Benefits of Membership

The Shanghai Foreign Correspondents Club offers a line-up of informative EVENTS as diverse as the news itself. Regular topics of lectures, panels and discussions feature expert analysis of topics ranging from business to art, from politics to publishing, and from health to history. The three to seven events held by the SFCC per month also include city tours, mixers and parties, tastings, and consular debriefings.

"In a hectic city where business can be all consuming, the FCC offers a well rounded program of events from the arts to economics, authors to analysts. It has rapidly become an essential part of Shanghai's social life." - Paul French, Access Asia

At our regular events, members get acquainted and become part of the dynamic COMMUNITY of professional foreign journalists in Shanghai. The network of SFCC members offers stimulating socialization as well as practical help in things like finding a lead for a story and even finding new jobs.

The SFCC community communicates through a members-only MAILING LIST. Official club news and event information are posted to the list, but members may also use it to share their own inquiries and announcements. The list hence provides invaluable INFORMATION about interesting events, press conferences and important developments in Shanghai. In spring 2003, for example, in the period of official denial and rife rumors regarding SARS, members who allowed into restricted press conferences passed on the information revealed at them to the mailing list.

SFCC cardholders can also access the events, resources, members and (where relevant) facilities of RECIPROCAL CLUBS, including Hong Kong and Beijing.

Additional benefits UPCOMING IN 2004 include a growing roster of reciprocal clubs (Tokyo, Taipei and Thailand currently pending) and discounts with your membership card at cooperating venues.

"The SFCC offers a thrilling alternative to the Shanghai's business-focused community of expats. This holds true not only for the social activities but also for the topics presented by distinguished experts. The SFCC attracts speakers from areas ranging from literature and music to politics and economics, et al. To enrich your social life, we offer plenty of social events including city tours, wine-, whiskey- and tea-tastings, and much more." - Kerstin Lohse, ARD German Radio

Types of Members

SFCC membership is not just open to foreign correspondents: all foreign passport holders may join under additional membership categories. (PRC law unfortunately prohibits us from admitting Chinese nationals.) While, as its name implies, the SFCC exists primarily to serve the interests its Correspondent Members, the club also has a lot to offer to Media and Associate members.

Correspondent Members
Correspondent Membership is open to all foreign correspondents accredited by the Shanghai government. It also includes stringers and freelancers whose primary source of income derives from contributing to international publications. The SFCC's events cater to the interests and concerns of foreign correspondents in China, correlating to the latest happenings that our Correspondent Members are covering. The SFCC also brings Correspondent Members into Shanghai's journalist community, valuable for its social interaction as well as professional support.

Media Members
Media Members are defined as foreign passport holders working primarily for China-based publications and media. This includes editors and staff writers of local publications, as well as the freelancers who write primarily for them. SFCC Media Members enjoy access to sources and resources otherwise available only to accredited foreign correspondents. As many of the foreigners working for local media are relatively new to Shanghai or to journalism, Media Members can glean advice from more seasoned Correspondent Members, and advance their careers or expand their freelancing opportunities through job openings posted to the SFCC list.

"I joined the FCC as quickly as possible after arriving in Shanghai for work and social reasons. Club events such as Stephen Green's talk on the stock markets and the round table on the revaluation of the RMB helped bring me up to speed quickly on the issues that were highly relevant to my work. My search for new work was also helped by the Club's e-mail newsletter. On the social side, as someone who works by himself for large parts of the day, FCC events are a good way to get out and get to know other journalists in Shanghai as well as various parts of the city." - Michael Mackey, Freelance

Associate Members
Associate Membership is open to expatriates interested in journalism but working in other fields. Our ranks of associate members include consular staff, attorneys and public relations executives. Many Associate Members are attracted to the SFCC by the wealth of stimulating talks, on more stimulating topics than those offered by business associations. The SFCC mailing list provides Associate Members an efficient means for publicizing their company's events and announcements, while SFCC events provide opportunities to socialize with journalists. SFCC membership provides businesspeople access to the sort of information otherwise available only to journalists and allowing them to keep ahead of the headlines and know the news before it is even written.

"I've been a member of the Shanghai Foreign Correspondents' Club for more than two years. I joined just after arriving here, and the Club has been a high point of my life in Shanghai, not just for the people I've met, but also for the wide range of quite interesting events I've been privileged to join. The Club welcomes other members like me, people who are not journalists themselves, but are interested in how media and China interplay. I find the membership dues one of the best investments I've ever made." - John Van Fleet, Marshall School of Business

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