Closing the blog...

With this year's UNITY fading behind us, I wanted to close the book on my UNITY blog. I hope for many positive returns from the convention, and I want to stay in contact with the numerous wonderful people I met during those four days in August.

A note on the last update -- I've transferred the posts stored on my eMate, but wasn't able to immediately enter because of a lack of Internet access. To keep the entry dates straight, I've kept the original post dates but added a note that these posts weren't uploaded until later.

Please direct comments to ryan -at- rtomedia.com. Thanks to everyone that made this convention such a wonderful experience.

Down to the wire

I was in a mad dash to the finish of the career fair Saturday morning, but coming under with a cold didn't help matters much.

I think I did pretty well -- I met a lot of great people and I think there's some prospects out there. Finally there's a couple of hours to catch my breath before I get to a seminar -- hopefully it'll be more vital than the broadcasting panel I found myself in on Wednesday.

Dinner with Connie

At the AAJA Gala Banquet at the downtown Hyatt. Although he didn't speak, Chef Morimoto got a great reception.

Connie Chung dazzled the huge crowed with her take on the upcoming presidential election set to the tune of Love and Marriage. Although she's no Sinatra, her lyrics were on the mark and the crowd responded appropriately.

I was very impressed with Chung after her speech, more impressed than I thought I would be. Her remarks were right on regarding how race and gender are portrayed in the media.

This post was originally created on Aug. 6, 2004. It was uploaded later.

Relaunch

I'm busy as a bee, but I'll try to get back to this later.

I relaunched the blog with a standard template because it's still not showing up on IE for XP. I'm none too pleased, but I need a quick fix until later.

Entering journalism arena

I'm writing from an Internet kiosk with many eager journalists waiting in line, so I'll be brief. Kerry gave a well-received speech this morning. His speech was a good blend of his current campaign talking points and addressing the concerns of attendees. I hope Bush does this well tomorrow.

So far, the media and career fair is very useful for me -- primarily for making contacts although the critique I received for news writing gave included some good pointers and positive feedback.

It's fun trying to balance my time at the fair with the workshops and everything else I want to do in the Beltway. There should be some fun tonight at the convention hotel -- many receptions will be underway.

I've jotted down many thoughts on my eMate. I'll be updating the blog with these entries whenever I can.

First off: Journalism Arena

Why didn't I sign up for UNITY six months ago? I found out yesterday that Iron Chef Morimoto would be at Friday's AAJA gala. However, there's a considerable waitlist with the show "sold out." I also found out that he wouldn't be speaking, but "attending."

In addition to the Iron Chef, someone named Connie Chung is supposed to be speaking. However, seeing Morimoto in person would've made my day.

More later.

Huh?

I can't see the blog from where I'm posting at the career fair. I'm kinda hoping that it can be viewed elsewhere. I don't know why it's a big deal -- IMO blogging typically means far more for the author than for the intended audience.

On the floor

On the floor of the career expo. Working on this entry while balancing the computer on one hand and typing with the other. It's kinda awkward, but it's working out.

Making good contacts that I'm definitely going to follow up on. Ran into former Guardian editor Grace. Still trying to develop my schedule, but there's still a lot of people I want to meet.

Kerry gave an excellent speech this morning. Look forward to seeing Bush speak tomorrow.

This post was originally created on Aug. 5, 2004. It was uploaded later.