a Xerox copier. You are not
rollerblading, but in-line skating with Rollerblade in-line skates.
You are not windsurfing, but sailing on a Windsurfer.
Ah, but you knew all that, didn’t you? No? Well then, mayhap you should hie
thyself to
editpros.com. There you’ll learn that many formerly trademarked names
have slipped into the world of generics through repeated misuse. Among them:
aerobics, aspirin, cellophane, cola, corn flakes, escalator, granola,
hoagie, kerosene, kewpie doll, lanolin, linoleum, nylon, pacemaker, raisin
bran, shredded wheat, super glue, thermos, touch-tone, trampoline, yo-yo and
zipper.
Owners of trademarks – usually large corporations – go to great lengths and
hire phalanxes of lawyers to protect those trademarks. Said lawyers will
send you a nasty letter if they discover, for instance, that you have used a
trademark as a possessive. At DuPont, we were prohibited from even using
them as adjectives. It wasn’t “a Teflon frying pan,” but “a frying pan
coated with Teflon.”
For the big picture on all of this, go to the
International Trademark
Association’s Web site.
Kindling Interest
A new word has entered our lexicon: Kindle. Not new, you say? Ah, but
speaking of trademarks, notice the capital “K.” Kindle, in this case, does
not mean to light, arouse or illuminate. Instead, it’s a wireless, hand-held
reading device that allows you to have books delivered to it in less than 60
seconds. You then can download and read those books anytime, anywhere. About
the size of a magazine, a Kindle is less than a third of an inch thick and
weighs just ten ounces. No computer needed. And now, thanks to an
application launched in March, you can access it through your iPhone or iPod
Touch. What’s more, the latest Kindle reads books aloud, for those of us too
lazy – or, more likely, too time-challenged – to read ourselves.
Kindle 2 is $359 from Amazon. It holds 1,500 titles, and New York Times
best-sellers are available for just $9.99 on Kindle. You also can get
newspapers and magazines on it and can access blogs.
So, all you tech-savvy DPAers out there, what are you waiting for? Get
Kindled (Oops! I think I just misused a trademark).
Till next time, don’t forget to send your pet peeves, suggestions and
questions for WordPlay to:
allwriter@comcast.net.
And remember: Always write right – and tight.
Contact WordPlay columnist Bob Yearick at
allwriter@comcast.net.
^Top
World Economic Forum Names DPA Member
Akinwale Ojomo
"Young Global Leader 2009"
 When
the World Economic Forum of Geneva, Switzerland, announced the Young Global
Leaders (YGL) 2009 in February, DPA member Akinwale Ojomo, Senior Partner of
Roy Synergy Group and managing editor of Ebo Magazine/Diaspora
Special Project, was among them. The honor, bestowed each year by the Forum,
recognizes and acknowledges between 200 and 300 outstanding young leaders
from around the world for their professional accomplishments, commitment to
society and potential to contribute to shaping the future of the world.
Together the Young Global Leaders work to discover innovative solutions to
today’s most pressing problems while sparking the next generation of
leaders.
“My highest vision,” Akinwale says, “is to give the continental African a
positive image in the 21st century. My goal is to write a book,
Philanthropy in Africa, and co-author another: Race Issues in 21st
Century America. And aside from doing local speaking, being part of the
YGL Class of 2009 will give me an opportunity to share, on a global level,
my passion for issues such as volunteering and community service, especially
amongst the immigrant community, that I have been working on since I
immigrated to the United States ten years ago.” His most recent effort is to
support the initiative by President Obama regarding volunteerism and
community service (USAService.org).
 Akinwale,
a native of Nigeria, says “ebo” is an African slang term that means to
celebrate. Ebo Magazine
celebrates contributions to the global endeavor by those of African descent
and also focuses on the African Diaspora in America. It is published in
Delaware but is distributed to major cities around the world. Akinwale is
now in the process of reorganizing Ebo to be part of a national
publishing company as a daily, online news magazine. He also will be
blogging via DiversityEtc.com to express his opinions and offer commentary
about the environment, immigration, integration, race issues, Africa,
diversity, volunteering and community service. His interest in publishing
was sparked by serving as editor of Ripples, the campus magazine at
Ondo State University, Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria, in the late 1980s.
When not busy with work and travel, Akinwale says, “I spend time with the
family, listening to world music and learning about other cultures.”
