What: ETSPJ Regional Conference
When: Friday, April 9, 2010 - 8:00am
Where: Knoxville Holiday Inn Downtown/Conference Center

The East Tennessee Society of Professional Journalists is holding their Region 12 Spring Conference in Knoxville on April 9th and 10th.

More details in the press release after the jump...

Knoxville – It’s been a tough year to be a journalist or a journalism student. Get some of your old enthusiasm back and find new inspiration at Society of Professional Journalists’ Region 12 Spring Conference, Friday and Saturday, April 9-10, in beautiful, historic Knoxville, Tenn.

This year’s conference, hosted by East Tennessee SPJ, includes two full days of professional development sessions guaranteed to yield new ideas and useful tips.

Friday’s focus is environmental, with a full day of Writing Green that includes discussions of watersheds and water shortages and media coverage of the 2009 TVA Coal Ash spill in Roane County, Tenn. Keynote luncheon speaker Dr. Joel Kimmons, Slow Food expert and nutrition scientist and epidemiologist for the CDC, will present "Examining the food we eat while we eat it," and an afternoon seminar on "News Gathers and Gatekeepers" will look at the good, the bad and the ugly of the environmental journalist-PR relationship.

Saturday will take on topics as varied as social media ethics, issues in sports journalism, handling health reporting and covering race in the "Obama Era."

And don’t forget the fun stuff! ETSPJ and Hellbender Press will kick it off Friday night with a reception in downtown Knoxville’s East Tennessee History Center, featuring live music and local food. Saturday night, a listing of restaurants and nightclubs in the booming downtown area will give journalists great options for getting to know new friends better.

The Region 12 conference will take place in downtown Knoxville at the same time as the famed annual Dogwood Arts Festival. Take advantage of breaks in the schedule to check out live performances, various activities and artesian booths in nearby Market Square. Find out on a self-guided walking tour why this city is "the Cradle of Country Music." Explore our Museum of Art or the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame. And for those who can stay a little longer, the Great Smoky Mountains are just a little more than a half-hour away and offer an abundance of both natural beauty and family-friendly entertainment.

Learn more, and register, at http://etspj.org/.