I have been a member of NATJA during its birth, infancy, teen-age years and finally adulthood. My university teaching schedules have sometimes conflicted with the annual conference. This year I rearranged my schedule to made sure I was able to attend. I love southern California and especially Orange County. Did you know there are five other Orange Counties in the US, including one only an hour from my home in NYC? But none can lay claim to the collection of attractions, beaches, shopping, restaurants, arts, recreation and sunny climate found in Orange County, California- population three million.
I have written another article about my pre-conference trip to Big Bear Lake and my post-conference trip to Pasadena. This will be about three days of intense seminars, workshops, local tours, receptions, meals and of course a day at Disneyland. I met many old friends and found new friends as we moved from room to room and bus to bus flawlessly, thanks to the efforts of the staff of NATJA and our Anaheim hosts.
The Red Lion Inn was the conference hotel. I stayed there one night before and after the conference and enjoyed the sun at the large outdoor pool. When I first checked in I found some dirt piled up near my room door, which looked like it had leaked out of a vacuum cleaner. I called the desk and it was immediately cleaned up. When I checked out I was charged half-price for that night. When I mentioned it I was told it was credited because they did not properly clean my room (I never asked for a credit). Good PR Red Lion.
Having arrived a day early I jumped right into the pre-conference activities. I swam, relaxed, used the fitness center and enjoyed a dinner courtesy of our Anaheim hosts at Bubba Gump Shrimp Company, only a few blocks away from the hotel. Next morning was a workshop dealing with Using Video To Tell Your Story. The main speaker, a television producer/director, was very knowledgeable but many of the people in attendance, myself included, were beginners who wanted to learn how to use our cameras to make short videos. This was way above my learning curve and I left during a break in the workshop. We were bused to the very large and luxurious South Coast Plaza shopping center about 3/4 hours away. Things did not start out on the right foot, once again. Five of us stopped to take a few photos and lost our group. We had no idea where we were having lunch and neither did any of the security people we asked. Finally, one of our group got the idea to look up the phone numbers of those on the tour and luckily one had listed his cell phone (the others had their home numbers). Alls well that ends well. We had a lovely lunch and were given access to the VIP lounge at the plaza. I went off shopping and we got back to the hotel in time for a short meeting called How to Maximize Your NATJA Benefits. The opening night reception followed, hosted by the Red Lion Inn folks. One of the highlights of the whole conference followed- our dinner at the Anaheim White House Restaurant. Not only was the food excellent but also I got to meet Chef/Owner Bruno Serato who had been nominated as one of CNN’s Top 10 Heroes of 2011. I was so impressed by what the chef was doing by feeding thousands of the areas youth at his restaurant that I sent his foundation a donation. I hope he wins the top prize of $250,000 to help him expand his good deeds.
The next morning the conference began, after a continental breakfast. Rather than mention every speaker’s name I will say that all the workshops proved of value to me personally. I learned a lot from the Inflight Magazines Editors’ Panel, especially how hard it is to make any money as a freelance travel writer. The Bloggers’ panel might have been the best of the whole conference as I wrote many notes and asked several questions. I chose the afternoon tour to Laguna Beach over the other choices for several reasons. I had recently been on a press trip to Huntington Beach and I had no interest in visiting Knott’s Berry Farm. The view of the ocean and beach was breathtaking. We also toured the Pacific Marine Mammal Center, Rodin Exhibit at the Laguna College of Art & Design and had a behind the scenes tour of Pageant of the Masters (just ended). Our wine and cheese reception was at the Sawdust Art Festival where various artists demonstrated their skills. I had the good fortune to touch base with an old friend who lives in Laguna Beach and came by to see me at Sawdust Studios. We were off to Don the Beachcombers for a reception and then to the Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach for a fabulous dinner with many stations of food and drink. I even attempted to make s’mores for dessert (I failed miserably).
The next day, after a continental breakfast, the open marketplace took place. There were representatives from many destinations and I had a chance to talk to many of them. The last professional development workshop was another editors panel with different speakers than the previous panel. After a poolside lunch buffet it was off to Disneyland Park & Disney’s California Adventure. Since my back and knee were still bothering me the nice folks at Disney provided a motorized scooter for myself and several other of our members. This enabled me to see both parks and even go on a few rides and still feel refreshed. Everyone headed to Studio 17 where we were served a very luxurious buffet dinner and had a presentation about Disney’s new movies and their renovation and expansion of the two parks. We then were escorted to see the World of Color Show from a special VIP section. I thought the Bellagio water show in Las Vegas was grand but this made that show look like a small drip. There were 1,200 dancing fountains, shooting 30 to 200 feet in the air, with Disney music, audio and visual effects.
If I was to rate the NATJA 9th Annual Conference the way I rate wines (on a scale of 50-100) I would give it a 95- excellent and worth remembering. Thank you Helen Hernandez, Ben Root and your entire staff. I don’t know how you will top this conference.