Registration Now Open for DCSWA Professional Development Day, May 3
May 3 @ 8:30 am - 4:00 pm
Professional Development Day (PDD), a career development and networking event for science writers, has been DCSWA’s signature happening since 2006. Every year, over 100 science reporters, PIOs, editors, radio and video producers, and freelancers gather for a fun and exciting day of networking, collaboration, and skill-building.
Please join us for PDD 2025 on Saturday, May 3, 2025, from 8:30 am ET – 4:00 pm ET at George Washington University’s Student Center on the 3rd floor.
THERE WILL BE NO ON-SITE REGISTRATION. REGISTRATION CLOSES AT 5 PM ET FRIDAY, MAY 2ND.
REGISTER AT: https://dcswa.wildapricot.org/event-6148947
Our full-day event will include a keynote talk, panel discussions and workshops geared toward journalists, institutional communicators (PIOs), and freelancers; lunch with GWU scientists; and an editor meet-and-greet. We also will have live streaming — with dedicated specialist support — for those who want to attend the talk and panel discussions virtually. Coffee, breakfast pastries, and lunch will be provided. PDD 2025 will conclude with an in-person raffle of science books, followed by a happy hour at a local pub.
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**** UPDATE 4/17/2025: GWU ANTHROPOLOGIST ROY GRINKER WILL BE KEYNOTE SPEAKER AT DCSWA PDD 2025! ****
Title of Keynote: Nobody’s Normal: Challenging the Stigma of Mental Illness
Description: Anthropologist Roy Richard Grinker will explore the underlying causes of mental illness stigma. He will address three key topics: the economic foundations of mental health knowledge, the influence of the military on the development of the psychological sciences, and the impact of research on autism in reducing stigma. Grinker will also share tips with journalists and science communicators on how they can better report on mental illness and developmental disorders without contributing to stigma.
Bio: Roy Richard Grinker is Professor of Anthropology and International Affairs at the George Washington University in Washington, D.C. and Editor-in-Chief of The Anthropological Quarterly. He is the author of Nobody’s Normal: How Culture Created the Stigma of Mental Illness (NY: W.W. Norton), and Unstrange Minds: Remapping the World of Autism (NY: Basic Books), among other books.
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**** UPDATE 4/212025: REGISTRATION FEES REDUCED FOR DCSWA PDD 2025! ****
Acknowledging the recent financial hardships being faced as a result of federal government funding cuts and reductions in force, financial difficulties at academic institutions and businesses, and other events, the DC Science Writers Association (DCSWA) Board of Directors has authorized a reduction in the registration fees for Professional Development Day 2025 (PDD 2025).
We hope this action will make it possible for more people to attend PDD 2025.
Those who registered and paid before the reduced fees were authorized will be refunded the difference in price.
To register, go to https://dcswa.wildapricot.org/event-6148947