Scott Bush

Our second day in Denver was about as packed as a day can be: it began with 8am sessions and ended with a 12:30 room check. Here’s a breakdown:

Sessions
As per usual, there were a number of students who needed some gentle prodding to actually attend the sessions. I, being a powerful chaperon, can chose to go to sessions when I want (and sometimes I don’t; I’d rather veg for an hour in the hotel room). But I did manage to make it to Vince DeMiero’s “Podcasts and More.” It is an entry-level, novice introduction to the concept of podcasting and why journalists should care. I had to split a bit early to meet with two Hawkeye students who were competing in write-offs for the first time and wanted some pointers.

Judging
I expected, as at most previous conventions, that I would judge newspaper (or newsmagazine) layout. When I approached the judging coordinator about doing so again, she said “Nope: we need commentary or review writing judges; take your pick.” Not wanting to miss out on the free meal that night, I chose commentary writing.
Here’s how the write-off process works: students in news writing, editorial cartooning, editorial writing, broadcast news writing, and commentary categories show up in a big ballroom for a (somewhat) mock press conference. After a thirty-minute presentation and brief question-and-answer session, the students write. Later that night, local media professionals and the JEA/NSPA folks read, comment on, and partition entries into groups: no award, honorable mention, excellent, and the coveted superior.
Commentary writing, in a nutshell, is this: chose a side of the argument and express that opinion with strong voice. Sadly, none but a small handful of the 82 entries (the largest category) understood this. Suffice it to say, I—and my six fellow judges—had an arduous time slogging through the entries. But we did manage to have some fun, so it wasn’t all bad. And, most importantly, we gave positive constructive criticism to about 76 students who really needed it ;-)

Crashing
Ususally after the judging, I’ll attend the JEA/NSPA silent auction and reception with Vince. But, as it was so late when we finished (11pm) that I’d missed just about everything on the block and I couldn’t eat another sugary thing. So I just returned to the hotel, checked that all the students were in their rooms at curfew (some needed a bit of tracking down) and crashed for the night.

Despite the very busy day, I did manage to capture this image of a giant blue bear attacking the convention center (it was Friday the 13th after all):