The Young Global Leaders 2009 come from 71 countries and reflect regional
and stakeholder diversity. Drawn from a pool of almost 5,000, the group of
just over 200 includes business leaders as well as leaders from government,
academia, non-profit organizations, media, arts and civil society. Among
them:
-
Anies Baswedan, President, Paramadina University,
Indonesia
-
Shireen Bhan, Anchor, CNBC-India, India
-
Omar Ghobash, Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates to
the Russian Federation
-
Priya Haji, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder,
World of Good, USA
-
Chad Hurley, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer,
YouTube, USA
-
Paula Santos, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder,
Vesta Technologies, Brazil
-
Brent Stirton, Photographer, South Africa
-
Stephan Wrage, Chief Executive Officer, SkySails GmbH &
Co. KG, Germany
See the complete list of Young Global Leader Honorees 2009.
Kamal
Quadir, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, CellBazaar, like Akinwale
Ojomo and the others named to YGL since its inception in 2004, sees being a
part of the Young Global Leadership Forum as “a unique opportunity to engage
with a community of thought leaders and captains of business, government and
other sectors to share the challenges and opportunities faced by
entrepreneurs, both working as start-ups and in partnerships with
multinationals in emerging markets. There are opportunities to build
sustainable businesses, but also hurdles that must be overcome for which
solutions are not obvious. The YGL community provides a global network of
peers to seek solutions, so that we can collectively contribute to society.”
Get more information on the World Economic Forum.
Congratulations to Akinwale on this high honor!
Contact Akinwale Ojomo at
akinwale.ojomo@ebomag.com.
^Top
DPA Welcomes New Members
 DPA
extends a warm welcome to each of our new members. Any new members whose
contact information has not been included in the online DPA Membership
Directory, please click here and ask for directions:
DelawarePress@aol.com.
Myna German – mgerman@desu.edu
Chairperson, Department of Mass Communications, Delaware State University
Lori M. Lake –
green@greendelaware.com
CEO, Green Delaware, Inc.
Brian C. Powell –
eternityentertainment1@gmail.com
Editor-in-Chief / Owner U.G.E.V. Magazine
Nancy Ryle –
nryle@wjks1017.com
Account Executive, Q.C. Communications
Maryann D. Younger –
mady@youngers.org
Freelance writer
^Top
DPA Media Mavens & Mavericks
. . . is a column about our members’ personal and
professional achievements. Names of new DPA members featured in this column
are starred.
Please send any information about your honors, achievements
and awards to
news@delawarepressassociation.org by the 1st of any month for
publication in the next issue.
DPA members featured in this issue:
• Kay Wood Bailey, a board member and treasurer of
the Underground Railroad Coalition of Delaware, spoke to the Delaware State
University Mass Communications Department about the Underground Railroad in
late February for the opening of the spring Speakers Series. She will
moderate a panel discussion on the Underground Railroad and show some UGRR
artwork for the Delaware Humanities Forum’s Kent County Symposium,
“Picturing Delaware: Inside and Outside the Frame,” on Saturday, April 18,
at 10 a.m. Panelists include Robin Kravitz, Peter D’Aleo and a
descendant of Wilmington abolitionist Thomas Garrett. The symposium will be
held at Wesley College on Friday and Saturday, April 17 and 18.
Kay will
receive a milestone membership certificate at the NFPW Communications
Conference in San Antonio, Texas, in September for 25 years as a member of
NFPW and DPA.
Contact Kay Bailey at
KWBailey@harringtonera.com.
•
Kathy
Buckalew, staff
photographer for the Hagley Museum and Library in Wilmington and co-founder
of the Brandywine Photo Collective, says her next exhibition, opening May 1
at the Center for the Creative Arts (CCA), in Yorklyn, Del., will be another
installation of “The Face of Farming,” her ongoing project on Delaware’s
farmers. Portraits from both “The Face of Farming” and the “Artists Revealed
in Portraits and Words” projects have been selected for the Biggs Shots
Photography Show at the Biggs Museum, in Dover, and for the Oxford Photo
Invitational, in Oxford, Pa. In November, Kathy will be showing new work at
Colourworks Art Space in Wilmington. She invites you to view her work at
buckalewphotography.com
Contact Kathy Buckalew at
buckalew@comcast.net.
