Alabama Media Professionals & See Jane Write Birmingham -- The Beginning of a Beautiful Friendship

Guest Post by Jeanie McLean, vice president of Alabama Media Professionals

It’s good to have friends. That’s what I thought when I found See Jane Write while scouting like-minded writing groups in my role as program VP for Alabama Media Professionals. Although some of Birmingham’s writers’ groups seem to have withered with the journalism job market, See Jane Write – like AMP – continues to thrive.

That intrigued me. So I contacted Javacia to see how our groups might connect. She promised to speak to AMP during her summer sabbatical. She also kindly offered me this guest post. Although our groups are different, we have some commonalities. See Jane Write offers a platform for writers, especially those striving to master the blogging arts. AMP takes a somewhat broader approach, as our professionals work in both traditional and new media.

Our leadership thinks there may be ways we could explore mutual interests and share strengths. We’d like to hear your partnering ideas – maybe a project, program or party.

To start you thinking, here’s some information about Alabama Media Professionals – who we are and what we do to help members develop their careers.

• Our typical monthly meetings are the second Thursday of each month at 11:30 a.m. at the Homewood  Public Library. Occasionally we have special events at other times. Our members attend for free. Guests must pay $5.00 per meeting, but may apply the fee toward membership dues, should they decide to join.
• Our focus is professional development. AMP is the local chapter of the National Federation of Press Women (our membership includes men, too). We enlist highly-qualified speakers for meetings and workshops.
• We enjoy networking. AMP includes a diverse network of colleagues (PR representatives, broadcasters, freelance journalists, corporate writers, bloggers, etc.) throughout Alabama.
• We maintain an AMP Website providing meeting information/activities. It includes a public listing of members’ professional profiles, which has resulted in job leads and assignments.

Want to learn more, or connect with us? Visit our website at alabamamediaprofessionals.com, email me at jeanmclean2000@yahoo.com, or visit a meeting. Our next meeting is this Thursday at 11:30 a.m. at the Homewood Public Library and will feature Greg Powell, president and CEO of Birmingham-based  fi-Plan Partners. Just in time for tax season, he'll be sharing some financial insights for the self-employed.  

Let us know if you have ideas on how AMP and See Jane Write can complement each other.

After all, it’s good to have friends.