The morning after. It’s the repercussion that every high school journalist regrets from a hard night’s celebration of the convention’s last night. Saturday boasts the tensest moment of the convention – the awards ceremony that provides Story of the Year and Best of Show awards to staffs, a celebration for some and a devastation to others – and the night that offers a reflection on all the sleep lost last week.
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Tim Shedor
The convention officially concluded with the last session and an awards ceremony this afternoon, but I left Lincoln 5’s conference room with a huge grin.
Most of the Harbinger staff was attending a session on adding musical elements and research into online publications and multi-media, and I tagged along. The local National Public Radio station’s Laura Soto-Barra, a senior librarian in charge of fact-checking and researching stories, and Robert Goldstein, a music librarian whose job was to perfectly match music to the latest story, led the class.
The best part about a national convention isn’t the dirty and sweaty mob of the dance floor, the host city’s greatest tourist attractions or the raucous roommates that steal sleep with late-night discussion and group-worship of Conan O’Brien’s comedic genius.
No, the greatest part of coming to the largest assembly of young journalists is the camaraderie within 6,000 kids that are exactly like you.
Sightseeing sucks.
Sure it’s great to see history come alive and walk where Washington’s greats trod and to feel the power that runs through D.C.’s electrifying air. But it’s also a drag. Why?
1. Pen and notebook
It’s absolutely essential. There’s a billion and a half lobbyists flaunting their business around here, and you don’t want to hear a sweet yearbook offer that you can’t review later in writing. And with write-offs, the journalist convention’s two-hour marathon of quality and scrawled writing, coming up quickly tonight, a sharp pen and an excessive amount of paper will be priceless this weekend.
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