Organization marks anniversary Maine Media Women celebrates 50 years of networking, growing

ROCKLAND – Maine Media Women celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, continuing a tradition of communications professionals sharing ideas and strategies to improve their talents.

In the beginning, the organization, which was founded in September 1951, was called Maine Press Radio and Television Women. About 20 years ago, the name was changed to Maine Media Women to reflect a broader scope of members, who now include free-lance writers, reporters, graphic designers, marketing specialists, radio and television professionals, editors and public relations specialists.

The statewide membership is about 100, with the most active of four chapters being the midcoast and Bath-Brunswick chapters. The Portland chapter mostly operates by e-mail networking, Marilis Hornidge, president of the midcoast chapter said, and the Bangor chapter is “on hiatus.” Hornidge, who is a free-lance writer, has been a member since 1978.

The midcoast chapter, which boasts about 40 members, meets at 9 a.m. every first Saturday of the month at the Stella Maris House, off Broadway, in Rockland. The meetings are structured so that the first part of the session is devoted to networking. Members share ideas, avenues for selling their products and ways of improving their talents, sometimes by critiquing each other’s work.

“Mostly, what we do is validate each other,” said Ria Biley, treasurer of the midcoast chapter.

“Writing can be very isolating work,” she added, noting that many writers work alone at home. Biley is editor and publisher of The Midcoast Review, a new business and arts venture to be launched this fall.

Maine Media Women provides that needed outlet to get out and mingle with people in the same trade and to learn from one another, she said.

The second part of the meeting is for business news, which on Saturday included a report on the fall conference held at Westbrook College in Portland, at which the 50th anniversary was celebrated.

During the business session, Hornidge informed members of the annual contest. The organization holds a statewide contest each year to recognize members and others in the media for outstanding work.

The contest “is one of the most important things we do,” Hornidge said Saturday. It is the “biggest thing that pulls people in from outside” and helps the organization grow, she said.

The contest rewards media professionals not only for their writing, but also in many other categories, including photography, filmmaking and public relations.

Besides the competition for professionals, Maine Media Women has a high school journalism contest and offers two annual scholarships of $500 each to high school students who plan a course of study in a communications field.

The closing segment of each meeting features a guest speaker, which on Saturday was U.S. Senate candidate Chellie Pingree, who is seeking the Democratic nomination.

The former Maine senator, who served for eight years, talked about her journey from the island of North Haven, where she was a farmer and business owner, to where she is today, campaigning for a Washington, D.C., political post.

Next month’s speaker will be Hilary Nangle of Waldoboro, who will discuss travel writing, “Glamour vs. Reality.”

The Maine Line, Maine Media Women’s newsletter, which is published four to six times a year, is another way of keeping members informed of happenings within its organization.

For anyone interested in joining the group, the annual membership dues are $35. For information contact statewide president Cynthia Carney at 729-3140 or midcoast chapter president Marilis Hornidge at 832-7719.