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Convention gets rolling with fast, mostly happy startBy Nell Bradley, Kara Edgerson and Mashaun D. Simon Monitor Staff As Patrick Riley, free-lance producer from New York City, exited the elevator at the Hyatt Regency Reunion Hotel yesterday he walked into his longtime friend, Elise Durham, a public relations officer for Morehouse College in Atlanta, Ga. "How ya' doin'," he said. "I have not seen you in a year." As they both headed to the registration booth, Roland Martin, nationally syndicated columnist, joked that Black folk are always changing the color of their hair as he looked at Durham's new low-cut with highlights. This is just one of many scenarios that took place on opening day of the Dallas convention. This year, the long lines that NABJers have become accustomed to at past conventions were nonexistent Wednesday morning. One reason is the earlier registration time, said NABJ Executive Director Tangie Newborn. A lot of the attendees said they were impressed with how they were able to just "walk up, give our name and get our bags and information." About 15 students from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette said they were extremely impressed with their first convention. "First impressions are everything," Michael Addison said. Stephanie Narcisse said things appeared to be very organized. Karen Campbell, public relations officer for Prince George's County Council in Maryland, compared her registration experience to last year's, saying that pre-registration is the way to go. "For a quicker process during registration I recommend everybody pre-register," she said. "It makes the process go much smoother." But she did have issues with the hotel. When she arrived at the Hyatt Regency she was told her room reservation had been canceled. She talked with management, and the incident was corrected, even though she had to have her room assignment changed twice. Attendees who preregistered could go to one of the six lines alphabetized by the initial of last names where volunteers handed out NABJ bags, badges and conference materials. There also are lines for on-site registration, recruiters and sponsors. Even though registration was well organized and ran smoothly for the most part, the situation was not drama free. Because of a minor misunderstanding, Betty Jones did everything but curse out two young women trying to pick up their materials. Jones, a registration worker from TraMar Group, was trying to explain to the two students that their materials were not at the registration desk. Once everyone had been calmed, they learned that NABJ Region VII Director, Cheryl Smith, had already picked up the stuff for the two, who are assisting Smith for the week. As conventioneers floated about, hugging and kissing one another and catching up on old times, Ira Hadnot directed volunteers. A senior reporter for the Dallas Morning News, Hadnot coordinated a group of almost 200 volunteers, who serve as greeters, workers for registration and bag stuffers. "We are just trying to show our form of Southern hospitality," said Hadnot, who began organizing six months before yesterday. "The city of Dallas has really pulled together to make this year's convention a success." Monique L. Hayes, administrative assistant for "News Hour" with Jim Lehrer, wants to take advantage of some of that Southern hospitality. This is her first NABJ convention, she said, adding that she plans to experience Dallas while enjoying the convention. Other conventioneers also have expectations for how the week will turn out for them. Andrea Robinson, staff writer for The Miami Herald, said she feels that the Jayson Blair issue will affect the convention dynamically. She is specifically looking forward to the sessions involving National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice and Gerald Boyd, former managing editor for the New York Times. Highlights for opening day were the Opening Ceremony and Awards Ceremony where NABJ recognized some of their members, who have excelled journalistically over the past year. The very first Emerging Journalist Award, created by NABJ's Young Journalist Task Force, also will be presented to Isaac Peterson III from the Minnesota Spokesman. Shari Headley was on hand for the ever-popular Spirit in the Words Poetry Contest, and the convention's always heavily attended opening party, NABJ Jam. Syndicated radio hosts, Tom Joyner and Doug Banks were the party DJs. Staff writers Nell Bradley can be reached at Nellienabj@hotmail.com; Kara Edgerson can be reached at Karanabj@hotmail.com and Mashaun D. Simon can be reached at mashaunnabj@hotmail.com. |
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