AHCJ2010 (part uno)

Stepping off the plane into a new city is one of my most favorite things to do. It doesn't matter if it's Mexico City or Traverse City (Michigan), I'm all for going places. I once even jumped out of a plane in Waycross, Ga. (home of the Ware County High School Gators. Yeah. UGA allegiance and use of the mascot wanes the further you get into south Georgia).

Landing in Chicago for the first time was pretty cool. An added bonus was that it wasn't really windy - or too cold. We (Lori and I) arrived in Midway about 9 a.m. and, with no checked luggage, we made it out of the airport pretty quickly. Next was an adventure on Chicago's metra and then a really long walk from the stop to our hotel located in the mammoth McCormick Place. It was here that we entered another dimension of the world of health and medical journalism - through the Association of Health Care Journalists' conference.

Pat Thomas has tried to show us the world of possibilities this master's program can open up, but it's hard to see it until, well, you see it. And when AP medical reporters and Reuter's health director and an editor from Self are there, you see it. Not to mention a media briefing by Health and Human Services secretary Kathleen Sebelius and CDC director Thomas Frieden.

That's Sebelius answering reporters' questions. I know, I know. She's kind of far away.

The conference just swung up from there, from meeting people who have made this kind of journalism their lives to nervously discussing my ideas for articles while pitching for the first time ever to editors as a maybe-someday-but-today-I'm-just-trying-it-out freelancer.

I fully intended to blog every day of the conference, but the bootleg Internet was beyond spotting back in the hotel each night, and, despite my love for the few of you, dear readers, I wasn't about to spend $10 a day for Internet. I am cheap.

So, in the next few days, I will recap what I've learned, and recall some of the time in Chicago through photos.

 But, before I go, a photo of the cutest schwag (or swag) that I ever have seen. Let it be known that I receive no money benefit from advertising HealthNewsReview.org through a photo of their owl. :)