Category Archives: Regional Gatherings

JAWS NYC: JAWdesses met at the Roosevelt House for an intimate tour led by Deborah Gardner. She regaled attendees with accounts of the historic events that took place at the house, with an emphasis on Eleanor Roosevelt’s life and achievements, and also led the group through the exhibit on the suffrage movement. The show is open to the public through April 2.

JAWS Bay Area: Campaign finance reporting isn’t just for political geeks. Do you cover sports or business? Who is making money from campaigns in your city or state? JAWS president Sandra Fish talked with Bay Area JAWS members about this topic recently. Read more in the members-only site.

JAWS NYC: JAWS member Tina Susman interviews Jennifer Mascia, a staff writer at The Trace, a news site dedicated to gun violence and policy. Mascia spoke about the start of the organization and her experience on the beat. Listen to the track at the members-only site.

Read about events hosted in the Bay Area, Southern California, and other communities.

JAWS D.C.: Nearly 30 members of JAWS gathered at Teaism Restaurant in Washington, D.C., Oct. 29, for an exciting evening of food, fun and fellowship. The event was organized by regional co-captain Lottie Joiner and featured author Dr. Alice Driver. Driver, a JAWS member, talked about her book “More or Less Dead: Feminicide, Haunting, and the Ethics of Representation in Mexico.”

Nikki Raz also organized its first “freelancer speed-dating” event Nov. 7 designed to match people seeking to work collaboratively in order to gain new skills. Seven JAWdesses came to pitch and to listen to story ideas.

JAWS NYC: Despite a broken arm sustained while reporting on dance skaters, Tina Susman invited JAWdesses to her Brooklyn Heights apartment on Sept. 3.

JAWS D.C.: The JAWS Summer Potluck was a nice shindig indeed — food, fun and fellowship, plus an awesome auction.

JAWS D.C.: On July 15, Peggy Simpson hosted the JAWS dinner she had generously auctioned off at CAMP. Enjoying the sunshine on Peggy’s D.C., rooftop garden are Peggy, Kira Zalan, Arnesa Howell, Linda Kramer Jenning, Angela Greiling Keane, Nikki Raz and Emily Shenk. Missing from the photo are Bonnie Rollins (who was taking the photo) and Pat Sullivan who was on the phone.

JAWS SoCal: Lottie Joiner met up with local JAWS members in Southern California following training as a National Journalism Health Fellow at USC. Shout out to SoCal Regional Captain Megan Sweas, who organized the gathering.

JAWS D.C.: At least three dozen JAWS members gathered Saturday at Roberta Baskin’s breathtaking home on the bank of Jackson Lake in Manassas, Va. In addition to boat rides by Capt. Jim (Roberta’s husband and journalist), JAWS members enjoyed dips in the pool and great conversation at every corner. If only every summer day could be this magical!

JAWS Bay Area: Sharkey and the San Francisco Bay Area chapter of JAWS made an appearance at the Association of Health Care Journalists (AHCJ) conference in Santa Clara, Calif., on April 25. We had a great time catching up with JAWdesses from across the country and meeting journalists attending the AHCJ conference.

JAWS D.C.: About 20 JAWdesses and potential new members gathered at the National Press Club on April 2 to learn about an amazing 19th-century American journalist named Eliza Scidmore. Among her many accomplishments, after spending time in Japan, Scidmore was the first to propose planting cherry blossom trees in a national park along the Potomac in the late 1880s. Her vision was not to be realized until nearly 30 years later. Local JAWS member Diana Parsell presented the fascinating story of Scidmore’s life, work and travels as an independent woman ahead of her time. Diana is preparing a biography of Scidmore tentatively titled “A Great Blooming.”

JAWS NYC: A small group of New York JAWS members gathered at the warm and welcoming Brooklyn apartment of Regional Captain Solmaz Sharif on Dec. 8. With Ruthie Padawer’s brownies and Ashley Milne-Tyte’s “devils on horseback” (baked bacon-wrapped prunes), among other offerings, we were not short of food! Among other things, we pledged to have more frequent meetings. At Liz Seegert’s suggestion, we’re stealing a page from the D.C. group and plan to mix up venues and organizers to attract more people.

