August Is Filled with Events to Help You Progress in Your Profession

Do you remember when August used to be a time when not much was going on because people were enjoying their last vacation of the summer? Not anymore. The hottest month of the year is now also one of the busiest. There are several events and initiatives coming up that we believe you--professionals working in media and communications--can benefit from.


2009 NABJ Convention and Career Fair
The highly anticipated annual convention is upon us, being held August 5-9 in Tampa, FL. If you're attending the NABJ Convention, send us an email (info@caabj.com) so we can coordinate a meet-up of Charlotte folks. CAABJ member Dedrick Russell will wrap up his campaigning there as he seeks the office of vice president of broadcast for the National Association of Black Journalists. Charlotte chapter president Jarvis Holliday will be blogging about the experience from Tampa at www.caabj.com. Visit www.nabj.org/conventions/2009 for convention and election details.



Networking Reception for TV Professionals
August 4, 6-8 p.m.
Apostrophe Lounge, 1440 S. Tryon St.
Free, but RSVP is requested.
Are you in the television profession--or would like to be? GoodWorks Media Group is inviting TV professionals for a great opportunity to meet, mingle, and find out what's happening in the Charlotte community. This free networking event will include on-air talent, producers, directors, editors, audio/lighting specialists, TV make-up artists, videographers/camera operators, engineers, and people who are simply interested in learning more about how to start a career in television. Space is limited so please RSVP at contact@goodworksmediagroup.com.


CAABJ encourages your continued support of our affiliation with the Charlotte Chamber's Black Professionals Network (BPN). There are two great BPN events in August:

Kiss, Bow, or Shake Hands
August 4, 9:30 a.m.
Charlotte Chamber of Commerce, 330 S. Tryon St.
Free, but registration is required.
Terri Morrison, international speaker and co-author of Kiss, Bow, or Shake Hands: How to Do Business in Sixty Countries, will be the guest speaker at this event. Learn how to interact with international clients and cultural differences, learn business etiquette, get tips on how to increase your income, and become part of a searchable database of certified professionals.

Incorporating Diversity
SouthPark Chapter Breakfast
August 11, 7:30 a.m.
Renaissance Charlotte SouthPark, 5501 Carnegie Blvd.
Members: $20 online registration, $25 at the door; nonmembers: $45 online registration
Come hear leading executives talk about how they incorporate diversity in their businesses to the benefit of their bottom-line. Guest panelists: Nicole Dean, vice president of corporate human resources and chief diversity officer for Belk Inc.; Tim Flanagan Jr., president/owner of Hinrichs Flanagan Financial; and Kevin Henry, chief human resources officer for Coca Cola Bottling Co. Consolidated.

Visit www.charlottechamber.com/events to register and for more details on these events.

CAABJ Member Spotlight

Glenn Burkins, editor and publisher of Qcitymetro.com, is featured in the August issue of Charlotte magazine. The article, titled "The Online Migration," depicts Burkins's launching his website, which is dedicated to news of importance to African-Americans in Charlotte. Click here to read the article.


Melody Taylor, a producer at WCNC and past CAABJ president, is leaving us. Mel and her family are moving to Houston. We thank her for her many contributions to CAABJ and local media over the years and we wish her family the best.


***Do you need to renew your CAABJ membership? Are you yet to join? If so, click here for the application.***

An Afternoon at the Museum

On Sunday, July 19, a group of CAABJ members participated in "Speaking of Change," a scheduled group visit of the Changing Places exhibit at the Levine Museum of the New South that is also accompanied by a dialogue session. The event was facilitated by Terri Moore, senior manager of diversity and inclusion for Time Warner Cable and a member of the Community Building Initiative leadership team.

Changing Places: From Black and White to Technicolor is a multipart project that explores how people in the Charlotte region are dealing with the growing cultural diversity and change created by the influx of newcomers from across the U.S. and around the globe. The exhibit is filled with life-size displays, replicas, videos, and hands-on features that bring you face to face with traditions practiced by many cultures as well as some of the misconceptions that surround them. You'll find everything from a replica Indian kitchen stocked with native food, and a Spanish convenience store known as a tienda, to displays that depict how religion is worshiped in different cultures. All of these things are present in everyday life in Charlotte.

