The first conference is usually the hardest

So if you’re wondering why my blog has been stale for about two weeks, blame it on a combination of laziness and apprehension.
Yes, I can be lazy at times. That’s why there are Chex Mix crumbs on my office rug.
Apprehension, however, is not one of my normal traits.
One of the primary jobs as the executive director of the Maine Press Association is to organize the fall conference, Hall of Fame ceremony and Better Newspaper Contest awards banquet. Fortunately, they’re all the same weekend and all under the same roof.
But I’ve never ran an event bigger than the annual Elks National Foundation banquet at my lodge. I use the same caterer most of the time, and usually the same 80 to 100 people show up. Sometimes I even tell the same jokes.
So for the past several weeks I’ve had a few sleepless nights trying to predict what could go wrong with my rookie MPA convention.
As it turned out, a lot could have – but didn’t.
This year, the board selected Point Lookout Resort and Conference Center, a 387-acre complex in Northport (Me.) between Belfast and Camden. That was a huge plus. I must have driven the staff crazy by e-mailing them with meal changes every three days. But you’d never know it. They are the most cheerful people I’ve ever dealt with.
Some of the screw-ups on my rookie convention were quite humorous, actually. We have these huge display boards where we pin up winning entries for everyone to gaze at between workshop breaks and during attitude adjustment hour.
I arrived Friday afternoon with the rest of the board members, armed with a rechargeable drill and about 1,000 push pins.
Then the first question came out. “Do you have the screws?”
“What screws?”
“The ones that hold the boards together.”
That became my first “Oh, shit” moment of the weekend. However, I remembered that there was a building supply store about two or three miles down the road. I wound up with a half-pound of 3-inch sheet metal screws for $1.21. That was a good investment.
Registration turned out to be a little nutty at times. I planned to hang out from 4 – 6 p.m. on Friday for the convenience of early arrivals. Then the two lady volunteers gently reminded me that I had put 4:30 – 6:30 p.m. in the program. So I stayed for the extra half-hour. Damn typo.
The St. John Valley Times, our most northerly member newspaper, volunteered to sponsor a bowling tournament with all proceeds going toward our scholarship fund.
Although I hadn’t bowled in 10 year, I couldn’t resist it. Besides, the deal included beer and pizza.
To summarize the evening, everyone had a great time, my legs will be sore until at least Thursday and my two broken fingernails should heal before winter.
The workshops and main event went extremely well. Our photographer-techie-emcee board member, Troy Bennett, was as sick as a dog last week, but recovered well enough to put together an awesome slide show of the award winners.
The next glitch didn’t surface until a lady from the Bangor Daily News approached me in the lobby with the awards tabloid in her hand.
“Michael! Didn’t see you see this?”
“See what?”
She pointed to the bottom of the front page where Point Lookout had mysteriously moved from Northport, Maine to Newport, Maine. It was another “Oh, shit” moment.
“Blame me, not the printer,” I assured her.
Damn typo No. 2.
The proofs were e-mailed up to me a few days ago, and I swear I looked over the front page carefully. Apparently, I didn’t scan down to the bottom of the screen.
Oh, well. At least they’ll be cheap collector’s items.
I honestly hope we go back to Point Lookout next year. It’s a beautiful spot, the cabins are gorgeous and comfortable and I might even bowl a few decent games.
But at least I’ll remember to bring the wood screws - and proofread carefully.