In times of cutbacks, I’m learning

…certain cuts should never be made.
It was about eight or nine years ago when I was named to the Missouri Press board. If you didn’t know, the full board meets three times per year. My first board meeting, I pretty much smiled and nodded my head — didn’t say a word. I was surrounded by veterans Bill Miller, Bill James and others. Second meeting, I think I coughed once and threw in an “aye” here and there. I went into the third meeting telling myself “say something this time!” I didn’t know what I was going to say, but I knew I was going to at least utter one darned sentence. I was just waiting to comment on something, anything.
Well, we started reviewing MPA’s annual numbers — revenue, expenses — a lengthy, line-by-line list of everything. Like any responsible organization, we were at the “looking at our costs” phase of the meeting, reviewing expenses and seeing if there was anything we could cut for the financial health of MPA and its members.
I finally spoke up. What did I say?
“What if we cut out the monthly Missouri Press News magazine?” (Yes, this magazine that
you’re reading now). To say that I could hear a pin drop would be an understatement. Everyone around the table went from looking down at the financials to deliberately looking directly at me, almost at half-speed it seemed.
Bolivar publisher Dave Berry glared at me like a scene in “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.” He was Clint Eastwood, and I had just shot his horse.
Berry squinted and spoke in a calm, raspy voice. “You can’t cut the magazine.”
Yikes. Sorry I mentioned it. Point well taken, Clint.
Berry talked about how important it is for Missouri Press members to see positive news about themselves and their newspapers, IN PRINT, every month.
At the time, I really didn’t get it. I just saw a $$$ number, and wanted to cut it.
Like most newspapers across the country, my paper has had to make cutbacks. Some were easier than others, of course. Due to drastic increases in newsprint, we had to cut some of our content. After much deliberation, we cut our horoscopes section and a few other items. We had a few calls and emails, which we don’t take lightly. However, the number was limited, because we asked for a variety of input and did a lot of research with readers.
If an outside consultant or a major newspaper corporation would have studied our newspaper, it would have insisted that we also eliminate our Religion page. Why? Because if they’re looking at the raw, bottom-line numbers, they would immediately note the substantial lack of advertising on that page. Besides our Editorial page — which has 100% copy and 0% advertising — no page in our entire publication earns less than our Religion page.
Now I’m feeling like I’m starting to get what Berry was talking about. While many press associations could do without their monthly
magazine, it was important for us to continue it in Missouri. It’s what the readers WANT.
Readers of my paper want a Religion page. They want a Bible verse every week. Can they get that information elsewhere? Obviously. But we found they want that from us.
Further, while I used to quickly view the MPA magazine for about five minutes, I now read it from cover to cover. My favorite part — the “Scrapbook.” It tells brief success stories of other Missouri newspapers. Last month I learned about a lot of out-of-the-box ideas going on in our state, (which I can use) from papers such as the Hannibal Courier-Post, Lincoln County Journal, Versailles Leader-Statesman, Rolla Daily News and many more.

An ode to a mentor:

The name Ed Heins remains synonymous with education, hard work
You might not know the name, but hopefully you remember the man. A co-worker and I used to call him “the Tall Man.” Not the most creative nickname we’ve ever come up with. Ed Heins stood about 6-5 or 6-6,
maybe taller. He worked in our industry for 55 years, had snow-white hair (seemingly forever), and had the raspiest voice you’ll ever hear.
Since I first met Ed in the latter ’80s, it seemed I was almost playing a “shadow” game with him. You know,
when your dad’s walking along the sidewalk on a sunny day, casting a shadow. Then you kind of put yourself in the shadow, and it continues to look like there’s still just one shadow. (Just me?) Anyway, Ed cast a huge shadow in oh so many ways.
When I first met Ed, he was teaching at the J-School, and I was just entering as a student. He was a guest lecturer in several of my classes. Yes, I didn’t pay attention.
Ed became the general manager at the Columbia Missourian. At the same time, I started doing ad layout for the
Missourian. I didn’t interact with Ed then, but we each knew who the other was — spent two
years “knowing” each other.
After graduation, I joined the Suburban Journals in the classified department. Guess who had just become the editorial director days before I started. Yep — Ed. I became a manager at the Journals and started to at least “speak” to Ed. Not much though. At the time, unfortunately, we were going through a major, nonlocal buyout and things were pretty tense. Yet, we chatted here and there.
Seven days before Christmas in 1991, the corporate guys decided to give the axe to half the managers. (I still have Jerry Berger’s column from the Post-Dispatch, “Pink Slips for the Holidays”). Anyway, Ed and I simultaneously got the boot.

