Starting Oct. 24, 2014, all JAWS members will have the chance to bid on artwork, professional advice, premium wine and some fabulous vacations. Check with your friends and families and book that dream trip!

The JAWS online auction will last just ten days to coincide with the Conference and Mentoring Program (CAMP), ending on Sunday, Nov. 2, at 2 p.m. Pacific time. Keep an eye on your opening bid to be sure you win.

By Nancy Day, JAWS board member

Sonia Nazario, whose book “Enrique’s Journey” is now used in classrooms across the country, has been added to the Conference and Mentoring Project (CAMP) 2014 program.

Nazario first reported on children who make the perilous journey from Honduras to the United States for her six-part series in the Los Angeles Times, which won the 2003 Pulitzer for feature writing. Earlier this year, she re-reported the story, traveling on top of freight trains with boys as young as seven to discover firsthand what is happening now. The drug cartels, squeezed out of Colombia with massive U.S. aid, have moved inland, threatening and ensnaring children and teens.

By Janice Rhoshalle Littlejohn, JAWS member

JAWS is bringing women — and their stories — to the big screen at our Conference and Mentoring Project (CAMP) this year.

With Hollywood just over the mountains and in the midst of the playground of the stars at La Quinta Resort and Club near Palm Springs, what better time to spotlight the remarkable women who make the documentaries and films that have such an impact on our view of the world?

Two local JAWdesses, Allison Engel and Donna Myrow, suggest a few fun outings.

The Diversity Fellowship signifies the power of JAWS, bringing a journalist traditionally underrepresented in the newsroom to CAMP. By July 1, we received 54 applications for one spot and more than a dozen JAWdesses answered the call for volunteers to help with the selection process. JAWS thanks the Financial Times for its generous support of the Diversity Fellowship.

Amy Stretten is a bilingual (Spanish/English) independent multimedia journalist, blogger and freelance news reporter. Stretten is Native American, from the Chickahominy Tribe of Virginia. As a mixed-race, queer-identifying woman of color, she draws from her personal experience, navigating the world through a multicultural lens, to share stories that matter but may otherwise be misunderstood or overlooked.

Stretten has a unique sensitivity to what matters to diverse communities. As the National Affairs Correspondent at Fusion (ABC and Univision’s millennial-focused joint-venture), she wrote, produced and presented on-air stories and commentary exploring identity and the intersections of race, class, gender and sexual orientation for a millennial audience. Through her writing, she connected the dots between Netflix series “House of Cards” and Native American tribal disenrollment, explained Black American Sign Language and substantiated the need for femme/feminine lesbian visibility.

This year we launched the Mid-Career Fellowship with the goal of bringing to CAMP an experienced journalist at a crossroads in her career.

Suzanne Cosgrove is a freelance financial writer, editor and teacher who works on multiple media platforms. A former financial editor at the Chicago Tribune, she currently writes a weekly column on commodities for the Wall Street Journal/Dow Jones.

She also covered commodities and managed funds for Thomson Reuters and previously was the Chicago bureau chief for Market News International.

She is a contributing writer for Market News International and number of other publications, and is an adjunct professor at the Medill School of Journalism.

The Entrepreneurial Fellowship is one of our three new fellowship programs this year. It is designed to bring to CAMP an experienced journalist, who is working on an innovative journalism project consistent with the JAWS mission. JAWS received six impressive applications and the selection committee awarded the fellowship to JAWS member, Melissa Ludtke.

When Melissa applied for JAWS first ever Entrepreneurial Fellowship, her application opened with these words: “I might be a veteran journalist — going on 40 years in the business — but I’m a very young digital storytelling entrepreneur.”

By Kelly E. Carter, Coordinator of Books, Browse and Booze for CAMP

Did you know that showcasing your book(s) at JAWS CAMP can help pay for your registration and hotel?

That’s right! If you participate in Books, Browse and Booze, taking place Saturday, Nov. 1, from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m., you may sell enough books to cover your early-bird registration fee (deadline is July 31) and room at La Quinta Resort and Club. Book your room by Sept. 30 to take advantage of the special JAWS rate of $149 plus taxes and fees.

Books, Browse and Booze is where CAMPers can buy books by JAWS authors, meet the authors and chat with them about their latest work.

Congratulations to our 2014 Emerging Journalist Fellows who will be attending the Conference and Mentoring Project (CAMP) in Palm Springs, California from Oct. 31 to Nov. 2.

The 2014 Conference and Mentoring Project Oct. 31 to Nov. 2 will be packed with practical and inspiring sessions, all held in a beautiful resort near Palm Springs, California, known as Hollywood’s playground.

The La Quinta Resort and Club is one of the original getaways for Hollywood’s stars. If you hear typing late into the night from the room next door, it might not be a fellow JAWdess, but the ghost of Frank Capra writing the script for “It’s a Wonderful Life.” (Yes, he wrote it in one of the suites at the resort.)

Rooms at the resort are separate from registration. Click here to book your room at the special JAWS rate of $149 a night. Rooms must be booked by Sept. 30, 2014, to secure this special rate.

JAWS is thrilled to announce Investigative Training from Start to Finish, which is an all-day investigative training on Oct. 30 BEFORE the Conference and Mentoring Project (CAMP). It will be led by four of the best investigative reporters in the world — Jennifer LaFleur, Rosemary Armao, Susy Schultz and Maud Beelman, who have all won awards for their work. Jennifer is senior editor of digital journalism at The Center for Investigative Reporting and was the first training director for Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE). Rosemary is an associate professor at Ohio State University, was executive director of IRE and a past JAWS president. Susy is also a former JAWS president, current JAWS vice president and president of the Community Media Workshop in Chicago. Maud is the deputy managing editor at The Dallas Morning News. All four women are JAWS members.

By Adrienne Lawrence, CAMP Director

While planning CAMP 2014 in Palm Springs, we’ve jokingly said that JAWS will be taking over Hollywood’s playground. However, on a visit to La Quinta Resort and Club, we found out that it’s not a joke; La Quinta is one of the original getaways for Hollywood’s stars. If you hear typing late into the night from the room next door, it might not be a fellow JAWdess, but the ghost of Frank Capra writing the script for “It’s a Wonderful Life.” (Yes, he wrote it in one of the suites at the resort.)

There are plenty of fun reasons to go to CAMP this year, like a spa, 41 swimming pools and hot tubs, tennis, hiking and golf, but there’s also top-notch training and experts that will only be at this journalism conference.

By Kira Zalan, JAWS Board Member

The Journalism and Women Symposium raises money each year to support our Emerging Journalist Fellowship program, which brings 10 women starting careers in journalism to the annual JAWS Conference and Mentoring Project (CAMP). (See last year’s fellowship winners.) At CAMP, they meet industry leaders, trailblazers, and have the opportunity to learn new skills and share their own. This year’s JAWS CAMP is in Palm Springs, California, from Oct. 31 to Nov. 2, 2014.

By Megan Sweas and Adrienne Lawrence, JAWS CAMP Co-Chairs

While planning CAMP 2014 in Palm Springs, we’ve jokingly said that JAWS will be taking over Hollywood’s playground. However, on a visit to La Quinta Resort and Club, we found out that it’s not a joke; La Quinta is one of the original getaways for Hollywood’s stars. If you hear typing late into the night from the room next door, it might not be a fellow JAWdess, but the ghost of Frank Capra writing the script for “It’s a Wonderful Life.” (Yes, he wrote it in one of the suites at the resort.)