TODAY'S SCHEDULE

SATURDAY, AUG. 23

Breakfast
9:30AM-10:45AM

Breakout Sessions
9:30AM-10:45AM

Breakout Sessions
11:00AM-12:15AM

Lunch Plenary
12:30PM-2:00PM

Breakout Sessions
2:15PM-3:30PM

Closing Session
3:45PM-5:15PM

Authors' Café
3:45PM-5:45PM

Not-So-Silent Auction
6:45PM-8:45PM

View the full schedule here

TODAY'S WEATHER

WHAT IS NLGJA?

Find out more about NLGJA at the official website.

MENTORS

A big thanks to our mentors:

Brett Zongker
The Associated Press

Caroline K. Hauser
The Washington Post

Mark S. Luckie
Entertainment Weekly

Larry M. Shaw
ABC

Dennis M. Powell
ABC

Doug Mitchell
NPR

Retention of NLGJA members a main focus

by Jared Grigsby

Membership in the NLGJA continues to fall.

In August 2007, the NLGJA contained 1,247 members, but as of August 14, 2008, that number dipped to 1,073. This continual decline in members made NLGJA executive director David Barre focus efforts on the retention of organization members and not as much on recruiting new members.

"We need to focus on member retention, not growth. New growth is steady," Barre said. "[Our] retention is abysmal for a professional organization, about 60 percent."

The NLGJA's updated strategic plan, which spans from 2008 through 2010, looks to increase member retention rates by 10 percent. No specific plan for improving membership recruitment and retention are in place for either 2009 or 2010.

Instead, the plan calls for the development of new goals based on the previous year's performance. This plan is an improvement from what was in place before. Barre said that the previous strategic plan was weak in that goals were arbitrary.

"It said here's what we're doing, now let's do it better, without changing things," Barre said.

In an effort to enhance membership, the NLGJA started offering more programs and resources for its members. Current programs include distance learning options and career watch, a monthly e-newsletter with flash alerts about jobs and programs of interest, podcasts and professional development distance workshops.

Despite these additions to the current membership benefits, Barre admits that the NLGJA needs to increase its visibility.

"We try to get our name out there with the rapid response task force of professionals who correct incorrect information in the media," Barre said. "We are trying to get involved with things that show who we are."

The NLGJA continues striving for diversity in its membership. Current membership information shows that of those who answered the gender question on membership forms, 792 members are male and 276 are female.

It is difficult for the NLGJA to track journalists of color, as some people prefer not to identify themselves by race on their membership forms. But, of current members, 157 identify as journalists of color, which is down 33 people from 2007; 814 identify as Caucasian and 102 did not answer the question.

NJGJA deputy executive director Thomas Cashman Avila indicated that efforts to retain journalists of color are currently in place through the use of arts criticism and increased training.

"There's a focus on skills training and professional development to get people into the newsroom and stay in the newsroom; the cutbacks are affecting the journalists of color more," Avila said.

The NLGJA strives to increase its gender diversity too, though no women are running for any of the elected National Board positions. Recruitment committee member David Steinberg said that despite the encouragement of women to run for these positions, none added their names to the ballot.

"Several [women] who had been approached who had indicated an interest [in serving] had varying reasons for not running," Steinberg said. "A common theme is that as budgets are cut, people are asked to do more and there isn't time to devote to NLGJA."

NLGJA is looking to the future with a need to retain members who are currently active while increasing its visibility. If the number of individuals in the NLGJA continues to decline, the organization's future will be questionable.