Ohio Newspaper Association Convention

At 5:15 a.m. I wanted to punch myself in the face and destroy my alarm clock with the nearest heavy-duty object.

Instead, I sat on my bed and pouted. Time to get up already? What the? Wednesday night, as usual, was a long night at The News Record. I got home around 12 a.m. and, by the time I showered and caught up with my roommate, it was 2 a.m. Typically, I'm a very good morning person ... unless I'm limited to three hours of sleep.

I had to pick up Kareem Elgazzar, former TNR managing editor, by 6 a.m. We had to be in Columbus by 8 a.m.

You could say my morning was something of an adventure. But, we made it to the Ohio Newspaper Association Convention in Columbus in one piece and almost on time. We started the morning with breakfast and a keynote address from former UC head football coach Brian Kelly.

During Kelly's address to a room full of journalists, he said that, when he first came to UC, there wasn't anyone who was covering the football team. Instantly, I was irked. I think Kareem could sense it.

After Kelly flaunted Notre Dame (Was I at a football press conference? Sure felt like it.), he opened up the discussion to questions from the audience. In a room full of newspaper people, you can bet people had questions.

One after the other, journalists asked about sports and football. It's Brian Kelly, after all. He's the college football god in the Midwest. It makes sense.

Then, I raised my hand. I had to. I couldn't take it. The journalist in me, the proud editor in me and the University of Cincinnati student in me could not let it go.

I got the mic.

"Coach Kelly, on a somewhat related to my question, I would just like to point out that The News Record at the University of Cincinnati has always, and will always, cover all Bearcat sports."

I got a few laughs. I felt a little better. He looked a little surprised. Said nothing. I felt a lot better.

"How do you view the role of student media?" I asked.

Kelly said he liked to give access to students and that he appreciated student journalism because the student journalists are one day going to be professionals. It's a great way to build relationships early on and make connections. He did say that when journalism turns to sensationalism, he cuts student journalists off. "I leave that to the professionals," he said.

Kelly was spot on. He did give The News Record access. He was always pretty good to us. Until the very bitter end. I appreciated his ability to answer the question and point out good things about student media.

The rest of the convention went by pretty quickly. Kareem and I, who were both limited to about three hours of sleep, ended up taking a power nap in the lobby of the Hilton Hotel before the awards show.

When it was all said and done, The News Record walked out of the convention with five awards -- two first place awards and three second place awards. While we're proud of what we were able to accomplish, we're not satisfied. We're using the non-first place categories, and categories we didn't even place in, to push ourselves to the next level. We don't consider ourselves a second-place news organization. On the ride back to Cincinnati, when Kareem wasn't sleeping, we brainstormed a lot of ideas that I can take to The News Record. I'll start implementing Sunday. I know the staff will feel the same way -- proud that we did well, but we won't settle for second best and, as Kareem said, we don't tolerate complacency.