• Kim Burdick offered an enthusiastic “Whoopee!”
along with the news that “at long last our Washington-Rochambeau
Revolutionary Route (W3R) National Historic Trail (NHT) bill has passed both
the U.S. House and Senate, and today, March 30, at 3:00 this afternoon – ten
years after our hopeful beginning – it was signed by the President of the
United States! I must say, with the clock ticking down to May 2, my last day
in office [as the national W3R chairman], I am really relieved.” Bob Selig, of Michigan, who signed
the contract for a state-wide "Rochambeau in Connecticut" study in 1998,
said, “Who would have thought that . . . this would become a national effort
in 2000 and end up a NHT stretching [approximately 600 miles following the
route taken by the armies of General George Washington and Count Rochambeau]
from Boston to Yorktown? But then again, who would have thought that it
would take almost ten years?”
See the legislative climax in CSPAN video on the
W3R-US home page, where a
video-clip window will load and show four minutes of the summary arguments
before the final vote on the Omnibus Public Land Management Bill in the U.S.
House of Representatives. You also may navigate to see earlier parts of the
one-hour debate. The 1,300-page bill includes designating the W3R as a
National Historic Trail.
Contact Kim Burdick at Kim
Burdick@aol.com.
• Three DPA members will be workshop facilitators at the
Delaware Literary Connection Writers Conference at Wesley College in Dover
on Saturday, April 4 (see related article
for details and registration information).
Jamie Brown, editor/publisher of The Broadkill
Review, will be a panelist for a session titled, “Breaking Out and
Breaking In: Getting Your Work Accepted in the Literary Market.” Maria
Hess, senior editor for Delaware Today, and Bob Yearick,
freelance writer and contributing editor for Out & About Magazine,
will be part of the journalism roundtable that will focus on what it takes
to get articles published in today's magazines, newspapers and online
publications.
Contact Jamie Brown at
the_broadkill_review@earthlink.net.
Contact Maria Hess at
mhess@delawaretoday.com.
Contact Bob Yearick at
allwriter@comcast.net.
• In mid-February, Roxane Ferguson began a daily
commute from Middletown, Del., to Kennett Square, Pa., where she has taken
on the role of Executive Director for the Southern Chester County Chamber of
Commerce. She says she is calling on her extensive marketing and technology
experience as she works to improve the services that the Chamber offers and
to increase the value of membership. She also will serve as the liaison for
the Chamber with Pennsylvania legislators.
Contact Roxane Ferguson at
rferguson@scccc.com.
• If you’re into movies, music, theatre, art, dance and
more, you’ll want to tune in to WDEL 1150 AM every Wednesday at 2 p.m. for
“Wednesday’s Weekend Buzz” and listen to a live segment dedicated
exclusively to the arts in Delaware. Each week, Delaware Today senior
editor Maria Hess and WDEL talk show host Rick Jensen will cover all
genres as they discuss arts-related events happening the following weekend.
If you'd like Maria to attend your event(s), please give her at least two
weeks’ notice prior to going on air. The goal is to mention as many of these
events in Delaware Today magazine as possible, though last-minute
items can only be published online. "Rick is really enthusiastic about the
local arts scene," says Maria. "He should be commended for this gracious
invitation."
Note: If you have an event coming up the weekend following
the Wednesday segment, call in and talk live on the air with Maria. The
number is 302-478-WDEL.
Send Maria an e-mail at
mhess@delawaretoday.com or call her direct line at 302-504-1324.
• Fay Jacobs is invested in Rehoboth Beach. She lives
there. She has written many columns and a couple of books that feature the
town, including the national-award-winning, Fried & True: Tales From
Rehoboth Beach, and a previous book, As I Lay Frying – a Rehoboth
Beach Memoir, which is now in its third printing. But there’s more: for
a number of years, she has done a superb job as executive director of
Rehoboth Beach Main Street, Inc., partnering with her fellow citizens and
the State of Delaware to encourage economic reinvestment, support the local
business community and attract new businesses, and also to foster historic
preservation, welcome diversity, market the town as a year ’round,
family-friendly tourist destination and put $33 million into a four-year
street improvement project along Rehoboth Avenue.
