Texas Press Association Convention and
Trade show – Always a good way to spend your time!
I attended the 144th Annual Texas Press Association Convention & Trade Show from June 20-22 at the Hilton College Station Conference Center & Hotel in College Station along with several of my colleagues. We attended numerous informative sessions on current industry topics and participated in several Q&As. It’s always a great opportunity to network, see what others in the field are doing, and share experiences. I usually leave feeling rejuvenated and ready to work harder. This year was no different.
In fact, I came away from this year’s convention more energized than ever before, with fresh ideas and an eagerness to implement many of the things we’ve learned. I can’t say whether other fields are evolving at the same pace as ours, but I do know that the ways we report news and keep our communities informed are evolving at breakneck speed sometimes. And that’s okay. We’re ready to rise to that challenge and will continue to serve our communities.
I brought Hubby and Daughter, as I always do. It’s a chance to get them out of the house and mingle with a different group of people. Because the Texas Press Association is partnering with the Freedom of Information Foundation, a Texas Open Government Seminar was added to the conference agenda, with a couple of bonus sessions that included refresher courses on the Texas Public Information Act and the Texas Open Meetings Act. These classes were scheduled to start promptly at 1:00, so we had to grab some lunch before they dropped me off for class, while they killed time until our hotel room was ready.
Across a side street from our hotel was a place we’d never heard of that looked interesting. It was called “Snooze an AM Eatery” and it was a fresh, updated take on a retro vibe that offered a dazzling array of creative breakfast, brunch, and lunch dishes.
Daughter opted for the “snooze classic” which was three free range eggs over easy boiled with bacon, hash browns and toast. Hubby ordered the “habanero pork belly breakfast fried rice” which was jasmine garlic fried rice with seared cider braised habanero pork belly, sautéed red peppers, onions, poblanos, carrots and pineapple and topped with a drizzle of house made Sriracha maple aioli, two crispy fried eggs, scallions and kimchi seasoning. I ordered the chilaquiles which was crispy corn tortilla chips with black beans and green chile and topped with house made cilantro garlic aioli, two fried eggs, free range eggs, house made pickled peppers and red onions, cotija cheese, cilantro and fresh lime. Every bite was delicious and it’s safe to say we will be seeking out “Snooze an AM Eatery” on our future travels.
Following the second day of classes, a luncheon was held where the new members of the Texas Newspaper Hall of Fame were honored and recognized. Also presented were the Golden 50 Awards, which recognize people who have served 50 or more years in the newspaper industry.
The meal was your standard convention fare – grilled chicken breast, rice pilaf, and steamed vegetables. The star of the show, however, was dessert, especially if you’re a chocoholic like me. It was a ridiculously large slice of layered chocolate cheesecake with toasted almond shavings, a caramel drizzle, and a dollop of whipped cream. It was super rich, but decadently fantastic.
After the afternoon classes, we were bussed to the Lucky B Bison Ranch in Bryan where we viewed the herd of majestic and beautiful creatures before being treated to a Chuckwagon meal of brisket, sausage, ribs, baked beans, potato salad, coleslaw and all the trimmings, followed by a blackberry crumble. It was all absolutely delicious.
The highlight of the evening, however, was a concert by Michael Martin Murphey. Murphey, widely known as America’s Number One Singing Cowboy, is a legendary, award-winning singer, songwriter and recording artist. I had the chance to meet Murphey two years earlier when he, his wife and several of her family members were in Livingston for a day of celebration.
The first of several events that day was the presentation of “One Feather: Walks in Two Worlds,” a historical musical production about Chief John Blount, a Native American chief of the Apalachicola Indians and an ancestor of Murphey’s wife. Another was the unveiling of a historical marker for Blount at the recently restored Jonas Davis Log Cabin in Heritage Park. The highlight of the afternoon was the dedication ceremony for Murphey’s wife, Chief Cynthia Healing Woman Tune Murphey, the new chief of the Apalachicola Band of Creek Indians. I had covered the event for the newspaper and even written a backstory about it that appeared in the Summer 2022 issue of the East Texan, our full-color quarterly magazine. It was a joyful and educational day that we all enjoyed, and Hubby and I even got to have our picture taken with Murphey.
When I heard that Murphey was going to be performing for the conventioneers, I went to CVS and had an 8×10 of that photo printed, thinking maybe I could get him to sign it. I also picked up five or six copies of that issue of the magazine to take to him as well.
Murphey came out a little before the show to greet people and sign merchandise. I was second in line to talk to him and he was quite surprised when I pulled out the photo and even asked if he could take a picture of it to send to his wife. “Sure. But if you like this, you’ll really like what else I brought,” I said as I pulled out the magazines and flipped the top one over to my backstory about his visit. He was shocked and asked again if he could take pictures of it for his wife. “I brought these for you. You can take them all to her,” I said. It was clear he was touched. As he excitedly texted his wife, I nervously glanced at the long line forming behind me. It was a nice conversation, the kind you feel good about, as I walked away to find Hubby and pick out some seats for the show.
If you know Murphey at all, you already know that he is a consummate storyteller and that he peppers his songs with wonderful stories and anecdotes during his performances. I never expected him to give me a shout-out during the show, but he did. When he saw me in the second row, he waved and called me by name and told everyone in the audience that I had written about the restoration of his wife’s ancestor’s log cabin and had even brought him copies of the magazine. He thanked me and said, “The newspapers in the big city would never have done that.” The entire audience of newspaper people looked at me, smiling and clapping. It was an affirmation of the importance of the local newspaper and I couldn’t keep the smile off my face for the rest of the evening.
After classes on the final morning, we all gathered in the convention hall where the trade show and silent auction had just concluded, eager to find out who the winning bidders would be. In the end, we were the successful bidders when it came to obtaining two galvanized metal buckets overflowing with all sorts of official UT gear provided by the Moody College of Communication, UT’s School of Journalism. Since our daughter is attending the University of Texas at Austin this fall, we knew we couldn’t come home without it. It was filled with T-shirts, mugs, cups, stickers, postcards, playing cards, a set of barbecue tools, bags, and even a sock monkey style longhorn, among other things. We were all thrilled with it.
From there we gathered again for the final lunch and awards ceremony. The lunch was a pleasant surprise as it was steak with a demi-glace with capers and parsley, green beans with bacon and onion and roasted potatoes, followed by a slice of strawberry cheesecake.
I have always enjoyed attending the annual Texas Press Association Convention because they do everything first class, but more importantly, they are a great group of people and I always learn so much. This year was no exception.