A few months later, I showed up at The St. Louis American. But wait! No Ed Heins! Well, oddly enough, we hired Ed as a consultant about four months or so later. What the heck?Here’s the shadow — the Tall Man — again.Since we were a relatively small company, with about 18 employees at the time, it was inevitable that I would work more closely with Ed than I ever had. I was only about 26 at the time, so, to be honest, I still thought of Ed as the old teacher. I would politely listen to him and his raspy voice, but in the back of my immature mind I was thinking “yeah, yeah, yeah.”I’m not sure if it was because I just had my first child or what, but suddenly, I started actually listening to Ed. He hadn’t been teaching students in the last few years, but suddenly he again had a student in me.As a consultant, although Ed was with us only a few years, he did a lot for the St. Louis American. In fact, wellover a decade later we still have several items in place purely because of Ed Heins. Publisher Donald Suggsand I continue to be grateful to Ed. In short, although he recently passed (May 4), Ed Heins’ wisdom continues to help us save costs and create revenue to this day.WHY? Because he passed his knowledge along to us. He could have taken/kept all the accolades to himself, about cost savings and the like, but he didn’t. He sat me down and taught me. Even though he was a consultant, Ed was the first one in the office every day. He’d get the coffee going, and then a little later I’d show up, and he’d have a seat in my office. At the time knew absolutely nothing about many aspects of the industry, including the whole “printing” aspect. Because of Ed, I now feel I do. He sat me down and taught me, like educators are supposed to do.
Ed started a monthly special section for us called “Health Matters.” In typical Ed Heins style, not only did he start it, he wrote all the copy, edited it, sold all the ads for the section, and oversaw the layout. He even drove the boards to the printer (before the digital age, folks).
Ed did it all himself. “Health Matters” has become “Your Health Matters,” and it now runs twice per month, continues to earn revenue, and has been named Best Regularly Scheduled Section several times in recent years in various newspaper contests.
In the Columbia Missourian’s obit about Ed, Abby Rogers quoted former managing editor George Kennedy as
saying, “Ed should be remembered as a creative, hard-working executive, who created this publication (a weekly
publication) that really made it possible for the Missourian to continue to exist.”
Not surprising, if you know Ed. If there’s one other term to describe Ed besides “teacher,” it’s “hard-working.”
On a very, very personal note: when the January issue of this magazine came out, introducing yours truly as the 2010 MPA president, take a guess at the first call I received. It was Ed. I have to tell you how great it was then, and it means even more now. He took the time to call me. Teacher calling student.
I felt like I just won the Super Bowl, and my former coach was calling me with congrats. Usually I’m quite the
jokester, but this time I’m glad I made the right move. I told Ed that there’s no way, no way I’d be in the position I’m in at the American or MPA, or have the knowledge I have, without him. It’s true.
Guess it’s time to cast my own shadow, while at the same time mentoring others and sharing what Ed taught me.
Thanks, Ed. Thanks for giving me the opportunity. Thanks for teaching me. Thanks for being my shadow. Thanks for everything, Tall Man.