The payoff: in early March, the National Trust Main Street
Center presented Rehoboth Beach Main Street, Inc., with one of only five 2009
Great American Main Street Awards. The five winners will receive national
recognition for their excellence, a bronze plaque, a certificate
commemorating the award and Great American Main Street signs as entrance
markers to their award-winning commercial districts. So if you’re thinking
about vacationing in Rehoboth this summer, you might want to get ahead of
the wave with your reservations and rentals. Read more about the
Great American Main Street Award. And check out
Fay’s Web site for
more about Fay or to buy her books.
Contact Fay Jacobs at
fayjacobsrb@aol.com.
• A photographic print by Lynn Troy Maniscalco was
one of five from Delaware to be awarded a medal in the 76th Wilmington
International Exhibition of Photography. Nine judges from across the country
met the last weekend in January to select the show from among more than
3,000 prints and digital submissions from 37 countries. Members of the
sponsoring group, the Delaware Photographic Society, organized the 400
images into a projected presentation. They also matted, framed and hung 400
accepted prints, which were displayed at Arsht Hall, on the University of
Delaware’s Wilmington campus, from February 22 through March 1.
Contact Lynn Maniscalco at
LTMphoto@juno.com.
• Theresa Gawlas Medoff traveled to Egypt in February
for the Society of American Travel Writers Freelance Council Meeting. In
addition to professional development, the trip included sightseeing in
Cairo, a Nile cruise and a few days at a Red Sea resort on the Sinai
Peninsula. “Great snorkeling there!” Theresa says.
Contact Theresa Medoff at
tgmedoff@aol.com.
• On March 9, Jeanne Mell stepped into a new position
as VP of Marketing Communications at the University City Science Center in
Philadelphia. In her new role, she will be responsible for all aspects of
corporate marketing, communications, and public and media relations for the
Science Center, the nation’s oldest urban research park.
Jeanne was a senior executive with the Delaware State
Chamber of Commerce for nearly eight years. As Senior Vice President,
Communications, she had overall responsibility for Delaware Business, the
Chamber’s Web site and e-newsletters, communications, public relations and
media relations. She also oversaw the Chamber’s cancer awareness initiative,
Advocates of Hope: Raising Cancer Awareness in the Business Community. Under
Jeanne’s leadership, the Chamber’s communications department won more than
twenty awards, including Awards for Excellence from the American Chamber of
Commerce Executives for the Chamber’s Web site and for the 2006 Advocates of
Hope Summit. In December 2007, Jeanne was named to Delaware Today’s
list of the top women in business in Delaware.
Contact Jeanne Mell at
jmell@sciencecenter.org.
• Brook Patterson, event coordinator for Meals on
Wheels Delaware, coordinates the new MOWD e-newsletter, Special Delivery.
She is cooking up a few special events of note. First, there’s MOWD’s
seventh annual Evening with the Masters on April 17 at the Chase Center on
the Riverfront, where there will be fine food and beverages from some of the
best chefs and restaurants in the area. Brook is also working on the twelfth
annual Celebrity Chefs' Brunch on April 19 at Bank of America's Bracebridge
III building, 1100 King Street, Wilmington. The brunch will feature an array
of masterpieces prepared by approximately thirty national and international
chefs, complemented by fine wines and spirits as well as a silent auction.
Brook says, “There are a number of areas that we need help with at both
events, such as set-up, clean-up and registration. If you, or anyone you
know, may be interested, please contact me at bpatterson@mealsonwheelsde.org
or call 302-656-3257." (See the Calendar of
Events for more information or to register for either event.)
Prior to joining Meals on Wheels Delaware, Brook was the
development associate for Delaware Theatre Company. She received a B.A. in
English with a concentration in journalism from the University of Delaware
in 2005 but is far from being a novice in the field of communications: she
has been a member of DPA since she was in high school. Brook currently
attends Wilmington University, where she is working toward a master's degree
in public administration.
Contact Brook Patterson at
bpatterson@mealsonwheelsde.org.
• Brian and Diane Strauss (see
the February 2007 NewsBreak Spotlight article), who have been
publishing Living.Well Magazine for four years, are pleased to invite
you to visit their new Web site at
livingwellmagazine.net. Their aim, through the magazine and the Web
site, is to empower readers with a wealth of information and knowledge
encompassing conventional, alternative and complementary lifestyles.
Contact Brian Strauss at brian@livingwellmagazine.net.
Contact Diane Strauss at diane@livingwellmagazine.net.
