4/16/2010

Sonya Senkowsky, founder of AlaskaWriters.com, an online resource offering a Web presence and assistance to Alaska writers for more than 6 years, will present at the May 6 APC luncheon at Kinley’s Restaurant.

Senkowsky, whose presentation is entitled “How I Stopped Worrying & Learned to Love My Website,” will share some basics every writer needs to know to use the Web—including why you should have your own domain name, and what a website (and Twitter and Facebook) can and can’t do for you. She will also tell stories of some of the rewards—intended and otherwise—of her own site, which brought her the opportunity to hobnob with Alaska’s best writers, as well as a book contract (Alaska Then and Now: Anchorage, Fairbanks & Juneau)—and helped facilitate a smooth transition out of newspaper journalism and into the world of multimedia communications.

Senkowsky is a member of Alaska Professional Communicators and a two-time winner of its Sweepstakes award, given to the person who garners the most points in the annual Communications Contest.

Also during May’s luncheon:

Announcement of winners in the 2010 Communications Contest and recipients of the 2010 APC memorial scholarships

An opportunity for purchase and book-signing of Alaska Then and Now

Luncheon Information
11:30 a.m., Thursday, May 6
Kinley’s Restaurant and Bar
3230 Seward Hwy.
Anchorage

Lunch: members $19; guests of members $22; others $25

Reservations:
1. RSVP and payment through PayPal.

2. Email: akpc at gci dot net by noon Tuesday, May 4.

3. Call 274-4723 and leave a message, including a phone number where you can be reached. When calling or sending an email, please include how many people are coming and their names.

More about Sonya Senkowsky

After working a short stint in a suburban New Jersey bureau of the Philadelphia Inquirer, Sonya Senkowsky came to Alaska in 1996 to escape the persistent smell of oil refineries on her daily commute, and to write for the Anchorage Daily News.

At the time, the newspaper had a vibrant Lifestyles section, which she served first as a features reporter and later as a part-time copy editor; in 2001, she left to become a full-time freelancer. As such, Sonya specialized in documenting and reporting on science fieldwork throughout the state – from dinosaur digs above the Arctic Circle to geology at the bottom of the Gulf of Alaska.

It was then that Sonya started her first websites, including AlaskaWriters.com, an online service offering a web presence for writers through “do it yourself” websites.

Through her websites, she has offered consulting and coaching to writers and scientists on freelancing, multimedia content management and Web outreach. Clients of AlaskaWriters.com include a number of prominent writers, including the state’s writer laureate. The site has also been home to numerous Alaska writing organizations, including the Alaska Press Club, the Alaska Writer’s Guild, and the Alaska chapter of Romance Writers of America—and Alaska Professional Communicators.

Sonya earned her master’s degree in journalism from the University of Maryland, College Park and her undergraduate degree in English/Communications from La Salle University, Philadelphia. In addition to having written numerous newspaper and magazine articles, she is co-author—along with Amanda Coyne—of Alaska Then and Now: Anchorage, Fairbanks & Juneau (2008), and an author of Alaska’s South Coastal Wildlife Viewing Guide (2009).

In addition to being manager and editor of AlaskaWriters.com, Sonya Senkowsky is currently Creative Services Coordinator and Webmaster for Bristol Industries, LLC, an Anchorage-based company serving the administrative and communications needs of more than a half-dozen engineering, construction and environmental remediation firms owned by Bristol Bay Native Corporation.