Colleagues,
Last night, as I watched the nerve-wracking game between the Tigers and Twins, I was reminded of a baseball tradition that started here in Detroit: The rally cap.

This tradition began in the 1940s when Tigers fans wore their caps inside-out to generate come-from-behind wins.

The thinking was that fans could sacrifice a small amount of dignity for determination.

Let’s will our team, AAJA, to win.
The rally cap worked for Tigers fans in the World Series in 1945 — and it can work for us now.

AAJA is facing challenges: Our membership is down, while our budget deficit is up. Our professional staff has shrunk, while the number of lost journalism jobs is growing. By Unity’s account, the news industry has shed positions each month at almost three times the rate of jobs lost in the economy, 22% compared with 8%. Since January 2008, more than 200 media outlets have closed.

And the ASNE newsroom census for 2008 showed newsroom employment of Asian-American journalists declined 13.4%, compared to a 11.3% drop in employment overall.
Here’s what we can do to turn things around:

• Step up to the plate. As one chapter founder and former executive editor recently told me, AAJA needs to project leadership. Teams need leaders on the field and in the locker room to do hard work and to bring players together. Be that leader.

• Recruit others to join the team. Call colleagues whose memberships have lapsed, or will lapse. Urge them to get more involved. Times are too difficult to do anything alone. Convince them to be a part of a winning franchise. And don’t forget about those who have led the way for us in the past. They offer valuable insights, experience.

• Remember that AAJA isn’t just about jobs. As we heard from one national award winner during the Boston convention, j stands for journalism and justice. As the industry changes, we need to continue changing the world. Journalism is about giving voice to those who aren’t heard. It’s about having high standards and strong values. Its about friendships and helping each other.

• Be visionary. As we look into the future, we need to have ideas and have hope. Digital tools give us the power to do more than ever. Let’s use that power to do good things for others. Let’s visualize what we can be and, like a Nike commercial, just do it.

Let’s be champions of diversity; champions of great journalism. Let’s put our hearts into what we love and get in the game.

Frank Witsil, Detroit Free Press

Thanks to everyone who made Portland AAJA’s first Scrabble social a success! Be sure to check out our photos.
Kudos to Elizabeth Suh, Peter Wong, Amy Wang and Amy Hsuan for lots of behind-the-scenes work! Also, a big thanks to the Portland Scrabble Club and our generous host, Sozo bubble tea and coffeehouse.
And…it’s that time again: renew your AAJA membership for 2010! Click here to join or renew.

Cheers,
Ruth Liao

Join us for a premiere Scrabble event in Portland on Saturday, Oct. 17!

AAJA-Portland Scrabble Tournament
When: 2 to 5 p.m. Oct. 17
Where: Sozo Coffeehouse, 8733 SE Division St. (right next to Wong’s King Seafood dim sum restaurant)
Parking: available in the shopping complex.
Cost: $8 in advance, $10 at the door. Please RSVP to portland.aaja<at>gmail.com.
What to win: prizes and bragging rights.

**All proceeds will benefit student scholarships and member programming. AAJA-Portland supports diversity and fairness in news media and coverage of the Asian Pacific American community.

Special guests from the Lake Oswego Scrabble club will be joining us!

Questions? E-mail portland.aaja<at>gmail.com.

Want to brush up on your skills? Here’s a Scrabble word-of-the-day from Hasbro’s Web site:
AFFICHE: a poster

Hope to see you there!
Ruth Liao

Join the Asian American Journalists Association Portland chapter for happy hour on Friday, Sept. 25!

Get a chance to network with local and out-of-town journalists, as well as experience Portland nightlife in the city’s historic Chinatown.

Our mixer welcomes members of the American Association of Sunday and Feature Editors and journalists attending their national conference in Portland Sept. 23 through Sept. 26.

Date: Friday, Sept. 25
Time: 7 p.m.
Where: Davis Street Tavern, 500 NW Davis Street
**AASFE pub crawl to follow

Questions? E-mail portland.aaja<at>gmail.com

The American Association of Sunday and Feature Editors is offering day passes of $75 each for Thursday and Friday, and $60 for Saturday. If you can’t come to the entire conference, consider coming on one of those days.

Link to registration:
http://www.aasfe.org/2009-conference-registration-now-open.html

For AASFE convention attendees:
Directions from the Benson Hotel: Walk four blocks north on Broadway, turn right at NW Davis Street and walk for another two blocks.

Please join us for a pre-AAJA convention picnic at the beautiful Kelley Point Park at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers.

Noon at Sat., Aug. 1
Kelley Point Park
Entrance off the intersection of North Marine Dr. and Lombard St.
Google “Kelley Point Park” for a map, or click here.
You can call my cell that day: 503-901-1091

It’s got trails, beach and views of the mountains.

