Scott Bush

Saturday brought the first set of sessions, write-off competitions, and more enjoyment of the Anaheim weather. (This was made more poignant by the news that back home was blanketed with 3-5 inches of snow. In April. Late April.)

I only attended one session on photography in a large ballroom, but not because I wasn’t interested in others. They were simply full. For the first time in over 15 conventions, they had “bouncers” refusing to allow students down hallways to get into overly-full session rooms. Definitely a problem, and really not fair to students who were shut of out not only of the “popular” sessions, but just about all of them.

The coolest part of my day was catching up with the other Washington-state journalism people I’ve come to know at state and national conventions. Included among these is my former high school classmate Jeff Nusser, now advisor of the Apple Leaf in Wenatchee. Another plus: spending time with two students–one Hawkeye, one Apple Leaf—preparing them for their first write-off competition in newspaper layout. I participated in that category as a student and have judged it many times since.

Vince DeMiero, the Hawkeye advisor, and I volunteered to judge write-offs; it’s another convention tradition. We had dinner on JEA in the banquet room that then became a hub of activity for the next three hours as journalism educators, professionals in the field, and I poured over student’s entries. Vince and I judged Literary Magazine Layout, Lit Mag Illustration, and Lit Mag Poetry—something of a departure from our usual categories but it was quite fun.

Meanwhile, fellow chaperons Mark Isakson and Tim Cashman took students to various locations for dinner. One destination was a sushi place “nearby,” only about three miles away. Not sure of the whole story, but no sushi was had but substitutes were found, I’m sure. Continuing another Hawkeye convention tradition, no students attended the dance.

Sessions again tomorrow as well as the first awards ceremony, this one for newspapers and yearbooks. Individual honors are awarded at Sunday’s ceremony. Following that is our evening group activities: Disneyland for some, and other less-animated fun for others.