APSE convention

I'm going. It's going to be the last one in the Midwest for a while. It's driveable, fairly inexpensive for us. Plus we've got everything covered for the week.

 

I wished I could have gone (with two Top 10 section awards to pick up ...) but there was no chance in the budget to do it (that was before certain unforseen events, anyway).

Say what you will, but the APSE convention does have merit. Is it worth a full ride from a paper making cuts? Not so much. But for those that can go, I recommend. I learned how to be a better sports editor because of it (well, I didn't learn *as* much as I should ...)

rb

 

Respectfully disagree.

If an SE comes back with ideas that are going to improve his/her section and staff, then it can be a valuable experience.

 

You know what can improve his staff? Keeping his staff.

I've been to the APSEs. They're a joke. It's an excuse for a bunch of sports editors to get together and drink on the company dime. The SEs come back and give the presentation to the staff to justify the trip.

Can you learn something? Sure. Is it worth it to spend the money to send a SE there when the rest of the staff is wondering where they'll be working in a few months? No...

It's also a good way to destroy morale at your paper. "Yeah, our best copy chief just took a buyout and he's not being replaced, but our SE is spending a week in Orlando."

 

I've got it: Virtual APSE conventions.

 

Obviously, that's different.

Most SEs look at it as an extra week of vacation.

 

Oh no, one SE I had didn't count it against his vacation total. I believe he filed hours for it. This also was the same SE who kiboshed a vacation request for an event one had to commit to a year in advance, because it conflicted with APSE and he didn't want to re-tool staffing of the desk for ONE weekend.

 

Why would an SE take vacation time to attend a work-related conference or convention, if he's representing the company and attempting to do things to make his section better?

He should put down hours for it.

 

One problem is that a lot of the people giving presentations the last few years are not very good but become "go-to" guys to speak about certain subjects.

Or they are APSE officers who appoint themselves as experts.

(One notable exception: Emilio Garcia-Ruiz of the WP. Also, Mike Sando, formerly of Tacoma, was excellent.)

But do I need to hear from Jim Jenks or Neal Scarbrough about why I left the newspaper business? Not really.

 

Of course he should. That's why they look at it like an extra vacation week. They get paid and they do nothing other than drink with their SE friends.

 

Any SE who had to do layoffs within the last year should feel ashamed attending this convention.
Sure, you can learn some shit, but if you really want to help the morale of your crew, I think you would publicly decide not to attend APSE.
Let your staff know you're in this with them.