Notes from the Gardener

Welcome to the SPJ Garden Center, the place where chapters grow.
 
My name is John Ensslin. I’m the president of Colorado SPJ and SPJ
national chairman for membership. I’m also a general assignment
reporter for the Rocky Mountain News in Denver.
 
My hope is to use this blog as a means to foster a national
conversation on how we can best go about growing SPJ’s membership.
 
Let’s talk about best practices. Tell me what has worked for your
chapter and what hasn’t worked. I want your best ideas on how to sign
up new members and retain the ones we have.
 
I’m convinced organizations grow from the bottom up. Thus, this blog
will be a place where we can celebrate our successes, analyze our
failures and suggest new ways to convince people to join and stay with
SPJ.
 
Feel free to contact me with your thoughts and ideas. I can be reached
at ensslinj@rockymountainnews.com or call me at 303-954-5291.

The SPJ Gardeners

Rekha Raman lives in Fremont, California. A native of India, she has lived in the United States for the past 19 years. She joined SPJ in hopes of becoming a freelance journalist and gaining experience. Her passion is creative writing. She has published one book of poetry, "Reborn in Rapture" and is working on a second collection. She also works part-time as a substitute teacher with the Hayward Unified School District.

M.E. "Buddy" Baker is a freelance writer based in St. Petersburg, Florida. His career in newspapers began in 1973 as a copy editor for the Lubbock (Texas) Avalanche-Journal.  Buddy's written and edited for newspapers and magazines and produced work for major corporations and universities.  When his fingers aren't doin' the talkin', some 70,000 listeners hear his golden tones on news stories he produces for a community FM radio station in Tampa.  He can be reached at i_level_news@yahoo.com.

Kate Fazzini is an associate editor with Home Channel News and an SPJ member with the New York Deadline Club.