{"id":3619,"date":"2012-04-01T11:09:52","date_gmt":"2012-04-01T16:09:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/?p=3619"},"modified":"2020-04-11T13:49:42","modified_gmt":"2020-04-11T18:49:42","slug":"buy-low-sell-high","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/2012\/04\/buy-low-sell-high\/","title":{"rendered":"Buy Low Sell High"},"content":{"rendered":"

This column first was published as the \u201cPresident\u2019s Message\u201d in the April 2012 newsletter of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists<\/a><\/small><\/p>\n

It must have been this time of year in 1999, I was on the phone with my mom about soon flying to Louisville, Ky., for that year’s NSNC conference.<\/p>\n

“You go there and ‘network’ your heart out. That’s what they call it now, right? Chat people up and see if any of them will hire you.”<\/p>\n

“Mom, that’s not how it works.”<\/p>\n

“You always say that. Get over your shyness.”<\/p>\n

“No, Mom. They’re all people like me, new columnists or seasoned columnists. None of them do hiring.”<\/p>\n

“Maybe they can put in a good word for you.”<\/p>\n

This was to be my second conference. I had a vision of Mike Leonard. We met at the 1991 conference and in early 1992 I interviewed at his newspaper<\/a> in Bloomington, when my then-fiance was considering a master’s at Indiana University in the fall. We talked copy editing and reporting jobs. I liked the editors, but my beloved decided to go to grad school in a few years, and elsewhere.<\/p>\n

“Look at your paper, Mom. Most dailies already have their columnists settled, and they tend not to leave plum jobs like that. Then I’m just a jerk to these great people.”<\/p>\n

“I’m sure you know best.”<\/p>\n

We repeated that conversation every spring until she passed in 2004.<\/p>\n

So my advice to new and seasoned conference goers?<\/p>\n

Don’t network, party.<\/em><\/p>\n

I don’t think I’m tempering that when I elaborate: Party like a nerd, party like a geek, party like a writer: Observe, take lots of notes, get to know interesting people in the same or similar professions, share meals, hang out afterward in the hospitality suite.<\/p>\n

If you are by nature a traveler you’ll love how every year the NSNC ends up in a new place, and usually not a conventional convention site. Conversely, if getting out means just crossing the country to see relatives, let the NSNC spur you to a new locale. You may not write directly about Macon, Ga. — no one is holding a cotton boll to your head — but the place, its people and your fellow conferees will increase the quality of your writing and widen your readership.<\/p>\n

With the recession, we’re expecting a somewhat lower turnout this May 3-6. But even if the NSNC’s promotions and this newsletter convince 15 percent of you to sign up<\/a> for that weekend, it still will be an intimate gathering.<\/p>\n

It’s like the investment advice of “buy low, sell high.” You buy low, 100 shares of NSNC at a dollar each, then when they’re $10 a share, sell some.<\/p>\n

Large conferences are a blast. We NSNC long-timers have story upon story about Philly and Boston and Grapevine, Texas. But you could get a little lost in a crowd. Lecture class versus seminar course. A smaller conference — and it’ll stay small even if a few dozen of you sign up<\/a> this week! — allows for deeper conversations with colleagues and more opportunities to howdy the speakers outside their podium time.<\/p>\n

This isn’t networking. It’s hanging out with bright people in the same gig.<\/p>\n

Arrgh, Pirates<\/h4>\n

I like to think of myself as having great empathy. Plagiarism, however, I fail to understand. I know jerks do it; the evidence was overwhelming in March. Two NSNC members, Charley Memminger<\/a> and George Waters<\/a>, found columns of theirs and other writers were published, nearly word for word, by two serial plagiarists.<\/p>\n

When I write, the sustaining pleasure is the satisfying sense I’m working from scratch, that it’s something original. However, no creative work is unique. After I finish a draft, “Googling” themes or phrases shows somebody’s always gotten there first. But substantially I own my stuff, and it’s obvious.<\/p>\n

This is why my writing is inconsistent and serious<\/a>. I’d rather risk embarrassment with foggy prose for the reward of pride when I score. Creating humor is so tough that when I’m dry I’ll pen the idea straight.<\/p>\n

