2009.06.19
Back from Michigan and trying to catch up
Sorry the blog has been pretty quiet the past week or so. I just returned from a trip to Grand Rapids, Mich. for the Outdoor Writers Association of America conference.
Attendance wasn't great, which wasn't unexpected given that we media types have really been hammered by this tough economy. But it was still a really productive, educational and fun conference.
The main mission of the conference is to help communicators, be they writers, photographers, video producers or radio hosts, do their jobs better. To that end the conference features a lot of workshops, panel discussions and seminars. Conference planners also bring in "newsmakers" -- important and relevant figures in the outdoors industry and community. It's a great place for writers to meet editors, and there are also folks from the industry there to show off their new products in the hopes we will give them some publicity.
One of the key draws for me has been getting the chance to just hang out with some of the legends of outdoors communication, many of whom I grew up reading.
When I was a teenager growing up in Oregon, I read everything Bill Monroe of the Portland Oregonian wrote. Two years ago, when the conference was in Roanoke, Bill was hanging out at my house for a cookout. He even brought a big piece of smoked salmon.
In Michigan I spent a lot of time talking about hunter recruitment and retention -- and OWAA recruitment and retention -- with Wade Bourne, a well known writer, TV and radio personality from Tennessee.
The last night of the conference Jim Zumbo was one of the guys sitting at our table in the hotel's sports bar. Yes, Zumbo ticked a lot of people off a couple years ago (and has since been working hard to recover from backlash), but there's no disputing his stature as one of the most visible, influential, appreciated outdoors writers of the past 30 years.
Then there are all the guys (and a few gals) in my generation, some of whom are on their way to becoming icons. We talk a lot, and not about our outdoors adventures. We talk about writing, photography, video, blogs, business strategies and the like. We talk shop because we're all so into this.
My one regret is that I didn't build in an extra day before or after the conference to go fishing. The smallmouth fishing up there is unreal. One of my buddies, Brent Frazee of the Kansas City Star, went to a lake about two hours north of Grand Rapids and just crushed the smallmouths. I think he said they had at least a dozen fish over 4 pounds. And that's just an average day on those lakes up there.
If the water drops a little more in some of our rivers I may try to get out this weekend for a little smallmouth action around here.
Mark
Congratulations is in order for your writers award and thanks for keeping our area fishermen informed without your diligence and excellence to the public fishing would just be fishing only without lure to go outside.
You spoke of television personalities whom was the first person you ever seen host an outside fishing show besides Kurt Gowdy's American Sportsman Show?
--Thanks, Static. After Gowdy -- and here's a confession, when I was a little kid, I used to complain when Dad wanted to watch the American Sportsman because I wanted to watch regular sports -- I remember watching Jerry McGinnis' "Fishing Hole" on ESPN, as well as early Bill Dance and Jimmy Houston shows. Are you thinking of someone else? mt
Comment by Static Lines — June 20, 2009 @ 9:44 am
The very first show I seen was "The World of Virgil Ward" & John Fox and his catch phrase I do declare, and if the water shallow and your lure is caught go get it.
Now Bill Dance show was not on the Sunday line up his show aired in Memphis his and my home town on Saturday.
Oh and by the way Happy Fathers Day! And to all those responsible fathers that have taken time out to teach your children the joys of fishing and hunting and just being considerate of your fellow man.
BRAVO ZULU!!!!!!
Comment by Static Lines — June 21, 2009 @ 4:55 pm
Count on Static to weigh in well, as usual, count on Mark to be too busy to get to go crush those smallies! Mark.....ummm, ummm, ummm. Big Kudos to Mark for your recognition, you have done us proud, and I know you have worked hard in the organization to bring this about. We who know you are very happy for you.
Just for nothin' my first memories were of Gaddabout Gaddis and his float-plane fishing, and the Southern Sportsman, Frank White, who aired in the Tidewater area of VA, where I grew up. Static, my daddy and all of his family was from Dyersburg, Tenn. and I still have family in Memphis.
We slayed them yesterday, no monsters, except for the huge (I'm talking 25-30 lbs) musky that we had a great close-up encounter with, but maybe 80 fish, smallies mostly, maybe 15 over 15", with the biggest at 18 1/2". Sometimes muddy water isn't the impediment we can think it is.
Good luck to all this week, Mark...GET OUT THERE!!!!!!!
--Thanks, Perch. It's a good thing this job forces me to get out on the water some times or I might never find time to fish! mt
Comment by Perch — June 22, 2009 @ 10:13 pm
Congrats Mark, you are an excellent writer and I've enjoyed your hunting blog since I started viewing it back last Fall. My first memories of watching guys on TV or video was Knight & Hale Outdoor videos in which I still have those old tapes, I need to dust them off and watch them.
--Thanks a bunch, Jason. You're right about those old tapes: They hold some valuable info. mt
Comment by Jason — June 30, 2009 @ 12:55 pm