WBTV reporter Dedrick Russell views part of the exhibit that tests your knowledge on what various greetings mean to different cultures.

After touring the exhibit, CAABJ members sat down with facilitator Moore and discussed their thoughts and feelings. The overriding theme was that it was enlightening and is something that everyone should experience.

Changing Places will be on display until February 28 and can be visited any day of the week during museum hours. If you have a group--church members, school group, alumni club--who wants to participate in "Speaking of Change," the museum offers a scheduled group visit accompanied by the dialogue session for a small registration fee.

Learn more by visiting www.changingplacesproject.org.

Let CAABJ Work for You

This is a message to African-Americans working in media or communications in the Charlotte area. I’m writing to tell you a little about the Charlotte Area Association of Black Journalists (CAABJ), in case you're not familiar with us or haven't kept up with us recently. I hope that you will feel compelled to join this great organization.

CAABJ holds meetings, workshops, and social and networking events throughout the year. You can simply peruse through previous postings on this site and read recaps of some of our many successful events, those that we've held for our members as well as the community. We also utilize our resources to help connect members with professional development, jobs, freelance opportunities, internships, and we award a scholarship annually to a student majoring in journalism or communications at a local college or university.

As with any nonprofit, membership-based organization, CAABJ is only as strong as its members. And there is indeed strength in numbers. We would love to be able to count you as a member of CAABJ. Membership dues are only $35 a year for associate membership and $50 a year for full membership. And please note that 100 percent of these funds go toward CAABJ programs, events, and its scholarship. In addition to the funds that are generated, we can use more talented professionals like you who can contribute ideas on how we can become a stronger organization, so we can make an even larger impact in our industry and the Charlotte community.

Currently this is a very challenging time for journalists and all professionals working in media. As I’m sure you are aware, most media outlets generate the majority of their revenue from advertising sales, and during this recession with many businesses not spending much money on ads in print, broadcast, or electronic media, media companies have been forced to layoff workers. Newspapers are shutting down, magazines are folding, and TV and radio stations are cutting programming.

But we can survive this. And CAABJ can be a great resource for you. Even if you feel secure in your current position, we as black journalists and media professionals should never lose sight of the work that must continually be done to ensure that opportunities will be there for us and the young men and women who are seeking to break into our industry. In fact, a new membership benefit we recently added to CAABJ was creating a jobs bank in which we compile a list of local and regional employment opportunities and email to our members. Many of these job listings are sent to us directly from media companies and often aren’t posted on traditional job search websites.

There is a lot of work that CAABJ is doing that, quite frankly, probably would not be getting done if the organization didn't exist. But we know there is more work to be done and we can't do it without you.

To become a member of CAABJ, you can download a membership application by clicking here.

If you have any questions about the organization, please feel free to contact me.

Thank you,

Jarvis Holliday
President
Charlotte Area Association of Black Journalists
Email: hollidayink@gmail.com

Charlotte Chamber’s BPN Hosts Jazz on the Roof

The Charlotte Chamber’s Black Professionals Network (BPN) will host its annual Jazz on the Roof event on Wednesday, July 15 at the Pavilion at EpiCentre, 210 E. Trade St.

Scene from last year's Jazz on the Roof event.

Warren Ballentine, CNN commentator and Radio One host, will be a special featured guest and will sign copies of his new book, The Truth About Black and White: Practical Guide to Money and Race Relations in the 21st Century. His radio program, The Warren Ballentine Show, is syndicated in 20 markets and can be heard in Charlotte on 92.7 FM, WQNC.

Jazz on the Roof will be held from 5:30 to 8 p.m. and will include networking, food, drinks, and live jazz from the band Uniq Blend. Tickets are $20 if picked up at the Chamber, $21 if purchased online at www.ez-tixx.com, and $25 at the door the day of the event. The event is open to the public.

Click here to learn more about the Charlotte Chamber’s Black Professionals Network.