Step One: Read this page. Please note that due to current time constraints, SEJ prefers cosponsorships and very simple, staff-nonintensive events. We ask that you keep this in mind when planning your event.

Step Two: Print out an event pre-planning form (requires free Adobe Acrobat ® reader), fill it out as completely as you can and then fax it to SEJ at (215) 884-8175. Please contact Chris Rigel (215-884-8177) if you have questions. We're here to help!

Photo by Sara Thurin Rollin Journalists and forestry experts piled into a hay wagon and toured an experimental forest at a 2001 SEJ regional conference in Ohio.

SEJ's mission is an educational one: to improve the quality, accuracy and visibility of environmental reporting. Because of this, we require that our events be well-balanced and not dominated by just one point of view, whether from an environmental group or an industry coalition. That's also why we do not co-sponsor events with interest groups and instead typically pair up with universities, charitable foundations or scientific research institutions. Our outreach for these events is first to our members, then to non-member journalists and others who are eligible for membership in SEJ. We do not customarily market events to public relations professionals, environmentalists (unless their responsibilities in an environmental group are primarily journalistic, e.g., a Sierra Club magazine editor), government officials, industry, etc., although some of these individuals may be panelists and in most cases are also welcome in the audience.

The event pre-planning form (requires free Adobe Acrobat ® reader) is not something you can fill out in a minute or two. Unless the event you propose is a very simple one, the form will raise many questions which will take careful planning, phone calls and research to complete. It is possible that the date(s) or type of event you have in mind won't be available in SEJ's schedule of programs. SEJ will try to find a creative way to realize volunteers' ideas.

Many thanks for taking the first step in planning a journalism event.

Types of Events:
I. No-frills, several-hour event — This kind of meeting often doesn't even require registration: a gathering of SEJ members and non-member journalists. This event might take place in a pub or restaurant for a couple hours over drinks and snacks that are paid for by the collective. You might simply gather to discuss a specific issue or invite an expert to address the gathering. Or you might get more ambitious and assemble a panel of speakers. If the event sticks closer to the "beer and pizza" model, most of the accompanying event pre-planning form can be filled in with N/A.

Photo by Christine Rigel Jeff Reutter of Ohio Sea Grant prepares to dissect a fish as participants in a day-long SEJ regional event on the shores of Lake Erie look on in October 1999. Journalists and students spent the morning on a research boat, and the afternoon doing hands-on research in a laboratory.

Photo by Christine Rigel Event attendee Justine Edwards studies a water sample taken from Lake Erie as Reutter describes the sample's various ingredients.

II. Single-day event with speakers, catering and/or busing — This event will require more planning, and a bigger budget. If an early-morning session or tour is planned, people will need the option of arriving the night before and staying in a hotel. You should make an effort to find a university willing to co-sponsor, defer costs, and offer a venue. Most often some catering is involved with events like this, and registration is handled by the SEJ office. (See the event pre-planning form for various registration packages.) A modest registration fee will be charged to offset the costs of catering and busing.

This event will require more speakers. SEJ asks that speakers be recruited from the immediate area whenever possible, to save travel costs. (See section 6 of the event pre-planning form for speaker travel guidelines.) Getting speakers recruited, keeping them informed, helping them with travel plans, explaining reimbursement policies, and prepping them for their sessions takes time you must be prepared to work into your planning. Speaker handling is one of the primary reasons that even a small event easily takes up to six months to plan adequately. SEJ office staff can help with speaker handling only if our schedule of programs for that time allows. Often session moderators will help with this task, but they must be fully apprised of the reimbursement conditions.

Photo by Dale Willman On the second day of an SEJ regional conference in New Jersey that attracted more than 200 journalists and speakers, a busload of attendees took a field trip to downtown Manhattan to hear EPA officials describe the system of air monitors (in plastic bags) put in place after the Sept. 11 attacks.

III. Multiple-day event with speakers, catering and/or busing — This event is very similar to the one above only with more speakers, more events, and generally more attendees. It also takes much more advance planning, and usually a year's lead time. Please note that as numbers go up, costs and time investment do too. For an example, please visit our past regionals page and click on the Boston-to-Baltimore Regional Briefing link.

Please use the event pre-planning form (requires free Adobe Acrobat ® reader) to help you decide the type of event you want to have. Don't hesitate to contact Chris Rigel (215-884-8177) if you have questions. We want to do everything possible to help make your event a success.

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The Society of Environmental Journalists
P.O. Box 2492 Jenkintown, PA 19046
Telephone: (215) 884-8174 Fax: (215) 884-8175
sej@sej.org

© 1994 Society of Environmental Journalists
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