Phoenix Journalism Convention – Day 4

Posted on Apr 18, 2009 in Life, Volunteering | 2 comments

Important: parents, please follow our Twitter feed for up-to-the-minute updates (at least as long as we’re not in the air) on our return to Seattle Sunday afternoon: MTHSHawkeye

It may be a Saturday, but there’s not much rest on this, the final day (for us at least) of the convention. Sunday’s sole convention activity is the individual award ceremony, but unfortunately our flight is so early we have to skip it this year. The students’ write-off awards (and I’m certain there’ll be some in our group!) will be posted on the JEA website and should be posted  by the time we get home. We will miss the promotion for the upcoming fall convention in Washington, D.C. Those promotions usually entertaining, though I doubt they’re intended to generate the laughter they often do.

More sessions this morning, so here’s a rundown of those I attended:

• 9am – info later
• 10am – info later
• 11am – “This American Life,” taught by a very energetic Derek from Washington State, was by far the most fun session. He’s excitable and it’s infectious. He played bits from the NPR radio show and used them as starting points for pairing up and generating story ideas.
• 2:30pm – “We Regret the Error,” on the different types of journalistic faux pas, how to prevent them, and what to do when they happen. Bradely Wilson, adviser of The Technician (a college paper) in North Carolina, taught this session. He’s quick, informative and professional but remains a lot of fun to watch.

Vince, Mark and I had a quick—but pretty decent—lunch at Coney Island, a burger and Greek food joint, right by our hotel. The temperature was creeping up and it was getting pretty warm; Phoenix is nothing if not sunny!

Besides sessions, Saturday’s big event is the Best-in-Show awards. Though it starts at 3:30pm, the best in show awards won’t be handed out until closer to 4pm or so. Before that are the Pacemaker finalists, SPLC collection, and Pacemaker awards in yearbook, online, and newspaper (and online versions of the same).

The Hawkeye placed 7th(!) in their category: newspapers publishing 12-16 pages. Congratulations… what a great statement for the program yet again. Not only that, nearly ever other school from Washington was very well represented, including top honors for Puyallup’s Viking Vanguard. High schools from Gig Harbor (The Peninsula Outlook), Renton, Snohomish, and other cities all took best-of-show places (I didn’t jot down the names and I don’t want want wait to get this posted, so I’ll add them another time).

To celebrate, we’re headed out for a trip on the light rail to have an “Hawkeye family dinner” at the Old Spaghetti Factory. Tomorrow morning bright and early (6am!) we’re getting picked up by the shuttle to the airport, ending our grand Phoenix adventure.

Travel update: We made it safely home! That’s always something to celebrate, but the happiness of returning home is tempered by one casualty: the Hawkey Suitcase. This venerable piece of blue Samsonite luggage has been toting copies of the paper, write-off supplie, AP Stylebooks, and other assorted stuff to conventions at least as long as I’ve been going in 1994 (and perhaps longer… anyone know?).

It was in this well-loved suitcase that three jars of salsa and one of margarita jelly (sounds gross, I know) were stowed for the ride home. These condiments were gifts by the local committee to judges and speakers. We collected enough to bring back as gifts to MTHS administration. But when we opened the suitcase at SeaTac, we found one had shattered. The stylebooks were safe, as were the the newspapers and other jars (they just needed a wipe-down). But the suitcase itself might be done for. Vince brought it home to see what could be done, but this trusty companion may have finally met its match.

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