Paid content versus free, revisited

By Vicki Russell
Have you noticed all the recent comic strips poking fun at the newspaper industry for giving away content in online editions? Our cartoonists, it seems, are using their clever skills to prod management into questioning this business plan.
Since early this year the idea of charging for online content seems to be getting a more serious look. Of course, the debate over free vs. paid isn’t new. The change in recent months is the tenor of the discussion. In past years, skeptics and critics dismissed the notion out of hand. The culture of the internet won’t allow it, they said. On the ’net, everything is free.
For the most part, naysayers have been correct.
Several newspapers have experimented with charging for content. Few have succeeded. The New York Times has been there, done that and surrendered. However, NYT publisher Arthur Sulzberger made headlines the other day when he hinted at returning to a paid model. More and more journalists and business analysts are urging newspapers to get on with the inevitable.
As you well know, the old working concept has been to encourage traffic to a site and then sell ads to generate the revenue stream. Newspapers have over-achieved in the traffic department. Newspaper sites are typically among the most popular in any community. And we all sell ads, but the online advertising model is moving out of its infancy at a breathtaking speed; sophisticated buyers have begun to demand things many newspapers and ad agencies simply aren’t prepared to deliver yet.
While some newspapers have just started to sell views by the thousands, advertisers have moved on to pay-per-click and are now asking about pay-per-sale. And they want ads paired with content that is sure to attract readers likely to buytheir products and services. Who knows what the market will demand in another six months. More important, who knows whether the online ad revenue engine will ever become powerful enough to sustain legacy news organizations.
So, we wrestle with the notion
of charging for content. Doug Crews, MPA executive director, and I think this might be a good topic for a session during the MPA convention in October. The question is how to frame the discussion meaningfully. We don’t want to rehash the known issues but instead to find speakers who can help Missouri newspapers move forward with their various strategies.
Are you interested, too? If so, please give us some guidance. This issue is like peeling an onion. There are too many layers for a one-hour presentation. Help us drill down by telling us more specifically what you want to know. Maybe we can come up with concepts that offer greater promise and manageability than anything out there now. I have that kind of faith in our membership.

Look for marketing program at regional meetings

From the Desk of… Vicki Russell

I just heard through the grapevine about a column written by a noted journalist that supports the idea newspapers should get a piece of the federal bail-out action. I haven’t searched for or read the column but might … after I stop laughing.
Don’t get me wrong. I don’t intend to belittle the writer. I’m sure the column legitimately lists substantive points about the importance of our industry to this country. I am amused, however, by contemplating the potential discussions on Capitol Hill.
How many concessions would newspapers have to make to participate in a bailout, for example? How far-reaching might those concessions be? Would the government become part-owners of major news organizations? What new restrictions on freedom of speech and access to information might enter the equation?
As ridiculous as all that sounds, I fear I’m not exaggerating.
No, I don’t think we can look to the federal government for solutions to the problems within our industry. We must solve them ourselves.
Doug Crews, MPA’s executive director, and I have had several discussions in recent months about what MPA can do to assist members. We are dreaming big, imagining programs so helpful that other states adopt them, too. (That wouldn’t be a first, by the way.)
We are ramping up. In January, at the Northwest Missouri Press Association meeting in St. Joseph, we rolled out a two-hour seminar focused on sales and marketing. Our objective was to provide new research results and practical tools to help members generate revenue and brand awareness
without incurring new expenses.
As the year goes along, we will use the responses we get from attendees to improve the materials and keep presenting them at regional press association meetings as long as youare interested.
I am grateful to Esther Thorsen and Margaret Duffy, faculty members at the Missouri School of Journalism, and to Mark and Eleanor Farnen, owners and executives of Strategists, LLC, for enthusiastically rolling up their sleeves to create and deliver the seminar. They are participating because of their devotion to the newspaper industry, and I hope all of you will take advantage of their expertise.
With the addition of shiny new (or cleverly remodeled) ideas from all of you, we have the collective strength and know-how to get through the economic squeeze and come out better on the other
side.
Surviving The Great Depression and the supply shortages during past world wars couldn’t have been
much fun, but our predecessors made it. We can, too.
Thanks, too, to all who responded to my first column. I appreciate your comments and suggestions so please keep sending them (vrussell@tribmail.com).
Finally, I look forward to seeing you in Jefferson City for the MPA Legislative reception, MPA / AP Day at the Capitol and MSNE / Missouri APME meeting, Feb. 18-20. We can’t lose sight of all the work that needs to be done there, either.

