The Virginia Press Women (VPW) held their annual conference in Roanoke this past weekend, which included workshops, speakers, a progressive dinner, and even a visit to Floyd to treat conference attendees to the legendary weekend “Jamboree.” One of the highlights of the conference included naming the winners of the annual VPW 2010 Communications Contest.
The awards were presented by 2009-2010 VPW President Gwen Woolf at The Taubman Museum of Art. Susan M. Ayers, Roanoke Star Sentinel contributor, received two awards.
She received Second Place in the category “Special Articles – Government or Politics” for the article, “City Reveals Plan for ‘Superbranch’ Library” published November 6-10, 2009 in The Roanoke Star-Sentinel.
Ayers also won Third Place in the category “Special Articles – Reviews” for the article, “Cole is Still Unforgettable,” published October 2-8, 2009 in The Roanoke Star-Sentinel.
Ayers said that “it was very humbling to receive the awards. I joined VPW last year. I have found it to be a great organization with very talented and accomplished members. Many of these communications professionals have been active members for several years.” She added that “the educational and networking opportunities are endless.”
VPW is a diverse organization of professional communicators in Virginia that is open to women and men. Its members work for newspapers, magazines, radio, television stations, schools, colleges, government, corporations, non-profit agencies, communications businesses, and a variety of organizations and associations.
As of December 2009, the Virginia Press Women had 150 members — the statewide membership is a collection of four districts.
Virginia Press Women Inc. was founded in 1958 and incorporated in 1973. It is affiliated with the National Federation of Press Women. Both organizations promote the highest ethical standards, foster exchanges of journalistic ideas and experiences, offer continuing education opportunities to members and serve the public’s right-to-know.
Ayers explains that she “stumbled upon the group, and after emailing a couple members,” established a connection that stuck. She found that people were very encouraging, and in the words of national President Cynthia Price, who addressed the group, “We are like a family.” Ayers says that the VPW members are “so accomplished; some have had books published, some teach at major writers’ conferences — it really was humbling to receive these awards” from the group.
The awards are especially gratifying as Ayers left a long career in the mortgage business for health reasons, and later decided to pursue freelance writing without knowing whether she could be successful at it. According to the VPW, she is quite successful — enough to be counted and recognized amongst their ranks.
Visit virginiapresswomen.org for more information.
By Cheryl Hodges [email protected]