No APSE thread?

Damn, now I wish I had said something. I worded things poorly a couple times on this thread and you caught both, so I thought you were messing with me. Guess I'm a bit thin-skinned, which is ridiculous in this setting because we don't even know each other.

Just to set it straight, and hopefully end a threadjack even I'm getting bored with: I did say something, but it was only to my immediate supervisor, who knew what the paper was losing and had nothing to do with the decision to lay me off. It was something along the lines of, 'Do you think they noticed I just won an APSE and now I'm out the door?' He said, "Oh, yeah. They know."

I rescind the bit about you seeming like an asshole. Especially after your congrats. Thanks!

 

No worries. It happens.

 

Yeah, Ryan doesn't seem like an asshole.

 

It would be interesting to read the APSE convention threads from 2007 and 2008 and note any difference in tone compared to now. June 2008 was before a lot of the heavy shit went down, although things were still in serious decline in the industry.

 

What's amazing is seeing some of the sports editors in attendance, knowing what's happening at their shops now and rumored to be happening in the coming weeks.

 

"Hey boss, how was the all-expense-paid trip to APSEs?"

"Great, hey come into my office and shut the door. Bring your company laptop and key to the building."

 

Given that we've had several threads in recent months discussing papers not staffing major events such as the Super Bowl, NCAA playoffs or pro playoffs, I'm not exactly shocked that people are skipping a convention.

OK, so maybe it's a nice way to exchange ideas and smooze a little bit. But it doesn't create content for the paper and does nothing for the readers/advertisers. So, if I'm shelling out company dough to travel someplace, it's got to be for more than a convention.

 

Mark,
I'd disagree about conventions not improving the paper. I think the competitive drive comes out when you go to something like APSE. You see good ideas and try to implement that at your shop. It gives you the juice to pitch big picture stories and try to give people the time to do them. Ultimately, that does improve the paper for readers.

APSE might not be an option this year, but I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss what goes on there.

 

Sorry, Mediator. You shouldn't have to be wasting company funds on a convention to achieve those things.
If you don't have a competitive drive and "juice" already, you're not a good SE

 

totally disagree

obviously unrealistic for most people this year & probably in the future

but an open and free exchange of ideas with your peers and colleagues can be extraordinarily productive

 

Spnited, you're a curmudgeonly kindred brother, but as usual, we don't agree whatsoever on the merits of something like the APSE convention.

And that's cool. I can only say this, and I suppose others can try to contradict it, but I state it as fact because I know what happened: Without a shred of doubt in my mind, at least SIX newspaper sports sections benefited DIRECTLY from my involvement at the time in APSE. Tangible benefits that improved the section and, yes -- although I think sometimes people are too quick to dismiss this part -- therefore directly benefited readers. They got better looking, more interesting, more entertaining, more informative -- absolutely better -- sports sections. And I'm certainly not the only one who would say that.

And while it's hard to say it loudly, I'm not really even in the school of "things are tough, so how can you go to a convention?" school of thought.

"Professional development" is a budget line separate from all the other. And not spending $1,000 to go to Pittsburgh this week isn't going to save jobs, and it might help make the section better for those who remain.

Newspapers and the people who work for them either remain in this business to continue to try to put out the best paper possible, or they don't. And getting ideas that help you make things better is going to remain a part of that.

One person's opinion.

 

two, because I agree completely with what you said.