Outdoor Writers Association of America The Voice of the Outdoors April/May 2013 www.owaa.org/ou OUTDOORS UNLIMITED 1 NEEDS YOU. Seeking craft improvement articles, technology tips and business advice. For info on how YOU can help, contact [email protected] or call 406-728-7434. 2 OUTDOORS UNLIMITED April/May 2013 pg. 7 April/May 2013, Vol. 74, No. 2 6 Apply yourself, Part Two — by Natalie Bartley pg. 13 7 Point of View Cameras: Adding new angles to your story— by Kris Millgate 8 Making it personal — by Ty Stockton 9 Why give to a charity (like OWAA) — by Bill Powell 10 Don’t forget the WHY? — by Brett Prettyman 4 Update from OWAA HQs 14 Board Candidate Profiles 4 Letters to the Editor 18 2013 Election Ballot Measures 5 President’s Message 20 Board Meeting Minutes 11 Departments 22 2013 Conference Preview ON THE COVER By Bill Marchel pg. 23 OUTDOOR WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA Our mission: improve the professional skills of our members, set the highest ethical and communications standards, encourage public enjoyment and conservation of natural resources and mentor the next generation of professional outdoor communicators. Copyright April/May 2013 by Outdoor Writers NATIONAL PRESIDENT S. Chris Hunt, Idaho Association of America Inc. Reproduction HEADQUARTERS Mark Taylor, Virginia Timothy Mead, North Carolina in whole or in part without permission is 615 Oak St., Ste. 201 Mary Nickum, Arizona prohibited. The contents of Outdoors Unlimited do not necessarily represent the Missoula, MT 59801 OFFICERS Brett Prettyman, Utah opinion or endorsement of OWAA, its staff, 406-728-7434, Fax: 406-728-7445 Vice President: Bill Graham, Missouri Paul Queneau, Montana officers, directors or members. Outdoors [email protected], www.owaa.org Vice President: Mark Freeman, Oregon Peter Schroeder, Washington Unlimited (ISSN 0030-7181) is published Secretary: Katie McKalip, Montana Randy Zellers, Arkansas bimonthly by Outdoor Writers Association STAFF Treasurer: Jack Ballard, Montana of America Inc., 615 Oak St., Ste. 201, Mis- Executive Director: vacant as of press time COUNSELS soula, MT 59801. Periodicals postage paid Communications and Publications at Missoula, MT, and additional mailing BOARD OF DIRECTORS Attorney: William Jay Powell, Missouri offices. POSTMASTER: Send address chang- Director: Ashley Schroeder Bruce Cochran, Kansas Historian: vacant es to Outdoors Unlimited, Outdoor Writers Membership and Conference Services Mark Freeman, Oregon Medical: William W. Forgey, Indiana Association of America Inc., 615 Oak St., Coordinator: Jessica Pollett Ste. 201, Missoula, MT 59801. www.owaa.org/ou OUTDOORS UNLIMITED 3 Update from OWAA HQs How we are working to help you reetings from OWAA headquarters! Things have been MEMBERS PETITION FOR NEW SECTION been pretty busy here so far this year. Membership and OWAA is always looking for ways to provide relevent benefits GConference Services Coordinator Jessica Pollett and I for its wide range of members. A group of public relations individu- really appreciate all those who have helped us keep things running als petitioned the board to create a new section to represent a grow- smoothly at headquarters while a search is being conducted for a ing population of OWAA’s individual membership. More details new executive director. about the new media relations section can be found on page 26. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR SEARCH UPDATE OWAA WEBSITE IMPROVEMENTS As of press time, final candidate interviews are underway with By the time this issue reaches your mailbox, we’ll have com- the intent that a new executive director will begin their duties this pleted a restructuring of the way members-only content is organized April. An announcement will be posted online and sent via email, on the OWAA website. Our hope is that this new members-only with a profile of the new director slated for publication in the June/ area will be easier to navigate, whether you are looking for the list July issue of Outdoors Unlimited. of product discounts or the latest Outdoor Market posts. Along with this reorganization of content, we plan to take an- OWAA ELECTIONS other look at the way the login/logout process works on our website All Active, Senior-Active and Life members have the opportuni- to make sure it’s quick and easy for members and supporters to ty to weigh in on the future of OWAA. Turn to pages 16-19 to learn access this exclusive content. about the board candidates and ballot measures that you can vote on during the 2013 elections. EXCELLENCE IN CRAFT CONTESTS Judges are busy poring over more than 600 entries ranging from 2013 SHOT SHOW magazine articles to photographs and blog posts. Headquarters will For the first time in recent years, OWAA held its winter board publicly announce the list of winners in June. meeting in conjunction with the 2013 SHOT Show in Las