MPA welcomes new President

FROM THE MPA PRESIDENT—Vicki Russell
At midnight, Dec. 31, did you celebrate the arrival of 2009 or, blessedly, the conclusion of 2008? Was that
not the year that just wouldn’t end?
As we tread carefully into the New Year, unsure of what might befall our economy next, we are faced with enormous
challenges, certainly. Now, more than ever, we must collectively become more discerning about defining and explaining those problems.
I was astonished by the many news stories last year, often published in major dailies, reporting matter-of-factly that our industry is in the last throes of death. Those of you who were doing just fine, thank you, prior to the economic
meltdown, surely winced along with me at our virtual obituaries.
Unfortunately, the message is filtering down and the public is beginning to believe it. If we don’t react appropriately, we could be talked out of business.
Yes, many newspaper companies are in trouble, but that trouble was brewing long before the financial markets collapsed. Specifically, the problem is debt.
I’ve lost track of how many times some nearby Missouri newspapers have been bought and sold. You can bet there was new debt piling up with each transaction, and the situation is made worse by the economy.
Nonetheless, many newspapers in this state were finding ways to meet increasing competition prior to the
economic collapse, and they will — as newspapers have done through other Dark Eras — fight their way through
the current one.
Without going into too much analysis here and now, I think it’s high time for our industry to stop leaving the reporting of our “condition” to others and to start providing the bigger picture. If we don’t stand up for us, who will?
In the coming months, with the help of various entities, I hope to help craft ready-to-use talking points, marketing
materials, revenue-generating ideas and other tools for our members.
Newspapers doing their jobs properly continue to enjoy community loyalty and trust at levels that make our competitors salivate. Most of us have a great story to tell. (And don’t forget: The economic and competitive pressures we face are similarly tough for our broadcast and electronic counterparts. Yahoo announced a big layoff at the end of 2008; a number of broadcast media companies are swimming in debt while competition grows.)
As I tiptoe into my new role as the president of this organization, I hope to bring our members together in new and creative ways to help our industry thrive. We need each other and our country needs us more than ever. So let’s
get to ’splainin.’
And speaking of needing each other … My hat’s off to Jack Whitaker, publisher of the Hannibal Courier-Post, for his intrepid leadership as president of Missouri Press in 2008. He set the bar high for his successors.
Please remember to make time for regional association meetings this year, where we will be developing
and sharing some of our tools for newspapers. We need all the muscle we can get, and your ideas are critical. The first regional meeting is the Northwest Press Association, Jan. 22 and 23.
Make reservations promptly.
Judging of the Nebraska Press Association contest will be Feb. 6 in Columbia. We want the Nebraskans to do a good job judging our contest entries, and this is our part of the bargain. Judges have been harder to come by in recent years, so please recruit some fellow members and join us. There’s a bonus:
Maybe you’ll find some good ideas to “borrow.”