^Top
Calendar of Events
Pick your own date: Free Writes. On any given Monday,
Wednesday, Friday or Saturday, you can jump-start your creative process and
experiment with your writing styles in the company of other writers at all
skill levels. Just show up with pen and paper or laptop. No RSVP required.
Free and facilitated by the
Rehoboth
Beach Writers Guild. For more info: 302-226-8210 or
contactus@rehobothbeachwritersguild.com.
|
Mondays |
10 a.m. - Noon |
Browseabout Books, Rehoboth Beach |
| |
6 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. |
Milton Public Library |
| |
|
|
|
Wednesdays |
6 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. |
Lewes Public Library |
| |
|
|
|
Fridays |
9 a.m. – 11 a.m. |
Super G upstairs conference
room, Ocean View |
| |
|
|
|
Saturdays |
10 a.m. – noon |
Rehoboth Beach Library |
|
Third Saturday each month |
Browseabout Books, Rehoboth Beach |
APRIL
April is National Poetry Month! Founded in 1996 by
the Academy of American Poets,
National
Poetry Month is described as "now the largest literary celebration in
the world." The Academy is holding an April 1
kickoff
gala at Lincoln Center in New York with special guest readers including
Joan Baez, Roy Blount, Jr., Mia Farrow, Jorie Graham, Maggie Gyllenhaal,
Chip Kidd, Wynton Marsalis, Steve Reich, Zadie Smith, Mark Strand, Harold
Varmus and others. The Academy also is offering a month-long
Poem-A-Day
e-mail distribution list; the second national
"Poem in
Your Pocket" Day on April 30; the
Life/Lines
project; the Free
Verse Photo Competition; and a
National Poetry Map of news/events of local interest.
04 Delaware Literary Connection 2009 Writers Conference.
Keynote speaker: Patsy Sims, director of the MFA program, Goucher
College, Baltimore, and author of a book on the Ku Klux Klan. Sessions
include: non-fiction/journalism workshop with Sims; journalism roundtable,
with Mark Bowden, national correspondent for The Atlantic magazine
and author of Black Hawk Down; Maria Hess, senior editor at
Delaware Today; Dawn Fallik, journalism professor at the University of
Delaware; and Sims. Other workshops will focus on fiction, poetry, memoirs
and publishing. Registration: 9 a.m. General session begins: 9:45 a.m. Wesley
College, Dover. Check DLC Web site for full details and to
register. For more info contact Barbara Gray at
graybeg@comcast.net.
04 Corporate Communicators Connection - Informal
Networking Gathering, with hosts Lauren Conway, President, and Tim
Ernst, VP, of the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC)
Philadelphia chapter. Join IABC members at 10 a.m. for a cup of coffee, hot
chocolate and some networking at Chestnut Hill Coffee. The only cost is food
or drink you decide to purchase. Meet other communicators in the area, ask
questions, or just sit back and listen to the conversation. Meet on the
second floor of the coffee house.
Click here for more
information or to register. Free.
09 Online Media Boot Camp, Park Ridge at Valley
Forge, King of Prussia, Pa. Beginning at
8 a.m., a full-day, intense
online-marketing training conference that will provide the background and
tools necessary to learn how to market online and have conversations in this
new environment. Attendees will be able to ask leaders in the fields of
online marketing, search engine optimization (SEO), social media and public
relations the questions that are of greatest importance for them and their
companies. Only 65 seats available. Cost: $549.
Click here for
more information or to register.
04/13 – 05/29 Nominations are being sought for the
March 2010 Women's Day Celebration, and must be submitted between
April 13 and May 29, 2009. The annual event, presented by Delaware Technical
& Community College, recognizes Delaware women who have overcome personal or
professional obstacles and have made a positive impact on their communities
or on the state of Delaware. The
nomination
form lists all eligibility criteria. For more information, contact
Alison Buckley at 302-855-1607 or
abuckley@dtcc.edu.
15 “Direct & Digital Marketing – 2009 and Beyond.”
The Philadelphia Direct Marketing Association hosts speaker Bruce A. Biegel,
Senior Managing Director, Winterberry Group.
11:30 a.m., River Crest Country
Club, Phoenixville, Pa. For more information or to register, visit
PDMA’s Web site.
