Random thoughts about this week's convention...• This Thursday, I'll be sipping beer in the hotel bar, starting at 9:30 pm and ending whenever. If you're in the neighborhood, feel free to join me. I've invited anyone who wants to chat about SPJ. I did the same last year in Atlanta, and I learned a hell of a lot.
• One-third of the convention's attendees are college students, SPJ officials say. But besides the Mark of Excellence lunch, there really aren't any mixers for them. The Harper auction costs $65, and except for a pair of Colbert Report tickets and a Vegas trip, none of those items appeal to twentysomethings: gift baskets, books on Ted Kennedy, and children's museum passes, to name a few. And I don't see college kids paying another $65 for the president's installation banquet or $40 for the SDX reception. Friday's Mark of Excellence lunch costs even more: $45. No students are going there unless they won something. How about a tweet-up? For free?
• SPJ's grooviest convention innovation is the Working Press. This convention newspaper recruits college students as writers, shooters, and designers. In exchange, they get free room and registration. It's an awesome way to teach by doing instead of by listening. If I have any beef, it's that the Working Press doesn't work harder at an online presence — in the past, there's been no SoundSlides, no video, no blog, and no interactivity (polls, comments, session ratings). It's just the print version posted online, which is so Web 1.0. Thus, starting tomorrow, I'll blog from the convention myself. Could be fun, or it could be a disaster.
WEDNESDAY: Arriving in Indy.