Missouri had good representation at National Convention

This is the time of year that things settle down a little bit for your President. With the annual MPA and
National Newspaper Association conventions out of the way, there is a little time available for looking after my primary project, my regular day job.
Speaking of NNA, Missouri was well represented with more than a dozen attendees in St. Paul, Minn. Programs were well organized and timely, entertainment was appropriate and well planned.
It was a great time for everyone in attendance, and much was learned by all, including how to make a perfect omelet in less than one minute. Attendance was down a little this year, a reflection, I’m certain, of the economy as a whole. But attendance was still good. If you have never attended an NNA conference, I would
strongly recommend that you make the effort.
In challenging times like we face today, it benefits everyone in the industry to take advantage of any idea sharing or training opportunities that will improve our skills or those of our staffs. Certainly MPA offers many opportunities to learn and provides resources to assist every member on the road to success.
A prime example of MPA’s efforts to assist members is in the new “Know It. All.” newspaper campaign. This series of ads was developed through MPA, with consultation from Strategists, LLC, and is a promotional campaign that focuses on the value that local newspapers bring to their readers.
The promotion launched Oct. 1 for Missouri newspapers and is provided at no charge to MPA members. MPA encourages all of its member newspapers to download the material and use as much of it as they can.
Because the initial response was so positive, the MPA office began getting inquiries from other state press associations and newspapers. They were asking if they could use the materials in their own campaigns.
After conferring with the MPA Board of Directors, the staff at MPA has announced that the campaign will now
be made available to all state, regional and national press associations and their members.
We did not develop this program to generate revenue.
Rather, like so many programs offered by MPA, it was made available to all at no charge.
I invite you to go to the Missouri Press website and view the promotion. Ads are in template form so newspapers can customize the content to localize the message.
The first flight consists of eight ads, each designed with a different target, season or approach. Some of the ads focus on the news and information aspects of newspapers. Others focus more on the advertising
and value aspects of them. All are presented in two sizes and in color and black and white.
I think you will find this a most worthwhile program.

Missouri Press has much to offer

By Jack Whitaker
By now you either attended the annual MPA meeting in Columbia or have heard about it. Either way, I can
report that the meeting was a great success. Registration was good and we virtually filled the Stoney Creek Inn.
Individual sessions were great and the coordination with the MU Journalism School Centennial worked out well. Our political forums were well attended and lively. All were very informative.
A highlight of the Convention for me was the Newspaper Next presentation that we sponsored. I was fortunate to attend the all-day workshop on this program in California last year. We have implemented numerous ideas from that workshop in Hannibal.
But I want to talk to you about a different topic this month. The Missouri Press Association is a multi-faceted organization that does many things for this industry and for each of us. Not only does it lobby in Jefferson City for open records and to protect our profession, it also provides many other services for us.
One of the most important services, one that assists us in achieving financial goals, is advertising placement. Several programs form the foundation of MPA’s various networks. And Networks pay big dividends.
To cite a few, I offer the following facts and figures that you may or may not be aware of:
• The statewide classified ad network paid out $29,600 in June to all participating newspapers. In addition to that, nearly $14,000 was paid in sales commissions over the last six months.

• The statewide 2X2 display ad network paid $28,675 to participating member newspapers in December, 2007, along with an additional $3,500 in sales commissions.

• The statewide online ad network, the new kid on the block, paid $1,092 in July to participating newspapers.

• The ConnectMo ad program has been paying between $12,000 and $15,000 per month to participating newspapers.

Add these up and you find a significant amount of money just waiting to be earned by participating in these programs. These ad networks produce amazing results, but not only for the newspapers that run the ads. Members that sell the ads are also paid the most through high commissions on their sales.
Most important, however, is the fact that these networks are producing tangible results for our advertisers. This form of advertising is extremely cost-efficient, so it is extremely attractive to ad buyers. Since their ads produce results and generate leads and sales, they are relatively easy to justify.
Once an advertiser gets results from his ad(s), he usually continues to run the ads.
Believe it or not, ad buyers of these programs are in every local community. They include employee recruitment firms, retailers with online sales, tourism agencies, Convention and Visitor’s Bureaus and their festivals and fairs. Real estate brokers, developers, attorneys, manufacturers, collectors and auction houses are just a few of the potential advertisers.
So, what is my point? If you are not participating now, give each of these programs serious consideration. If you are participating in one or two of the programs, consider expanding to additional ones this year. It costs nothing to join and you simply can not lose money. There is only an upside to all of this.

