About Samantha Pak

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Venice Buhain and KJ Hiramoto elected chapter president and secretary

The election results are in, so please join us in congratulating Venice Buhain and KJ Hiramoto as our incoming president and secretary!
They both will be serving two-year terms, beginning January 2016.
Venice Buhain has been a member of AAJA Seattle since 2000. She is the news editor at The Seattle Globalist, and has worked at TVW, Patch, The Olympian, The Daily News in Longview and the Eastside Journal in Bellevue.
As chapter president, she plans to focus on bringing in new members and early career journalists, building programs that speak to the needs of mid-career journalists and finding ways to keep our chapter members engaged locally and with national programs. Venice’s past experience includes serving as the chapter’s national advisory board member this past year and chapter secretary from 2008-11 and helping to organize the 2014 and 2015 AAJA Seattle Media Access Workshops and Chef Showcases.
KJ Hiramoto is a recent addition to AAJA Seattle and recent graduate of the University of Washington. He is interested in pursuing a career in the social media side of journalism down the line and sees serving as chapter secretary and getting a chance to run the chapter’s social media pages will prove to be a invaluable experience.
Also being a young journalist, KJ said he could always use some indirect training in being a better organizer and fast-paced worker by having to juggle between  jobs, conference calls and projects being run by our chapter.

AAJA Seattle board elections are here!

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It’s time for the chapter to elect new board members for 2016!

There are four seats up for election, all of which are two-year terms, effective Jan. 1, 2016:

  • President
  • Secretary
  • Vice President of Programming
  • National Board Representative

Serving on the chapter board is an important way for you to demonstrate your leadership (a key skill many employers look for), give back to this organization and support your fellow members.

Chapter Secretary Samantha Pak will oversee our elections, which will be from Sept. 20-26. Our national office will receive the names of our 2016 chapter board members by Nov. 1. More

Renew or join AAJA and enter to win tickets to our Chefs Showcase or 30th Anniversary Gala!

AAJA Seattle will be having a giveaway for one pair of tickets for our Chefs Showcase on Aug. 10, as well as our 30th Anniversary Gala on Nov. 14. The two winners will be randomly selected from our chapter membership list as of June 30.
So if you want to be in the running, make sure to renew your membership for 2015!
Not sure of your membership is up to date? Contact secretary Samantha Pak at sammipak @ gmail. com.

AAJA Seattle kicks off documentary series with ‘Cambodian Son’ on May 2

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This year, AAJA Seattle wants to highlight Asian American filmmakers through a year-long documentary series.

We are thrilled to be partnering with the Post-Prison Education Program in Seattle to bring you the first our three documentaries.

Join us at 7 p.m. on May 2 at AMC Pacific Place 11 (600 Pine St., Ste. 400 in downtown Seattle) for a screening of “Cambodian Son.”

About the film:

“Cambodian Son” documents the life of deported poet, Kosal Khiev after receiving the most important performance invitation of his career—to represent the Kingdom of Cambodia at the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad. Kosal would travel to London having only taken two flights prior: first, as a 1-year-old refugee child whose family fled Cambodia and then as a 32-year-old criminal “alien” forcibly returned to Cambodia in 2011. Armed only with memorized verses, he must face the challenges of being a deportee while navigating his new fame as Phnom Penh’s premiere poet.

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NJC Pizza Night at Mountlake Terrace High School on March 24

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AAJA Seattle will be hosting a Northwest Journalists of Color (NJC) Scholarship Pizza Night in partnership with The Hawkeye at Mountlake Terrace High School.
The event will be from 5:30-7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 24 at MTHS (21801 44th Ave. W. in Mountlake Terrace), in room 130.
We will be providing information about the NJC Scholarship, which is open to high school seniors in Washington as well as college students who are Washington residents or enrolled in a college or university in Washington and pursuing journalism.
AAJA Seattle administers the scholarship and we are currently accepting applications through May 3. I have attached a PDF of the application, but an online version is also available on our chapter website at www.aajaseattle.org/scholarships (online applications are preferred).

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Vice President of Programs opening on board

AAJA Seattle is currently accepting nominations for one open position on our chapter board.

The position is:

  • Vice President, Programs (to serve a two-year term, through 2016)

Serving on the chapter board is a great way to demonstrate leadership skills (something many employers look for), give back to the organization and support fellow members.

Specific duties for these open position are:

  • This person is responsible for the Northwest Journalists of Color Scholarship outreach efforts, judging and reception.

If you have more general questions about who is eligible for these positions, board time commitments, etc. click here.

We will be accepting nominations for both President, Programs through Friday, Feb. 6, 2015. If  you have any questions, are interested in or would like to nominate someone for either position, please email chapter secretary Samantha Pak at sammipak@gmail.com.

AAJA Seattle board elections are here!

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It’s time for the chapter to elect board members for 2015!

