APSE Convention, circa 2012

Day One:

9 am. - Breakfast - Canceled, due to APSE not collecting enough membership dues to afford it.
11 a.m. - First session: How to survive in the Internet Age. Three 23-year-olds from google.com will lead this lecture.
1 p.m. - Lunch - Feel free to eat wherever you want. We didn't bother scheduling anything this year.
3 p.m. - Great writing (finding the story, and writing the heck out of it). Panel to be announced, but it will likely consist of recently laid off stalwarts of spots journalism who will speak of the importance of great reporting and relationships in journalism while one of them weeps uncontrollably on the stage.
4 p.m. - How to do more with less. Sports editors from local community papers will tell stories about how they covered the big events. How many reporters do you send to the rodeo? The tractor-pull? The answers are here.
5 p.m. - Town Hall discussion: Covering the changing landscape of sports. Does this new MMA thing merit coverage? Are you sending anyone to this year's Olympics?
6 p.m. - Closing thoughts. Speaker TBA.

Days Two and Three canceled due to lack of attendance at recent conventions. Contest judging will commence on the morning of Day Two.

(Please note: Judging will again be delayed considerably, as only 17 sports editors have signed up for this year's convention).

:'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'(

Damn the state of this business.

 

This is not a typo. If you do more than spot coverage, you are ineligible. Repeat, you are ineligible. Newspapers staffing road games or covering more than half the home games are cheaters!

On the other hand, to make the contest more fair to larger-circulation papers, we have broken down last year's (year 2011) 200,000-300,000 section judging into 10 circulation classes. If there aren't 20 newspapers in, say, the 210,000-220,000 class, newspapers may win more than one section award -- the Orlando Sentinel may get five "best Sunday section" awards, for instance. Or, hell, all 20 of them!

 

Dead on gentlemen.

Damn funny, too (in a dark, twisted way)

 

Expense-account drinking at the convention is restricted to Lite Beer. Like the newsless newspaper, tastes great, less filling!

 

I got this Web site you guys would love.

 

Day two is the public relations job fair for unemployed journalists.

 

You guys are far too pessimistic. At the very least, they'll provide a bus to take us to lunch at Wendy's. Not saying they'll pay for the food, but surely, they'll give us a ride.

OK. McDonalds. Wendy's is a little pricey.