Hi everyone,
Hope you had a great Thanksgiving weekend, are ready for the sprint to the end of the year, and have already started bugging your reporters for their best work to get into the 2024 APSE Contest.
As Paul alluded to earlier in the week, we’re coming up on the contest deadline already – less than six weeks away.
We’ve all been submerged in one of the wildest football seasons in memory at the college level, and the NFL and high school sports certainly have had their share of craziness, too.
But now that December is here, it’s time to lock in.
Go Big Orange
First, a big welcome to adviser Shannon Scovel and our newest student chapter at the University of Tennessee! You can follow them on Instagram at @apse_utk.
Giving Tuesday and APSE
Members should have received an email Monday, and also saw on our social media channels, about Giving Tuesday and the APSE Foundation. The foundation is about to announce its 13th class of fellows, and we’re hoping you can give $13 to match that number this holiday season. Go to APSEFoundation.org and use the “Giving Tuesday” button in the upper right corner.
APSE Membership
To everyone who has already renewed, returned or joined us for the first time: Thank you.
To those who will do so shortly: Thank you.
Don’t kick that can down the road. Get that off your holiday to-do list now.
Again, here’s the link to be a member for 2025, have eligibility for the 2024 APSE Contest and discounted access to next summer’s conference in Minnesota.
2023 Contest Cleanup
Links to a set of Google folders with certificates from the 2023 contest went out in mid-November – only three months after my desired deadline **facepalm**
If you are an editor who did not get a link to your newsroom’s certificates, please let me know.
If you are a reporter who won in the 2023 contest and have moved to a different newsroom, please let us know through an email to apsecontest@gmail.com and we’ll get your certificates to you.
2024 Contest Rules
Paul brought this up in his note on the website yesterday, but please go through the small changes he’s made for this year: Event time windows and a pivot in high school-specific categories are the biggest notes, but there are several other things, too.
The officer committee will be checking links and passwords soon after the deadline on Jan. 13 (seriously, less than 6 weeks away), so make sure you get the all clear and we don’t have to double back to get your entry in tip-top shape.
2024 Contest Judging
While entering and winning in the contest is the thing APSE is most known for, I personally find judging the contest to be the most enriching thing we do as members. I’ve learned so much (and “borrowed” for my own reporters) and had a great time being there in person over the years. I’ve also had a couple of fun shots at this remotely.
If you are entering the contest, I am asking you to strongly consider being a judge. We understand that many of you have limited opportunity due to families and full-time jobs … you know, *lives*. Even if it’s 1-3 hours per week, though, that’s helpful. Please fill out Paul’s judging questionnaire at your earliest convenience.
All in all, we’ll need 125 judges between in person and remotely to get this done right and on time. Thanks in advance for your help.
2025 Summer Conference
Do you want to be part of the discussion on sessions for the 2025 summer conference in Minneapolis?
We are looking for as many ideas as possible to discuss in January and early February so that we can get some things started by the time the winter conference in Orlando arrives. In Florida, we want to start outreach to speakers and moderators, so having a good idea of sessions will be imperative.
If you have an idea or want to be help, please email me at apsepresident@gmail.com. (Notice the fun new email/Google account we’ve created. Will help connectivity between presidents and let us store docs/correspondence more easily moving forward).
That’s it for now. Have a great start to December everyone,
dan
