Society of Professional Obituary Writers Membership Criteria

Full Members:

Working journalists - news organization employees and freelance - who write, edit and present obituaries for newspapers, magazines, wire services, radio stations or networks, television stations or networks, cable outlets, online news services and Internet sites.

Also eligible for full membership are journalism educators, former obituary-writing reporters and retirees from these categories.

Full members are eligible to vote, hold office and get discounted registration rates for SPOW Conventions.

Associate Members:

Other journalists, educators, scholars, librarians, authors, biographers and other professionals, who are interested in SPOW's mission to improve the quality of the writing and presentation of obituaries and life stories using journalistic guidelines.

Associate members are welcome to join in discussions affecting SPOW as an organization. They may participate at SPOW Conventions and serve on convention committees, but they are not eligible to vote or hold office.

Student members:

Students at accredited colleges and universities pursuing a course of study in communications, preferably journalism, and high school students pursuing journalism courses or working on school or alternative publications.

Student members may participate at SPOW Conventions and volunteer with convention committees, but they are not eligible to vote and cannot hold office.

MEMBERSHIP DUES

No membership dues are required for 2008. Beginning in 2009, dues of $25 for full/associate members and $5 for students for the calendar year must be paid before that year's SPOW Convention.

Dues will be applied toward convention registration.

To join, simply send the following information with your name in the subject line to members@obitwriters.org:

Name

News organization

Job title

Mailing address at work

Home mailing address (optional)

E-mail addresses

Phone numbers

A brief bio with emphasis on your obituary-related work.

We invite all obit-writing reporters and newsfolk to join SPOW, which, like this Web site, is in its formative stages, to attend the SPOW Convention in Charlotte, N.C., April 23-25, 2009, and to contribute to our Obituary Forum blog.

We welcome your input.