16 League of Women Voters of New Castle County Annual
Meeting and presentation of the seventh Carrie Chapman Catt Award to Dr.
Janet Kramer, Bill Perkins and Marcy Perkins. University of Delaware’s Arsht
Hall, 2700 Pennsylvania Avenue, Wilmington. Speaker: Delaware Governor Jack
Markell. Cash Bar 5:45 p.m.; dinner 6:30 p.m. Cost: $50. RSVP by
April 9,
2009: 302-571-8948 or
lwvncc@voicenet.com
17 Seventh Annual “Evening with the Masters,” for the
benefit of Meals on Wheels Delaware. Fine food and beverages from some of
the best chefs and restaurants in the area will be featured at the Chase
Center on the Riverfront from 6 – 10:30 p.m. The Cellar Master’s live wine
auction and music from the ’80s and ’90s will be part of the fun. Tickets:
$75 ($65 for groups of 10 or more); $35 is tax deductible.
Click here for complete details and to purchase tickets.
17–18 Delaware Humanities Forum’s Kent County Symposium,
“Picturing Delaware: Inside and Outside the Frame.” Kay Wood Bailey will
moderate a panel discussion on the Underground Railroad and show some UGRR
artwork on Saturday, April 18, at 10 a.m. Wesley College, Dover.
19 Twelfth Annual “Celebrity Chefs' Brunch,” for the
benefit of Meals on Wheels Delaware, will feature an array of masterpieces
prepared by approximately thirty national and international chefs,
complemented by fine wines and spirits as well as a silent auction. Bank of
America's Bracebridge III building, 1100 N. King Street, Wilmington.
Tickets: $175 ($115 is tax deductible).
Click here for complete details and to purchase tickets.
20 Philadelphia Speakers Series: Bob Woodward, Pulitzer
Prize-winning investigative journalist, is referred to by his peers as
"the best pure reporter of his generation." His relentless investigative
drive and access to top political insiders has resulted in fascinating
insights into the highest levels of Washington. Author of eleven #1
non-fiction bestsellers. 8 p.m., The Kimmel Center, Philadelphia. Sponsored
by Widener University and The Kimmel Center.
Click here
for further information or to order tickets.
21 “Understanding SEO (Search Engine Optimization) – Make
Your Press Release Thrive Online,” hosted by the Public Relations
Society of America (PRSA) Delaware. Presenters: Lee Marshall, vice
president, industry alliances, Business Wire, and Aaron Nye, account
executive, Business Wire, will show you how to use your existing online
content to enhance press release HTML tags used by search engines to make
your press release thrive online with greater reach and more pick-up.
Registration: 8 a.m. Program: 8:30 - 9:30 a.m. UD Goodstay Center, 2600
Pennsylvania Avenue, Wilmington. Cost: $25. RSVP by April 15:
prsadelaware.org.
22 First State High School Communications Conference
Awards Luncheon, co-sponsored by Delaware Press Association and The
News Journal. Speaker: John Sweeney, Editorial Page Editor, The News
Journal, “What's Happening?” Bill Frank Conference Room, The News Journal,
950 W. Basin Road, New Castle, Delaware. Registration 9:30 a.m., Speaker and
Awards Presentation 10 a.m., Lunch 11:30 a.m., Tour of The News Journal 12:30
p.m.
24–25 Fourth Annual Delaware Christian Writers Conference.
Word of Life Christian Center, Old Baltimore Pike, Newark. Price for the
two-day event is $229. Conference Director John Riddle says, "Once again, we
are holding our Writers Contest, with $450 in cash prizes being awarded."
This year’s keynote speaker will be Michelle Medlock Adams, author of
thousands of newspaper and magazine articles in publications such as the
Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Writer's Digest and Today's
Christian Woman as well as numerous books, including her award-winning
picture book, Conversations On the Ark.
See the DCWC Web site for more information and to register.
24 – 26 38th Annual ASJA Writers Conference, "The
Writer's GPS: On Track for Success!" American Society of Journalists
and Authors. Roosevelt Hotel, 45 East 45th Street, New York, N.Y. Keynote
speaker: Molly O'Neill, former New York Times reporter and the food
columnist for its Sunday magazine. She is the author of three cookbooks –
including the bestselling New York Cookbook, A Well-Seasoned
Appetite, and The Pleasure of Your Company – and hosted the PBS
series, “Great Food.” Seminars and individual opportunities to work with
editors, established writers and other experts to help sharpen writing,
marketing and technological skills. For conference registration form and
complete schedule of workshops and fees, visit the
ASJA Web site.
