The First Amendment Award: This award recognizes significant contributions to the First Amendment rights of freedom of expression. Individuals and organizations both inside and outside of journalism are eligible.

Distinguished Service Award: This award is for a member of the chapter who demonstrates professional excellence and dedication to SPJ.

Appreciation Award: This award is presented to an individual or organization that has made a notable contribution to journalism in central Ohio.

Brick Wall Award: Started in 2001, this dubious distinction is presented to the individual or organization that, according to chapter members, did the most to block citizen access to public records and proceedings or otherwise violated the spirit of the First Amendment during the past year. Anyone is eligible, but special consideration will be given to public officials and tax-funded agencies that fail to follow the law.

Send nominations, including background, to Kevin Kemper by April 30.

For prior award winners, see the listing on the chapter’s Web site.

The untimely death of Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas J. Moyer and the subsequent appointment of Franklin County probate judge Eric Brown as interim chief justice has put the court in a political spotlight it normally tries to avoid.

Justice Paul E. Pfeifer (above), who is seeking his fourth term on the court, will be the keynote speaker for this year’s annual Founders Day event, Thursday, May 13. He’ll talk about the changes taking place in the state’s highest court, Moyer’s legacy and prior court decisions. A veteran of the press conference from his days in the Ohio Senate, Pfeifer also will participate in a Q&A session.

In addition, the chapter will present college scholarships and its First Amendment, Brick Wall, Distinguished Service and Appreciation awards.

Update: The silent auction returns. Bring your checkbook and take home an original drawing from Dispatch editorial cartoonist Jeff Stahler, passes for COSI or Franklin Park Conservatory, or a bow tie autographed by OSU President E. Gordon Gee. The proceeds help fund our scholarships.

Tickets are $30 ($20 for students). Reservation deadline: midnight, May 6.

The evening starts at 6 p.m. with a cash bar and networking, followed by dinner and the program at 6:45 p.m.

Join us for an evening of fellowship at the River Club Restaurant at Confluence Park, 679 W. Spring St.

The topic is National SPJ’s new ‘Social Media Series’ in its popular Training on the Go program, and the subject matter will be valuable to both expert and novice. Cost is just $20 and includes a boxed lunch from Panera, morning and break refreshments – though online pre-registration is required. See National’s Web site for more information or to register.

About the program – two sessions, sandwiched around lunch:

Follow the Noise: Social Media Listening Tools for Journalists
The focus of this program is to make journalists better listeners and give them the newest tools to do so. Applicable for all levels, participants will learn about the newest search engines, the latest social media communication tools, the reasons for using certain tools in specific situations, and techniques for letting technology do some of the work. Participants will complete interactive exercises and see firsthand how efficiency and reach can be increase with just a few mouse clicks.

Connect and Communicate: Social Media Conversation Tools for Journalists
With the use of the right tools and techniques, journalists can now reach anywhere on the planet to talk to a source, interview a subject or collaborate with a fellow reporter. In this session, participants will hear about the latest tools being used to break stories and communicate with readers. Start with Twitter, then go beyond the basics to learn some unwritten rules, some etiquette and new tools for speaking with people anywhere. Appropriate for all levels, this session includes a couple exercises and realtime examples.

About the presenter: Jeff Cutler
In 1992, Jeff Cutler was delivering words to MacConnection, HomeQuarters Warehouse, the Boston Herald and the Mariner Newspaper chain. From there he expanded into projects for Fidelity Investments, WearGuard, Talbots and a host of other respected businesses. These days, in addition to his new-media presence, Jeff is a credentialed reporter covering events like major golf tournaments and sporting events, the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, and film festivals and lifestyle events.

His current project load includes articles and features for Gatehouse Media, a slew of social media projects including blogs and podcasts, columns and editorials for a variety of clients.

The Central Ohio chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists plans to join with public-relations and advertising practitioners in a discussion of “Challenging Times in Print Journalism.” The event will serve as the SPJ chapter’s annual ethics panel and will take place starting at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 22, at the Worthington Inn, 649 High St. in Worthington.

Guests will include representatives of the Public Relations Society of America’s central Ohio chapter, and the Advertising Federation of Columbus. Editors and publishers of several of central Ohio’s newer publications also will be invited to join.

The event will begin with free snacks and a cash bar at 7 p.m. with the program at about 7:30 p.m. We’ll begin with SPJ and our guests sharing an overview of their ethics policies, then follow with discussion of several issues of common interest.

Admission is free but reservations are required. Please contact Barbara James no later than Monday, April 12 by e-mail at bjames001@columbus.rr.com or by phone, 614-461-5243.

Please note that there is parking behind the Worthington Inn. The meeting room will be on the second floor and because it is a historic building, no elevator is available.

Journalists, students and educators from Ohio, Michigan, West Virginia and western Pennsylvania, which form Region 4, will gather for the annual spring meeting which is open to all journalists, including those not affiliated with SPJ.

High-profile, accomplished journalists speaking at the conference include Jim Schaefer, part of the Detroit Free Press team whose coverage toppled Kwame Kilpatrick, the former Detroit mayor, and won the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for local reporting, and Regina Brett, a columnist at The Plain Dealer who twice won first-place National Headliner Awards. The two are among more than two dozen professional journalists, educators and entrepreneurs providing skills training for anyone who plays a journalistic role in any form of media.

For more information, see the event’s registration page.