We’ll have burgers, sausages, as well as veggie versions, for grilling, and anything else anyone brings.

We hope you can make it! We’d love to see some of you we haven’t seen in a while and catch up with old staffers! (Wade?!) Feel free to invite anyone from your newsroom, or other friends, especially your summer interns.

Please RSVP – portland.aajaATgmail.com. If you can bring food to share, let us know.

Hope to see you,
Elizabeth Suh
Co-president, AAJA-Portland

Hi all:

This is courtesy of an e-mail received by AAJA Portland president Elizabeth Suh:

Greetings!

Summertime is upon us and along with it comes a feeling of fun and relaxation. What better time to work on your personal brand than when you’re more relaxed and enjoying the summer?

Please join me for “Build Your Brand While You Tan” a FR*EE 60-minute call on Thursday, June 18^th at 6pm Pacific / 9pm Eastern

A personal brand is your reputation and what comes to mind when someone hears your name. Your personal brand precedes you and is your calling card that sums up the experience of interacting with you.

Everyone naturally has a personal brand and if you don’t actively work on defining your brand, your brand will define you!

Whether you’re job hunting, looking for a career change or want more fulfillment in your current position, personal branding is a must career strategy in today’s economic climate!

There are many ways having a clear personal brand can help you gain leverage in your career.

On this 60-minute call, you’ll learn:

· What exactly is a personal brand?

· The benefits of strong personal brand in your career (and life)

· How personal branding is great for self-confidence

· Components of a personal brand

· Tips to begin building your brand now (no matter where you are in your career)

While this course is open to anyone, the material will be geared towards Asian American Pacific Islanders. There are specific nuances of cultural values and those dreaded stereotypes that can clutter your personal brand.

Sound interesting? Sign up here: http://empowerful.com/free-personal-branding-call-signup.html

If you can’t make the call because you’re out playing, be sure to register anyway and you’ll get the recording of the call to listen later.

Here’s to your empowerment!

Erin Yoshimura
Empowerful Changes™

Coaching. Training. Branding. Empowerment.

http://empowerful.com

A belated posting, but here are photos from the May 30 media access workshop held during AsiaFest in Portland, courtesy of photographer Eugene Wong:

A panel of Portland-area journalists conducted a media access workshop at Asia Fest this weekend at the Oregon Convention Center.
About 30 people from the Asian American Pacific Islander community were in attendance.
Past Portland AAJA president Tracey Lam of KATU moderated the panel, which included reporter Melissa Navas of The Oregonian, reporter Ruth Liao of Statesman Journal and AAJA Media Watch co-chair Maya Blackmun.
Also, a big thank you to all those who attended, panelists and our behind-the-scenes organizers, including Jason Lim of the Asian Reporter and AAJA Portland president Elizabeth Suh. We also appreciated volunteer Yuxing Zheng, who helped out at the AAJA booth during AsiaFest.
Here is a link to AAJA’s national media access booklet:
http://www.aaja.org/resources/media_access/

HOW TO GET YOUR NEWS IN THE NEWS:
A MEDIA ACCESS WORKSHOP FOR
SMALL NON-PROFIT ASIAN AMERICAN AND PACIFIC ISLANDER ORGANIZATIONS

WHAT: Do you want to get the word out about the work your organization does and the stories you have to share? You’re invited to media training for small, non-profit organizations serving Asian American and Pacific Islander or other minority communities

PROVIDED BY: The Asian American Journalists Association

WHEN: 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m., Saturday, May 30, 2009, just before AsiaFest

WHERE: Oregon Convention Center, 777 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.

Room A103-104, outside the AsiaFest exhibit hall

COST: Free, but space is limited so workshop registration requested by May 27, 2009

RSVP: portland.aaja@gmail.com

SPONSORED BY: The Asian American Journalists Association

QUESTIONS: Contact Tracey Lam, Asian American Journalists Association Portland Chapter Member; Executive Producer of Special Projects, KATU-TV, 503-231-4266

Experienced journalists and seasoned media professionals will train representatives of small, non-profit Asian American and Pacific Islander organizations without a professional media staff. The workshop of interactive exercises will cover writing an effective press release and giving television interviews along with tips on pitching stories and dealing with concerns as they arise about news coverage.

Participants will leave the session with practical knowledge and hands-on experience in dealing with print, radio, television, online and ethnic media. In addition, they will get tip sheets and AAJA’s “Media Access Handbook, How to Get Your News in the News.”

The workshop is part of the Asian American Journalists Association’s goal to foster connections with Asian American and Pacific Islander communities. For more information about AAJA, go to www.aaja.org.

Thanks to AAJA Portland member Jennifer Lim for taking these photos!