A Modest Proposal

I was visiting with a good friend and colleague from the scholastic journalism world and he talked about a flaw in our national conventions, pretty much all of them…the schedules.

When students get the privilege of visiting a great city, full of attractions, history, opportunities, what do we do? We schedule convention activities and contests all day, when students and teachers could be touring, soaking up all the things the area offers, getting their money’s worth. Conventions are not just about contests and keynotes.

The thing is, these great cities we visit are all a lot riskier for kids at night. SO…why not have as many contests and convention sessions, presentations, whatever, in the evening? Give us the daytime, as much as possible, for touring. You want us to come to the big cities, but then you try to keep us tied down all day.

There is one exception—getaway day. Sunday, usually. You have to run the awards ceremonies early so everyone can hit the road, head to the airport….or start doing the site-seeing they weren’t able to do the previous three DAYS.

A modest proposal, but a smart one. I can say that, because it wasn’t mine.