Growing numbers, growing enthusiasm

COME NORTH of the border, up Ottawa way. This is an early, special invitation to NCEW members to visit Canada September 23-26 for what promises to be one of the most stimulating conventions in many years. For the first time in NCEW history, we will meet in eastern Canada - in Ottawa, the nation's capital.

Our visit could not come at a more dramatic time. The very future of Canada as one nation hangs in the political balance. We'll jump directly into the issue, as we expect to hear from Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien and Quebec Liberal Leader Jean Charest. However events turn out, NCEW convention delegates will have a window on history.

The convention will not just look at Canadian politics, but will also focus intensely on good writing in special professional sessions.

We'll be meeting in one of Canada's loveliest cities situated along the Rideau Canal and the Ottawa River. We'll stay at the Chateau Laurier, one of the grand old Canadian Pacific Railway hotels. Marvelous art galleries, restaurants, and shopping are all within the several blocks around the hotel, located just down the hill from Parliament. Our opening-night reception, in fact, will take place in Parliament. Don't be surprised if some Canadian Mounties show up.

And we'll be doing all these interesting activities at reasonable prices because of the favorable exchange rate versus the Canadian dollar.

Let's try for record attendance

Because this will be the first NCEW convention in Canada since the 1987 meeting in Vancouver, it's my personal goal to attract a record number of NCEW members to the Ottawa meeting. Past presidents, other former officers, and past board members are especially welcome.

The Ottawa Citizen and Le Droit are the convention sponsors, but the newspapers are receiving spirited planning and monetary support from the Ottawa Sun, The Gazette and La Presse in Montreal, the Globe and Mail and The Toronto Star in Toronto, the Windsor Star, The Edmonton Journal, The Daily Gleaner in Fredericton, and the Winnipeg Free Press and Pacific Press in Vancouver. We expect to have many Canadian newspapers represented at the convention, so you will be able to augment your impressions from the formal speeches and workshops with firsthand conversations with Canadian journalists.

This is truly an exceptional opportunity. I urge every NCEW member to consider attending this convention.

One of the strengths of NCEW over the past several years has been the growth of our membership and our enthusiasm. I'm happy to report that we have 560 members (compared to 547 this time last year) thanks to the persistent, vigorous work of membership chair Rick Horowitz and his burrowing badgers who serve as regional captains. They've stuck their noses into virtually every editorial page shop in America and found new members as well as reacquainted former members with the organization.

We've tried to strengthen services through Charles Reinken's Member Services Committee, which attempts to answer any need a particular member expresses. And Phineas Fiske's online efforts have proven to be a great resource for members as well as a popular place to argue about issues and to solve problems. I continue to be amazed at the amount of activity as well as the range of topics discussed on NCEW-L, the e-mail discussion list. This activity helps Rick Horowitz and his deputies attract new members, and it certainly raises the level of interest in NCEW.

The work these critical committees do is buttressed by the nearly 20 other committees of NCEW. They offer critiques, arrange professional seminars, offer foreign trips, debate ethical questions, help student journalists, attract more minorities to enter editorial writing, and provide a variety of other aids to professional development. But what they do most of all is provide encouragement and support for opinion writers all over the country.

Copyright MASTHEAD National Conference of Editorial Writers Summer 1998
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