Self-pat on the back

I took a hiatus from the office and hitting the pavement today, and drove down to Albany to hang out with other journos from the New York State Associated Press Association.

The Saratogian is a member of the AP, and this year I was given the opportunity to join in on their annual fall meeting, which was a day-long series of talks on state reform and accountability journalism.

For my part, I was asked to speak on a three-person panel with other winners of the AP's Depth Reporting award for 2009-2010, which I received for my series of stories published in November 2009 on homelessness in Saratoga County. The panel included a Times Union reporter and a Post-Star reporter. We spent about an hour talking about our investigative reporting projects and how they were managed in newsrooms with smaller staffs and less resources than ever.

What was cool is that people seemed genuinely interested in how the homeless series came together, and how I collaborated with editors, photogs, paginators and others to turn it from vision to reality. It was nice to be recognized for all that hard work I did last fall, when I spent countless nights at Uncommon Grounds, writing until I couldn't see straight anymore, wondering if it would ever be done, and if it did get done, if it would be worth reading. Well, I guess I got my answer!

The day was also a great opportunity to meet lots of other journalists from New York and the Capital Region in particular, and one also from Jackson, Mississippi -- the supremely accomplished and engaging Jerry Mitchell. He is an investigative reporter for The Clarion-Ledger there, and he told us stories over lunch about what it was like interviewing a former Ku Klux Klan member and how his work on Civil Rights-era cold cases ultimately led to several convictions.

If you're not a journalist, this might all sound like a big bunch of nerds gabbing about the seemingly strange stuff that gets them off, but to me, it was invigorating. It reassured my faith in the value of journalism and my desire to make it my career, despite all the tough stuff about the profession, and renewed my drive (which, I hate to admit, has been slacking considerably, lately) to keep going out there and telling stories, in some form or another. 

Another notable part of the day was the appearance of gubernatorial candidate (in question) Rick Lazio ... although, from the way he answered avoided questions from the reporters and editors gathered in the room, his status as a candidate may change in a couple days.

We had a drinks-and-mingle thingy, then dinner, and ended the looong day with an awards banquet, where Saratogian folks were among those who got up to receive several awards for awesome work. It was great, but I also left feeling like I needed a new brain to hold all the stimulus in. Or maybe I just needed to come home, curl up side by side with my also-blogging boyfriend, and write about it all.

Oy, I can't wait to put on my sneakers tomorrow and blast the miles out!