You will benefit from meetings

Summer is usually a time that we all try to step back, take a deep breath and try to relax. After spending the first five months of the year chasing the elusive buck in our operations, it is nice to try to make some time for ourselves and our families. That may include a vacation to some out-of-town location or just down-time at home.
With gasoline prices approaching the stratosphere, let me make a couple of suggestions for get-a-ways that won’t cost you a fortune, will be interesting and exciting and will dovetail into your attempt to “get away.”
First, running from June 12-14 will be the Missouri Society of Newspaper Editors/Show-Me Press Association joint meeting. This year’s combination meeting will be held at the Resort at Port Arrowhead, Lake of the Ozarks.
What a perfect location to bring the family, learn some interesting material at the meeting and then enjoy this beautiful resort for the weekend. It’s close to every part of the state and reasonably priced for this meeting. Even if you are not a member of Show-Me Press, you can still learn from their presentations at a very affordable price. And the bonus this year is the program for MSNE.
Then, as if Port Arrowhead were not enough, how about joining the Missouri Press Association in a celebration of the 200th anniversary of the publication of the first newspaper in Missouri in 1808.
MPA, in collaboration with the State Historical Society of Missouri, has commissioned the production of “The Editor is Absent: Tribulation & Triumph in Missouri’s Pioneer Press.” This exciting presentation will play one day only, Saturday, July 12, in Thespian Hall in historic Boonville.
The play will be performed by the Historical Society’s MoHiP Theater (Missouri History in Performance Theater). It was written by Mary Barile and is drawn from actual Mis2008souri Newspapers published in the early to mid 1800’s.
This is something you really won’t want to miss. Tickets are $5 for adults and $2.50 for children under age 10. Contact MPA or send your check to the MPA office in Columbia to get your tickets.
While those events are coming soon, just past are the Southeast Missouri Press Association meeting held in Cape Girardeau on May 30 and the Missouri Advertising Managers’ Association in Branson on May 8 and 9. Both of those programs presented important and interesting information about how we can do our jobs better and enhance our operations. I would commend them to you in the future. These meetings are also close and very economical.
One of the problems all associations — regional, state and national — are facing is declining attendance. This is partially the result of restricted travel budgets. But it is equally the result of the fact that we are all busy. It is hard to take time away from the business to attend meetings.
But I suggest that if this year is a typical example, these meetings are well worth the time and expense they require. So look at your budget and your schedule and see if you can’t make time for your regional association meeting, or an AP or MAMA or ASNE meeting. I think you will find the time well spent.
If you had not guessed by now, I am pushing attendance at MPA sponsored/supported meetings as well as membership in MPA. Both are valuable investments of your time and a few dollars. And both help our  industry and your newspaper. So, if you are not a member, join. If you are a member, attend the meetings offered through the year. You will be richly rewarded.

Our paper’s role in the community

Rather than talk this month about my travels and the interesting meetings I have attended, I thought it
would be appropriate to share some of my philosophy on the role of community journalism in our communities.
My point of view on this topic has been greatly influenced by my editor, Mary Lou Montgomery. Mary Lou has a passion for her job and believes nothing can or should stand in the way of our providing the best local news and information possible. After 30 years in the business, Mary Lou admits that she is having more fun than ever.
But back to the passion and our role in our communities. Mary Lou shared a story about a telephone conversation she recently had with a reader. Let me let her tell the story in her own words:
“Trudy Strieker called from Collinsville, Ill. Her husband, Joe, has been officiating baseball for 30 years. Last weekend, he officiated at two triple-headers. He is pictured in the background of an HLG (Hannibal-LaGrange College) play. It is on page 8A of Saturday’s edition. Shaun (Sports Editor) took the picture.
“He (Mr. Strieker) was so excited that his picture was in the paper, his wife said. After all these years, she doesn’t have a single picture of him umpiring, so she wants a copy of the picture to give to him. Their wedding anniversary is coming up, and she is going to surprise him.
“He’s not even in focus in this picture. The focus is on the pitcher, and Joe is in the background.
“Please don’t lose track of the impact we have on people. When the world seems to be pounding down on us, remember Joe. His picture was in our paper, and he’s thrilled.
“We make a difference in people’s lives.”