Is the easy way to write well or funny to steal it?<\/p>\n

With some pity, note that when Jon Flatland of Minnesota and Steve Jeffrey of Alberta now apply for jobs, they’ll be hung from the same Google noose: They’ll be interviewed by people who’ve checked them out online and found their “miscreantivity,” thanks to our colleagues.<\/p>\n

Also, today’s definition of intellectual property lines is only a bit over a century old. William Shakespeare and Bram Stoker now might be considered copy pirates. They’re saved by the genius of enriching old tales with storytelling prowess, colored with hard-won perspective.<\/p>\n

Jeffrey’s favorite writer was NSNC Web Editor Sheila Moss, putting his name on 23 of her columns<\/a> in one year, Waters found. I can’t imagine what she is feeling. Years ago, my apartment was broken into — lost a TV etc. — and the guy drank from a carton of milk then sat it on the kitchen floor. Is it like that?<\/p>\n

And what’s the crook feel?<\/p>\n

Not that I care.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This column first was published as the \u201cPresident\u2019s Message\u201d in the April 2012 newsletter of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists It must have been this time of year in 1999, I was on the phone with my mom about soon flying to Louisville, Ky., for that year’s NSNC conference. “You go there and ‘network’ […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3619","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-course-of-words"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5106,"url":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/2015\/06\/ethics-panel-columnists\/","url_meta":{"origin":3619,"position":0},"title":"A Panel on Ethics for Columnists, Other Writers","author":"Ben S. Pollock","date":"June 30, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Here are links, annotated, mentioned in my portion of a Panel on Ethics at the 39th annual conference of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists, in Indianapolis. These were prepared with the assumption the room would have a projector etc. Wrong. I had a Plan B -- always have a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Education, Coarsely"","block_context":{"text":"Education, Coarsely","link":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/category\/education-coarsely\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Ben Pollock (left) and Steve Keys, executive director of Indiana's Hoosier State Press Association, discuss ethical issues for columnists and others Friday, June 26, 2015, at the 39th annual conference of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists. It met at The Alexander in Indianapolis. Photo by Dan St. Yves.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-content\/uploads\/Ben-Steve-Key-nsnc-indy-960x724-styves-062615-300x226.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3484,"url":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/2012\/02\/no-taking-ulysses-for-granted\/","url_meta":{"origin":3619,"position":1},"title":"No Taking Ulysses for Granted","author":"Ben S. Pollock","date":"February 1, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"This column first was published as the \u201cPresident\u2019s Message\u201d in the February 2012 newsletter of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists. 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Pollock","date":"July 14, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"BLOOMINGTON, Ind., Friday, July 9, 2010 -- \"Get Schooled\" was the columnists' theme this year, our conference hosted at a university for the first time, Indiana. Appropriately, our informal welcome Thursday night was at one of the town's oldest college hang-outs, Nick's Pub. The meat of a conference like this\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Bloomers"","block_context":{"text":"Bloomers","link":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/category\/nsnc\/bloomington-2010\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Ed Grisamore accepting Will Rogers Humanitarian Award","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/Rogers-300x225.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":213,"url":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/2006\/06\/over-before-you-know-it-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":3619,"position":3},"title":"Over Before You Know It","author":"Ben S. Pollock","date":"June 30, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"BOSTON -- In any year you have extraordinary times, where many are surprises. That's to be expected. A few instances are scheduled, and their worth increases with planning. I've attended every annual summer conference of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists since 1999 except 2004's in New Orleans. I love\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Boston Blotter"","block_context":{"text":"Boston Blotter","link":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/category\/nsnc\/boston-2006\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2143,"url":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/2010\/07\/uphold-or-hold-up-standards\/","url_meta":{"origin":3619,"position":4},"title":"Uphold, or Hold Up, Standards","author":"Ben S. Pollock","date":"July 18, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"BLOOMINGTON, Ind., Sunday, July 11, 2010 -- Indiana University feels bigger than my hometown's University of Arkansas. Yep, 1,933 acres versus 345 acres. It has a journalism school not a department, a music school not a department. It is a handsome forested campus, full of sculptures (even a huge Calder)\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Bloomers"","block_context":{"text":"Bloomers","link":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/category\/nsnc\/bloomington-2010\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"NSNC Oath of Office","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/Swearing-in-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2901,"url":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/2011\/06\/folio-the-leader\/","url_meta":{"origin":3619,"position":5},"title":"Folio the Leader","author":"Ben S. 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