Convention Time
I think everybody has a little geek within, and it’s the interests that drive us that reveal our natural geekdom. For me, and for thousands other journalism geeks, this weekend is an opportunity to revel together at the JEA/NSPA Spring National High School Journalism Conference in Phoenix, Arizona.
So far, so good.
After landing this morning in Phoenix, and checking into the Downtown Phoenix Hyatt, we hit the streets and the ball yard. Accompanied by three of my RV students, we grabbed a bite to eat at TGI Friday’s. Big deal, you say. Well, you’re partly true. Except for the fact that this particular TGI Friday’s overlooks left field at Chase Field in downtown Phoenix. Sure, it would have been a lot cooler if a game was actually being played, but to me, there is something peaceful and serene about an empty ballpark.
A quick jaunt up the street we took an hour-long tour of the Arizona Republic building. It is nine stories of news rooms, editorial boards, televisions, computers and much more. It’s a little slice of heaven. The Republic has mastered this whole online news medium and prides itself on being a communication delivery system in every form imagineable. It was a little slice of heaven for all the journalism geeks in attendance.
Phoenix is a great place, and a city I called home for three years. And dinner provided a terrific opportunity to revisit some of my time spent here. We met up with some former students from Mountain Ridge High School. It’s good to see them happy and knowing I had something to do with that.
Tomorrow we have a day full of geeky journalism sessions, and I am excited about what’s out there. What geek wouldn’t be?
