I'm Back, But Still Unpacking

Eight days. Gone. But here I am again.

If you're a regular reader you know I was in Chicago last week for the Society of Professional Journalists convention. What you may not know is that I was there to serve as an advisor to university students in The Working Press program, which produced three newspapers full of stories and photos about the annual event.

The students did an excellent job reporting on the workshops and speeches for which they had prepared in advance. But they also met the challenge of covering a couple unexpected political battles that erupted prior to the annual election of officers. Needless to say, there was no shortage of news at this year's convention.

The students, and the SPJ staff, did a magnificent job. Joe Skeel, editor of Quill, coordinated the program (no small feat when you consider he coordinated the application process and arrange for Apple to provide the enviable collection of desktop and laptop computers that equipped the newsroom). Skeel also served as the publication's editor-in-chief while performing various other duties as an SPJ staffer.

By the convention's end, many attendees remarked on the quality of the publication and praised the student's work. It was well-deserved.

I knew going into it that the bulk of my time would be consumed by the program, editing copy and helping guide the students. Nonetheless, I was hoping to find more time to blog more than I did. At the end of each day (11 p.m. or later) the last thing I wanted to do was turn on another computer, so I didn't.

The convention ended Sunday, but I did not come straight home. I had to make an unrelated trip to another midwestern city, but arrived home in LA last night, determined to avoid leaving my wonderful LA neighborhood for weeks, determined to finish editing the novel I just completed.

I'm still trying to catch up with the work on which I fell behind while I was away. I'm also trying hard to lose this east-coast jet lag, and get things in order for the start of another semester (I'm teaching a college-level journalism course this fall).

My goal is to post a half-dozen new blog entries by the end of the day Friday. I took plenty of notes at the convention, including some helpful website links, some audio from SPJ workshops, and some photographs. I'm eager to put them to the use I intended. So please, check back.

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Best SWAG (Stuff We All Get)

Every convention it seems attendees are given a bag to hold all the bric-a-brac that will either end up gathering dust on a desktop for years, or, more likely, fall to the floor and end up dwelling in the dark space between the file cabinet and the wall until the next newsroom reorganization.

The best SWAG at the SPJ National Conference and Convention this year, in my opinion, has to be the UL Dude, a spongey guy in a lab coat about the size of a salt shaker.

He's intended to promote a new web feature by Underwriters Laboratory Inc..

UL reps said people had snagged 250 of the dudes since the convention began.

In contrast, attendees picked up just 68 copies of a book that was being given away by another vendor.


— TJ Sullivan

Journalists Help Jailed Colleague

Journalists attending the SPJ National Conference and Convention in Chicago donated $950 during a luncheon Friday to help jailed journalist Joshua Wolf, who was sent to prison on Aug. 1 by a federal judge. Wolf was jailed for refusing to turn over video he took of a violent protest. The $950 is intended to help cover Wolf's personal expenses.

SPJ is continuing to collect the cash donations throughout the convention, so the total is expected to increase before the final session Sunday.

On Wednesday, SPJ awarded a $30,000 grant to help finance Wolf's legal fees. The grant is more than double the largest grant ever awarded by SPJ. In addition, SPJ negotiated with Wolf's counsel to ensure that legal fees would be capped at $60,000 and that Wolf's family would not be held responsible for the expense.


— TJ Sullivan

A Taste of Chicago

Just arrived in Chicago for the SPJ convention, which begins tomorrow. Thought I'd post a couple sights from last night's game at Wrigley.

Cubs lost to the Phillies, 6-3.

— TJ Sullivan

Signs On The Dotted Line

The latest addition to the Signs on the Dotted Line gallery, as introduced last week.

— TJ Sullivan in LA

The Simple Life In West L.A.

All photos by TJ Sullivan ©2006

Paris Hilton made an appearance at a Best Buy in West Los Angeles tonight to promote her new CD, so I wandered over with my cameras to document the spectacle.

I expected only to get pictures of people standing in line (the queue started at the front door, went around the corner and ran the length of the building on one side). But, surprise surprise, I just walked into the store along with dozens of others to take pictures of the hotel heiress herself. Nobody asked for credentials. Nothing. The store was still open for business, which was laughable considering the line outside and the people inside armed with pocket digital cameras. They were climbing on CD display cases and jostling for position, albeit more politely than the paparazzi. One Best Buy employee in a yellow shirt eventually played the role of cop as he shooed away those who dared step on the single riser that had been set up for the media.

And then there was Paris, back between home appliances and home theater.

I'm no expert on celebrity book/cd signings. I can only recall ever covering one book signing, and that was for an auto writer named "Landspeed Louise." Still, all the celebrity events I've ever attended were credentialed with lots of ropes and guys with wires coming out their ears. This was nothing like that. This was, to my untrained eye, a free-for-all.

The story in the LA Times, KIIS FM, and a banner on the store got the word out about the event. I was running an errand when I drove past the store at about 5 p.m., two hours before Hilton's scheduled arrival, and already the line was halfway down the side of the building (It was the Best Buy at Pico and Sawtelle). The people at the start of the line were likely there for hours. KIIS FM had a DJ in a tent out front and, for a time, there were two black Suburbans parked in the fire lane outside the front doors. At one point a guy with a lost look on his face drove up, rolled down his car window and asked me "are they open?" Poor guy was probably hoping to shop for a television and he couldn't even find a place to park.

I left an hour after the autograph signing began and the queue outside had barely moved.

I'll forever be intrigued with people who stand in line to meet celebrities. Why do they do it? Is it worth it? Do they forever look back upon it as a happy memory, and if so, why?

Were I to wait half the day to see Hilton I would have but one question upon being introduced: "Why Best Buy?"

I've put together a small photo essay. It starts here


— TJ Sullivan in LA