The point of this is not new to our members who publish weekly newspapers. They have known that local news and features are their bread and butter. But daily newspapers lost sight of this important fact years ago. And I believe that has contributed greatly to the decline in circulation and readership, especially at major metro newspapers.
We at the Hannibal Courier-Post have committed to our readers that we would return to our roots and publish local news and local faces in our newspaper every day. We committed to keeping our local content to at least 67 percent of total content and to publish at least 1,000 local faces in our paper every month. To maintain accountability, we track those numbers every day in a chart on the editor’s wall.
To further demonstrate our commitment, and to be sure our readers don’t forget or take it for granted, my editor and I publish a “To Our Readers” open letter on the front page of the newspaper on the first of each month. In that letter we report what our percentage of local content was last month and how many local faces were published.
And the response? It has been overwhelmingly positive. I rarely go anywhere, even now 20 months later, without someone commenting on how they like our new local approach to news. It demonstrates to me that readers are not looking for national news in our product. They really don’t care too much about state news unless it impacts them in some manner.
Like I said earlier, this is nothing new to our weekly newspaper members. But it is something all dailies should note and heed well. For if we do not satisfy our readers, then we have truly lost our reason for being. And without that, we certainly cannot withstand the economic pressures that exist in this country today. It gives a whole new meaning to the phrase “local, local, local.”

Missouri well represented in D.C.

15 MPAers attend Government Affairs Conference in March

Missouri was well represented at the Newspaper Association of America’s Government Affairs Conference in Washington, D.C., March 5-7. Fifteen Missouri newspaper people attended in addition to the NNA folks from Columbia. That was close to if not the most of any state represented.
Like last year, the weather cooperated, providing reasonably warm temperatures. The only challenge was the wind, which, on Saturday as we left (or tried to leave) closed Reagan National Airport.
Things were further complicated when the inbound plane that we were supposed to fly on encountered severe turbulence on approach. A flight attendant and one passenger were injured, and the plane was damaged to the point our flight was cancelled. That meant another long wait, a flight to Chicago where it was snowing, another wait, and finally the last leg to St. Louis, where we arrived about 11:30 p.m. That made for a long day for this old man.
The conference was good, with interesting speakers on Thursday, the traditional Capitol Hill visits Thursday afternoon, and tours/briefings at the State Department and the National Archives.
A highlight of the meeting was a session with Theodore Sorenson, former adviser to President John F. Kennedy. Now 80, Mr. Sorenson is frail but sharp as a tack. He shared some insights into the Kennedy years, including the Bay of Pigs and the standoff with the Soviet Union over missiles in Cuba. He was also free with his thoughts on the current administration and the Democrat Party fight for the Presidential nomination. He supports Barack Obama, by the way.
We were not able to see all of our representatives and senators, but we did meet with Sen. Claire McCaskill. She came out into the Senate anteroom from presiding over the Senate and spent close to 30 minutes discussing current legislation, answering our questions and commenting on the race for the Democrat presidential nomination. McCaskill, if you recall, was one of the first in Congress to endorse Sen. Obama, and she is lavish with her praise for him. She did mention that she is taking considerable heat from women’s advocacy groups for not supporting Sen. Clinton.
In another area, the weather did not cooperate in February for the AP/MPA Day at the Capitol. Sleet and freezing rain covered the Jeff City area the night before and made travel treacherous. About 80 brave souls did make the trek, however. They heard Gary Forsee, the new president of the University of Missouri system, talk about his plans.
The group also heard from all of the statewide officeholders who could get to Jeff City: Att. Gen. Jay Nixon, U.S. Rep. and candidate for governor Kenny Hulshof, State Auditor Susan Montee and Secretary of State Robin Carnahan. Unable to attend the meeting because of weather were State Treasurer Sarah Steelman and Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder.
A wonderful lunch was served at the Governor’s Mansion, followed by comments from Gov. Matt Blunt. Then Senate President Pro Tem Michael Gibbons, House Minority Leader Paul LeVota and House Speaker Rod Jetton answered our questions.
The Government Affairs Conference and Day at the Capitol are two ways we can work with our elected officials to bring our message of open government directly to those who can make a difference. Plan to attend one or both of these important events next year.