JAWS Boston: Boston JAWdesses attended a WBUR event with Jill Abramson, where she announced her new startup venture to publish long-form journalism.

JAWS D.C.: The D.C. regional group toasted our very own Linda Kramer Jennings becoming the new JAWS president at our Nov. 20 monthly happy hour. Members shared stories about all Linda has done for the D.C. group and how excited we are for what she will bring to JAWS on the national level. A few members also spoke about highlights from CAMP for those who weren’t able to attend.

JAWS Seattle: We had a wonderful JAWS happy hour in Seattle. Seven women attended, and a dozen others wrote to say they hope to make it out next time. It was a simple event at an inexpensive bar with a big deck. We all introduced ourselves and chatted. One woman (a would-be freelancer) may have already gotten her first gig out of the deal, which was a thrill to see.

JAWS Frederick: The Frederick, Maryland, regional group of JAWS had a special event for our July mixer. We were able to celebrate and attend the public reading of a play written by JAWS member Nancy Luse. The group met at a wine bar before the reading to toast Nancy and then headed to the Maryland Ensemble Theater to watch a reading of Nancy’s play, “Bus Buddies.” It was a hilarious and touching play and the actors and actresses reading the play were phenomenal.

Albuquerque, New Mexico: The event was hosted by Megan Kamerick and Gwyneth Doland. Helia Vaezian spoke to the group at the Harwood Art Center in Albuquerque about her research on women in Iranian media.

Boulder, Colorado: The night was hosted by Sandra Fish. A half dozen women sipped wine and snacked on Fish’s deck on May 18. They talked about journalism, feminism and more. They also welcomed two new members, Alicia Wallace and Sandy Nance, as a result.

JAWS NYC: About 25 fabulous women converged on the East Side of Manhattan for a late spring gathering at Merrill Perlman’s apartment on June 12. Because most people brought dishes familiar on tapas menus, we called it a “tapaluck” rather than a potluck. Ruthie Padawer drove in from New Jersey to be an amazing co-hostess. Among our special guests were Margaret Sullivan, the public editor of the New York Times, being introduced to JAWS; longtime JAWdesses Betsy Wade, Joy Cook, Liz Seegert and Geneva Overholser; and a lot of new members or those who had not yet been to a JAWS event, including Kira Goldenberg, Hanan Kamal – who brought a wonderful lentil and rice dish – Meral Agish, Yvonne Leow and Stephanie Hughes, who just moved to New York and started a job at Bloomberg.

JAWS Frederick, Maryland: For its monthly mixer on April 27, the Frederick JAWS group received free training on using social media as journalists. The training was led by JAWS member Kirstin Garriss of WHAG News in Hagerstown, Maryland, and Marissa Evans of Kaiser Health News in D.C. Seven journalists attended the event: Five were JAWS members and two were not members. Everyone brought laptops or mobile devices to test out the social media tips in real time.

JAWS Bay Area: A dozen JAWdesses gathered at the home of past president Katherine Ann Rowlands in Oakland on March 13 to celebrate the publication of Caryl Rivers’ insightful new book, “The New Soft War on Women: How the Myth of Female Ascendance Is Hurting Women, Men – and Our Economy.” There was a wonderful discussion about her book, the need to include men in the discussion about empowering women, and how to define leadership for women in journalism.

By Katherine Ann Rowlands, JAWS Ambassador

JAWS is making headway in establishing new — or renewed — chapters around the country, with the most recent effort to gather women journalists in Seattle.

Susanna Ray, a former reporter with Bloomberg, will be our new regional captain for the area, with help from longtime member Joy Cordell, who is creating a new Google group for journalists in the region. They were both key to organizing a Feb. 27 event with Tableau Software training, attended by local JAWdesses and a couple of us who were in town for the Association of Writers and Writer Programs conference.