There are three seats up for election, all of which are two-year terms, effective Jan. 1, 2015:

  • Treasurer
  • Vice President, Events
  • Vice President, Programs

There is also one seat up for election, which will be a one-year term, also effective Jan. 1, 2015:

  • National Board Representative

Serving on the chapter board is an important way for you to demonstrate your leadership (a key skill many employers look for), give back to this organization and support your fellow members.

Chapter secretary Samantha Pak will oversee our elections, which will occur in the last week of October. Our national office will receive the names of our new 2015 chapter board members by Nov. 1.

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Tickets on sale for Chefs’ Showcase at Columbia Tower Club on Aug. 4!

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photo (1)Tickets are officially ON SALE for our upcoming Chefs’ Showcase benefit from 6-8 p.m. on Aug. 4 at the Columbia Tower Club. All proceeds will benefit AAJA scholarships and training programs for professional journalists.

Come on up to the 75th floor and enjoy gorgeous views of Seattle as you nosh on appetizers and drinks courtesy of area restaurants. Meet other journalists, professionals and foodies as some of the most exciting chefs working in Seattle’s restaurant scene demonstrate dishes that will inspire your next cocktail or dinner party.

Admission includes:

  • Access to the great views from the 75th-floor the Columbia Tower.
  • Appetizers from our featured celebrity chefs and others, including Bloom, Taste of India, Pho Cyclo and more.
  • Drinks from Vortex Cellars, Tranche Cellars, Eleven Winery and Georgetown Brewery.
  • A program booklet with the evening’s featured recipes.

Tickets:
$60 at the door
$50 General Admission
$40 Columbia Tower Club members

AAJA and SPJ members: Pay $25 when you buy your ticket by July 31. This is 50 percent off the pre-event ticket price. Discounted pricing for AAJA and SPJ members ends July 31.

Purchase your tickets today on Brown Paper Tickets.

The celebrity chef line-up:

Lisa K. Nakamura, chef/owner of Allium and alumna of The French Laundry who is planning her next concept, Gnocchi Bar.

Rachel Yang, the James Beard-nominated chef and co-owner of Joule and Revel restaurants in Seattle.

Prometheus Brown (aka Geo of Blue Scholars) and Chera Amlag, the husband-and-wife force behind Food and Sh*t, a monthly pop-up at Inay’s.

Tyler Hefford-Anderson, a fine dining master who honed his skills at the Rainier Club and Meridian Valley Country Club before becoming the executive chef at Columbia Tower Club.

Steven Ariel, the executive chef for  TRACE at W Seattle and alum of Canlis, Cafe Juanita and LUC.

KING 5 Anchor Mimi Jung hosts the demonstrations.

Spend your summer with AAJA Seattle!

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Contrary to what our current weather may suggest, summer is just around the corner. And with that comes a few AAJA events and we hope you’ll join us!
 
Our first event is Walk for Rice on June 28 from 8 a.m. to noon.
We’ve formed an AAJA Seattle team to participate in this annual fundraiser, which features a 2.5-mile walk or run at Seward Park in Seattle, to help raise money for the Asian Counseling and Referral Service’s (ACRS) Food Bank. The food bank serves more than 5,000 low-income people, who make more than 120,000 visits, each year and is also the only food bank in the area regularly providing cultural staples of the Asian Pacific American diet, like rice, tofu and soy milk.
To find our team, click here. From there, you can join our team by clicking the blue “Join Our Team” button on the right side of the page. Our goal is to have at least 10 members. WE STILL NEED TEAM MEMBERS! Family and friends are also invited to join.
If you cannot make it to the event, you can still contribute by donating on our AAJA Seattle team page and clicking on individual team members’ pages to donate through their pages.
Chapter secretary Samatha Pak is the AAJA Seattle team captain for the fundraiser, so if you have any questions, please let her know (sammipak@gmail.com)! A Facebook event page has also been created for our team, which could be used to keep track of those planning to attend, coordinate carpools to the event, fundraising ideas, etc.

Susy Sun to perform at Lunar New Year next week

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Susy Sun will be performing at this year's Lunar New Year Banquet and Silent Auction.

Susy Sun will be performing at the Lunar New Year Banquet and Silent Auction next week.

Susy Sun will be performing at our Lunar New Year Banquet and Silent Auction next week.

Sun is a Northwest singer/songwriter and classical pianist. Her latest album, Wanderlust EP, is backed by an impressive group of fellow local talent: producer Shawn Simmons (known for his work with The Head and the Heart and The Maldives) and members of The Passenger String Quartet, led by violinist, Andrew Joslyn (known for his work with Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, David Bazan, Kris Orlowski and Allen Stone).

Sun writes and composes all original music herself. After its release in October, Wanderlust EP caught the attention of national music media that have highlighted her as a shining up-and-coming artist to watch with her refreshing sound and music talent.

To learn more about Sun, you can follow her on Twitter and like her on Facebook.

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