Vegas. Aside from attending the quick and productive meeting, of which GET OUTSIDE AT THE 2013 OWAA CONFERENCE you can read the minutes on pages 20-21, Jessica and I joined Several new trips have been added to the already extensive list several other board members in meeting with supporting group of pre- and post-conference trips available in September, before representatives and individual members who were also at SHOT. and after the Lake Placid, N.Y., conference. Check out owaa. We also had the chance to reach out to prospective supporters and org/2013conference for the latest news.n members and generally spread word of OWAA’s benefits to many industry folks who were in attendance. — OWAA Communications and Publications Director, [email protected] LETTERS TO THE EDITOR SCHOLARSHIP HELPS STUDENT WITH CAREER OUTDOOR WRITING VS. INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM I am one of the 2012 Bodie McDowell Scholarship recipients. [In the February/March issue of OU], W.H. “Chip” Gross sells I just wanted to let you know that I have accepted an internship the OWAA membership short by assuming that outdoor writers with The Oregonian in Portland, Oregon. I will be doing envi- don’t produce solid investigative journalism. I made my reputa- ronmental and enterprise reporting there! Thanks again for the tion on doing exactly that, here and abroad, on conservation and opportunity to apply for this great scholarship and the doors it environmental assignments that sometimes involved risk of life has opened up for me! and limb. One such effort reached the finalist level of the Na- — Emma Murray tional Magazine Awards. Another member who is among the best investigative journalists anywhere: Ted Williams. And there are Feedback guidelines others as well. Members are encouraged to write about issues and topics. The exec- The reason why many members do not produce more inves- utive director and editor will decide whether opinions are appropri- tigative journalism is that they are outdoor writers, not trained ate for debate or if the comments promote a personal cause; if the journalists. Not that anything is wrong with simply writing but it “cause” is unrelated to OWAA’s mission and potentially damaging takes additional skills to produce and write a solid investigative to the membership, the letter might not be printed. Word limit: 400. piece. Longer letters will be returned for revision. Send letters to editor@ — Edward Ricciuti owaa.org. Killingworth, Conn. 4 OUTDOORS UNLIMITED April/May 2013 President’s Message Allowing a platform for discussion hen news broke that Ted Nugent would be making a sides are involved. Without conflict there can be no resolution. tour stop in Roanoke in April, I had an idea. I am proud that this is a philosophy shared by the institution that W I wondered if he might find time to slip out for a is OWAA. quick spring turkey hunt at a spot I have just 15 minutes from the Our membership, among individuals and supporters, is richly venue where he would be playing a triple header with Styx and diverse. REO Speedwagon. We have plenty in common, particularly our love of the outdoors. I knew it was a long shot, but the next show was a few days after But we have differences. the Roanoke gig, so it seemed he might have a little time to kill. On the water some of us adhere to a strict catch-and-release I took to the computer and wrote a short post for my blog, a post ethic, while others are more than happy to keep a few for the pan. that carried the headline: “Should I invite Ted Nugent for a turkey Some of us are strong advocates of designated wilderness, while hunt?” others believe that public lands should be made more accessible to It was a rhetorical question. the general public. I had already asked the music writer here Many of us are staunch Second Amendment supporters who at The Roanoke Times if he could get the ball bristle at the thought of any further erosion of gun rights. Yet some rolling. I just wanted to hear what the readers of our members would be willing to accept additional gun and ac- thought. cessory ownership restrictions in the hopes that they could reduce Create a dialog, you know? gun-related violence. I got a dialog, in the form of dozens upon But OWAA, as an entity, takes an advocacy position on only one dozens of comments. topic: the First Amendment. People love Ted Nugent. Beyond OWAA’s support for the freedom of speech and freedom And people hate Ted Nugent. MARK TAYLOR of the press, it isn’t the organization’s role to try to take an institu- It was exactly what I expected. tional position or shape how our members think. What was most pleasing was the tone of the discussion. OWAA’s mission is to serve its membership, and part of that As much as these folks might have disagreed, they were gener- service is to provide our members with access to a wide variety of ally polite and cordial.