30 DPA Communications Contest Awards Banquet & Annual
Meeting. “Not Dead Yet!” Speaker: Award-winning journalist Patti Mengers,
Delaware County Times, looks at the future of print journalism. 5:30
p.m. social gathering; 6:30 p.m. dinner, speaker and awards presentation.
University & Whist Club, 805 N. Broom Street, Wilmington.
Visit the DPA Web site for complete details and to register. Questions?
Call 302-655-2175 or e-mail
delawarepress@aol.com. Members $37.50; non-members $41.50.
April – June PR Institute 2009, sponsored by
Philadelphia Public Relations Society of America (PRSA). An advanced
training program to broaden the knowledge base and sharpen the
communications skills of young professionals with two to five years’
experience working in agencies, corporations and nonprofit organizations.
All sessions will be held from 6 – 8 p.m. at locations in the Greater
Philadelphia region. $250 Members; $295 Non-Members. For more information
and to register, visit the
PRSA
Philadelphia Web site.
Week 1: Monday, April 20 – Program Introduction & Client
Overview
Week 2: Monday, April 27 – Strategic Planning
Week 3: Monday, May 04 – Return on Investment
Week 4: Monday, May 11 – Writing a Plan
Week 5: Monday, May 18 – Panel Discussion: Media—Traditional &
Non-Traditional Relations
Week 6: Tuesday, May 26 – Presentation Training
Week 7: Monday, June 08 – Final Judging of Team Presentations
MAY
01–29 “The Face of Farming.” Exhibition of portraits
from an ongoing photographic project by Kathy Buckalew, staff photographer
for the Hagley Museum and Library in Wilmington and co-founder of the
Brandywine Photo Collective. Center for the Creative Arts (CCA), Yorklyn,
Del. The exhibition will be open to the public May 1 – 29: Monday to
Thursday 10 a.m. – 8 p.m.; Fridays, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.; Saturdays, 10 a.m. – 1
p.m. The kick-off reception, Friday, May 8,
6 – 8 p.m., is free and open to
the public.
13 Philadelphia Public Relations Association Hall of Fame
Luncheon. 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m., Rittenhouse Hotel, Philadelphia. PPRA
will present its highest industry tribute, The Hall of Fame Award, to Ellen
Toplin for her role in bringing honor, respect, acclaim and recognition to
the industry and to the community. $65 Members; $75 Non-Members.
Click here
to register.
13 DPA Board Meeting, 6:30 p.m., Methodist Country
House (Sterling Conference Room), 4830 Kennett Pike, Wilmington. All DPA
members are welcome to attend.
JUNE
05–06 NFOIC 2009 Freedom of
Information Summit. Sponsored by the
National Freedom of Information
Coalition, the 2009 FOI Summit will be held in Minneapolis and will be
hosted by the Minnesota
Coalition on Government Information. Marriott City Center Hotel,
Minneapolis, Minn.
Register by May 18 to ensure reduced rate on hotel rooms. The code
already is entered in the appropriate field; all you need do to begin the
reservation process is personalize your arrival and departure dates (and
number of guests) to fit your needs and click Find to begin the
registration process. Two full days of information sharing—and even
some fun—are being planned. Check back often at
www.nfoic.org for
updates.
SEPTEMBER
10–12 NFPW/Press Women of Texas Communications
Conference: “Roundup on the River.” El Tropicano Riverwalk Hotel, San
Antonio, Texas. Exciting speakers, great food, pre- and post-conference
tours to Austin and the Texas Hill Country. Y’all plan to go!
Send information for the Calendar of Events to
news@delawarepressassociation.org.
^Top
NewsBreak is the official newsletter of Delaware
Press Association.
Andréa Miller, Editor
Katherine Ward, Copy Editor/Layout
Mary E. Loewenstein-Anderson, Photo Editor
Submit editorial content to:
news@delawarepressassociation.org
Copy deadline for next newsletter: August 1, 2009
Contact Us:
Katherine Ward, Executive Director
Delaware Press Association
email: delawarepress@aol.com
phone: 302-655-2175
web:
www.delawarepressassociation.org
^Top
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