Former Assistant U-S Attorney and chair of the recent Illinois Reform Commission Patrick Collins will deliver the Keynote Address during the INBA Spring Convention Awards Banquet on Saturday, April 17th.

Mr. Collins was a federal prosecutor in Chicago for 12 years before joining Perkins Coie in Chicago in 2007. He played a leading role in a number of high-profile cases while at the U-S Attorney’s office, including the Operation Safe Road Investigation and the subsequent conviction of former Illinois Governor George Ryan. Mr. Collins will talk about this case and others, including the ongoing corruption probe against ousted Governor Rod Blagojevich.

The INBA Spring 2010 Convention in Oak Brook will include a Saturday morning session on finance and business reporting.

Stock analyst for David Brady is President of Brady Investment Counsel in Geneva, IL. He will join WBBM-AM anchors Kris Kridel and Sherman Kaplan, who host the Noon Business Hour. Their producer Andy Giersher, who is a former trader, will also take part. Brady will be on hand to offer perspective from the financial world.

Online convention and hotel registration are now open.  Click here to sign up!

This week, INBA President Melissa Hahn voiced the organization's concerns to Illinois Senate President John Cullerton about a recent closed-door meeting.  Read her letter here.

Once again, Illinois' professional broadcast journalists will honor student excellence with the annual SINBA Awards.  The contest is open to broadcast news and sports students in the state currently enrolled in radio, television, and related graduate-level programs. 

Deadline for entry is March 12, 2010.  Winners will be announced at the annual awards banquet, part of the INBA Spring 2010 Convention in Oak Brook.

Links to download awards materials:

2010 SINBA Awards - rules and categories - entry form - payment/entry instructions

You don't need to be a student member of INBA to enter the contest... but why not join INBA today and get the full benefits of membership, including discounts to conventions, the monthly TuneIN newsletter, and access to a network of radio and television professionals?  Contact the SINBA (Students in the Illinois News Broadcasters Association) chapter at your school or sign up online.

Applications are now online for the 2010 INBA Scholarships.  This year, up to four scholarships will be awarded to student broadcast journalists at $1,000 each.  Applications must be postmarked by March 3, 2010.

Join the Illinois News Broadcasters Association for its Spring 2010 Convention, April 16 - 18.  This year INBA returns to Oak Brook for three days of professional development, journalism education, and camaraderie.  We'll also honor both professional and student excellence with the Illinois Associated Press Awards and the SINBA Awards.

A new version of the INBA JobFile is uploaded each weekend. It features hundreds of journalism and media-related job listings from across the Midwest. New to the JobFile?  Take a moment to visit the registration page and subscribe to this free service from INBA and the Chicago Headline Club!  Each week you'll get an e-mail notiffying you when the latest edition is ready.  The service is open to anyone-- both members and non-members.

Are you already a regular reader of the JobFile?  Then consider supporting this important work by joining INBA today. 

Members are welcome to attend the next INBA Board of Directors meeting.  It will be held Saturday, January 16, 2010 at the WILL-TV studios in Urbana.  The meeting starts at noon.  Click here for directions.

Update:  The agenda for the meeting is available here in Adobe PDF format.

More than two years of INBA's electronic newsletter, TuneIN, is now online, exclusively for INBA Members.  To access the archive, log in to the site and use the "Members Only Section" navagation, which will appear on the left of this page.  Enjoy!