SEJ 2009 Annual Conference

Reptile Palace Orchestra Rocks!

And folks, funks, jazzes, and klezmers. This eclectic band added a jolt of exuberance to the SEJ conference’s Saturday night party at the Aldo Leopold Legacy Center. When lead singer Anna Purnell described one of their numbers as a combination of bluegrass and klezmer, with a little bit of blues, I thought that this was surely a unique blend of musical styles, but apparently Reptile Palace Orchestra is not the only band playing this, as I found out serendipitously on Monday morning when I read this article.

 

 

(Photo from band’s Web site)

Be warned, though, that the music that accompanies that article is much more bluegrass-y and much less funky than what we heard at the Leopold Center. The band’s own Web site describes their style as Balkan rock or Balkan funk. You can find the Web site here. It includes music and video clips.

Follow Gore's keynote on Twitter with #SEJ [UPDATED]

Update: Wispolitics.com has a write-up of former Vice President Al Gore's speech; audio of his speech; and audio of the question and answer session.

Other coverage:

Gore, speaking in Madison, congratulates Obama (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

Gore says climate change at 'political tipping point' (Wisconsin State Journal)

Al Gore Delivers Speech to Science Journalists in Madison (WISC Madison) 

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If you're not here at the SEJ 2009 annual conference to hear Al Gore and the other speakers in this morning's plenary, follow along with those of us live-tweeting the speeches.  

The twitter tag is #SEJ; there's a link at the top of the right column of this page!

Yes, It's True: Obama wins Nobel Peace Prize

In case my fellow journalists and SEJ conference attendees also woke up and wondered if a huge hoax was in progress: 

Yes, it's true. President Barack Obama has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, "for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples. The Committee has attached special importance to Obama's vision of and work for a world without nuclear weapons...Thanks to Obama’s initiative, the USA is now playing a more constructive role in meeting the great climatic challenges the world is confronting. Democracy and human rights are to be strengthened."

Apparently a spasm of horror is progressing across the web, originating with the usual suspects at a minimum.  More as I have time to condense some coverage...now, on to listening to Al Gore keynote the conference.

It's Started

Conference-goers are drifting in from the airport, hugging people in the hallway, signing up for beat dinners, and getting registered.

Don't Just Watch Celebs -- Interview Them

I am excited about the SEJ 2009 Annual Conference coming up in Madison -- purely as a celebrity watcher. While Joe Paparazzi may be focusing his hawkeye on what the Green Celebs are wearing, YOU may want to interview a few of them. They will be making news.

There are some political celeb headliners: NOAA Chief Jane Lubchenco, CEQ CEO Nancy Sutley, Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack, former Forest Service Chief Mike Dombeck, and Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle. Most of these will be speaking in large or plenary sessions, where you just might get a chance to ask a question from a microphone. Failing that, there is the hallway

You may get a chance to trade business cards with all kinds of players and famous people. Just think: Paul Ehrlich of The Population Bomb; Jonathan Lash of World Resources Institute; Allyn Brooks-LaSure of EPA; Air AA Gina McCarthy from EPA; or Wendell Berry the poet, activist, and farmer.

But the most inspiring ones may be the rock stars of environmental journalism. I am talking about Andy Revkin of the New York Times; David Brancaccio of NOW; Chuck Lewis of the Center for Public Integrity; Mark Schapiro of the Center for Investigative Reporting; Dennis Dimick of NatGeo -- and a great many others. They will be offering role models for many of us as we feel our way forward in this brave new world of journalism.

See you there.

Unofficially: Welcome to the SEJ 2009 Annual Conference!

Welcome to the unofficial SEJ 2009 Annual Conference blog! We realize that many of you may not be able to come to Madison, Wisc., for this year's news and excitement. So a band of volunteers will be blogging on the conference in near-real time so you can share the experience.

You will find the Conference Agenda at SEJ's main Web site.