More people than anticipated showed up for this year’s NAHJ Convention. Attendees said recycled bags, smaller food portions and longer drink lines are just a sign of the economic times.

By Marissa Lang
Latino Reporter

Attendance at The National Association of Hispanic Journalists exceeded expectations, and staff members said they ran out of conference bags for registrants.

But NAHJ is still struggling with membership, which dropped from 2,200 members in 2008 to 1,400 this year — a 36 percent drop, with 40 percent of membership being students. This is according to a preliminary budget report release to the NAHJ Board of Directors on Friday.

A final report will come out Saturday, according to NAHJ President O. Ricardo Pimentel. On the other hand, the higher-than-expected convention attendance was positive.

“We were hoping for 700 [participants]. Anything above that was a bonus,” Kevin Olivas, NAHJ Parity Project director, said. “We knew because of the economy and severe cutbacks that the turnout would be much lower than we normally get. That’s why the emphasis has been on training or developing skills to become entrepreneurial.”

Ivan Roman, NAHJ executive director, said there were more than 850 registrants, panelists and speakers. Of those, 530 were paid registrants. All 795 bags, stuffed by NAHJ staff and board members, were handed out.

The bags were recycled. The food portions were small. The lines for drinks were more than five minutes long.

But many National Association of Hispanic Journalists convention-goers said that’s just a sign of the times.

This may seem like a bare-bones convention, but in this economic climate, any convention is a triumph, all those interviewed said.

“Everyone’s recycling these days,” said Joanna Hernandez, of The Record in north New Jersey. “Even clothing – we’re all wearing our refurbished 1996s right now, as a matter of fact.”

Part of the problem, NAHJ board member Robert Hernandez said, was the organization was unable to find as many sponsors this year as they had in the past. There are about half as many as NAHJ had at its San Jose convention two years ago.

Sponsors usually foot the bill for all the convention extras, including giveaways and other necessities, such as free Wi-Fi Internet. But this year, with a diminishing pool of sponsor funds, NAHJ had to cover the expenses for many services it typically doesn’t have to worry about.

“It’s always a series of compromises,” Hernandez said of NAHJ conventions. “We tried to get a sponsor for new bags – we didn’t. We tried to get a sponsor for the Internet – we didn’t. So the question becomes, ‘Do we spend x-amount on new bags ,or do we give free Wi-Fi to our attendees?’”

In addition to messenger bags bearing the logo from last year’s UNITY conference in Chicago, many NAHJ members pointed to the long lines for food and drinks at social functions and the noticeably lower turnout as evidence of a sinking economy. But most said it did not reflect poorly on the organization.

“This is not a sign that NAHJ is dying,” said Miguel Perez, a journalism professor at Lehman College in the Bronx, N.Y. “It’s a shame but we understand why it’s happening. It’s the industry and the economy. When the economy turns around, NAHJ will come back stronger than ever because we need organizations like this in the world.”

Other attendees said they felt NAHJ did the best they could with what they were given.

“Let’s be realistic,” said convention-goer Randi O’Reily of IMG, a sports, entertainment and media company. “They’re the same kind of bags every year. Who cares if the logo is different?”

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